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Question about using sealant on oil pan gasket

I have a question about the oil pan gasket procedure. I just put the pan back on my 951 engine after rod bearings/rebuild and I did it a slightly unconventional way; and the more I think about it the more I'm not sure it's going to be alright and not leak. I choose to put flip the engine over on my stand and install the pan with the crank facing up, so that I could visually verify that the pan gasket was in the front and rear groove and be sure it wouldn't squish out like guys struggle with when putting the pan on against gravity. I cleaned the block surface and the pan mating surface with a razor blade and acetone and installed the gasket dry with absolutely no sealant. I torqued to 3 ft lbs, and then to 7 ft lbs. However, since the pan was upside down; oil got between the gasket and the pan as well as the between the gasket and the block. Will it be leak free, or does the pan need to come off and be reinstalled with a different procedure?

From: http://www.arnnworx.com/catalog/inde...d=37&chapter=1

Quote:

DANNO'S TRIED & TRUE OIL-PAN GASKET PROCEDURE
=====================================
Special Tools to get:
- 1/4" drive 10mm socket with built-in universal joint
- 6" and 3" extensions in 1/4" drive
- 1/4"-drive torque wrench
- 3M Fastak weatherstripping adhesive (AKA elephant-snot #08011, #08014, #08033 or #08034)
- or Yamabond-4 (not Yamabond-5).

remove pan, gasket and all traces of previous sealants.
wipe down all mating surfaces on block, gasket and pan with acetone.
repeat step #2 until mating surfaces are dull, there should be no shiny reflections.

measure thickness of oil-pan gasket and spacers with calipers

install 4 bolts into oil-pan, aim 2 per side upwards evenly spaced apart, use duct-tape over head to hold in place.

apply thin even layer of elephant-snot to pan surface (follow instructions on tube).

apply thin even layer of elephant-snot to bottom of gasket

apply thick wet stripe (0.50-0.75mm) of elephant-snot to top of pan surface

CAREFULLY lay down pan-gasket onto oil-pan mating surface, try to lay it down perfectly vertically with no sliding around necessary. The bolts help hold the center of the gasket from flopping off.

apply thin even layer of elephant-snot to top of oil-pan gasket.

apply thin even layer of elephant-snot to bottom of engine.

apply thick wet stripe (0.50-0.75mm) of elephant-snot to top of pan-gasket surface

install oil-pan: position oil-pan below engine and to the left (driver side) about 6". Tilt pan at 45-degrees downwards on the right side. Lift up and slide to the right to clear the oil-pickup tube past the baffle. When pan is centered under engine, raise right side to pan is even with block. The four bolts you taped to the pan should line up with the holes in the block.

install bolts #1 & #2 about 5mm into the block to hold pan in place. Remove duct tape and turn in the other four bolts about 5mm. Install rest of bolts about 5mm each.

BOLT-TIGHTENING SEQUENCE WILL TAKE FIVE STEPS (not 2-3x like in the manual, to avoid squeezing out oil-pan in any one spot prematurely)

HAND-TIGHTEN in TWO PASSES (no ratchet) all the pan bolts using the 10mm universal-socket and extensions so that the gasket is barely in contact with the block. Use the tightening sequence in the book. Then verify that the thickness of the pan gasket is still the same as the uncompressed thickness.

straighten out a metal coat-hanger and bend a 1/4" section at the tip 90-degrees. Use this to verify that the semi-circular section at the front & rear is installed into the pan and not caught up on the edge.

make a THIRD PASS using the 1/4" torque-wrench to 0.5 lb•ft. This should compress the gasket NO MORE than 0.5mm (verify with ruler). This will squeeze out the elephant-snot in little droplets all around the oil-pan. The gasket SHOULD NOT be bulging, sides should be flat.

wait OVERNIGHT (6-hours minimum) to allow the sealant to dry

make a FOURTH PASS over the pan-bolts with the 1/4" torque-wrench to 3 lb•ft. Verify that the oil-pan is squeezed evenly all around. It should be at the thickness of the internal spacer-washer.

make a FIFTH PASS over the pan-bolts to 10-12 lb•ft (whatever the manual states as final torque)

With this procedure, you should be able to drop a 1/4-stick of dynamite down the oil-filler tube and blow out EVERY single seal on the engine, including the rings and the pan-gasket will hold! I've even removed all the bolts and driven the car around under boost to confirm that the sealant holds!

That weatherstrip adhesive is an absolute holy queen master motherf***er to remove. I'm not going to use that. I have no doubt what he says is true...its good stuff but good luck to the poor guy in the future (me) who ever has to get back in there. I guess I'll take it down and reinstall from underneath with permatex ultrablack.

I've always oiled the oil pan gasket lightly, so it can move around a little while it's being torqued, and never had leaking problems.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Van (Post 13636427)

I've always oiled the oil pan gasket lightly, so it can move around a little while it's being torqued, and never had leaking problems.

Do you use any type of sealer? The factory did not.

I'd rather not take the pan off for no reason if I don't have to.

You can use Yamabond 4 instead of the window adhesive. It's not that bad to remove

Why would installing oil pan gasket on an engine turned upside down make it prone to leak? I understand that you are concerned about the oil that got between mating surfaces but honestly I doubt that it would matter at all if it was just a clean engine oil. It probably got squeezed out when you torqued down bolts. Just my 2 cents, I'm sure more wise guys will chime in soon.

I did mine dry 1.5 years ago under the car, no problems. I used my torque wrench:bigbye:

Factory used on corners Silastic 730 Dow Corning I suppose

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dougs951S (Post 13636482)

Do you use any type of sealer? The factory did not.

No, no sealer - not even in the corners.

Only on race cars, though. ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dougs951S (Post 13636324)

I always put a small coat of oil on the rubber gaskets and I used a tiny amount of black gasket maker on the corners. Leak free. I also do the same thing on the 16V cover. Oil holds torque and isn't going to create a high spot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CVR_Rally (Post 13639365)

I am updating this because I have a leak in the back right area right near the exhaust down pipe, almost on the corner. It had a weep in this area before I did the rod bearings a while back and it's back...probably never left so I wasn't sure it it was the pan gasket or not.

It has gotten worse lately, any high rpm use will cause the leak and of course the nasty smell. I've always wondered if it was the rear seal but the oil is only in one specific area.

I need to also put a new level sensor gasket on as that's soaked too.

Chris

I used Van's oil method with no sealant and I *think* it worked. Certainly, nothing was binding when I torqued it down, and everything fit into place nicely.

I have a very superficial leak near the front, maybe in the corner....but I suspect it's the lower balance seal.

the process that I used included preparation of the rubber gasket BEFORE installing. I wiped both sides of the gasket down with acetone to remove the mold release. Then I installed the gasket using the factory recommended procedure. I believe having a CLEAN rubber surface for the adhesive to stick to prevented gasket creep.