2G stretching oil pan bolts?

mitsumike0 · Aug 28, 2015

Alright so i need to know if this true or not. About 2 months ago, i fixed my cracked oil pan and put rtv(the right stuff by permatex) on the pan. I go under the car the other day and its wet around the bead of rtv and i see motor oil building on the tcase. So me being curious, i grabbed my 10mm ratchet to see if they were lose and believe it or not, some were! After the rtv dried that day, i rechecked to see if everything was still in spec and everything looked fine. When doing this job, i reused the old bolts because my new bolts did not arrive on time and i needed the car out of the garage. Do these bolts stretch? Should i put my new bolts in and tighten it again?

2gmitsueclipse · Aug 28, 2015

The bolts are should not be torqued enough to stretch. There are a couple possibilities as to why your pan is leaking.

The pan flanges were not straight/flat
too much or too little sealant
Mating surfaces not cleaned well enough
Damage to flange area
Too much or too little torque on the pan bolts.
sealant was given too much time to "skin over"

Here is a great resource for oil pan installation:

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curt-s · Aug 28, 2015

undertorque may have caused them to back out over time?
we are talking inch pounds here, really. they will not stretch at that level. you dont need new bolts unless the threads are messed up or you do not have the correct lengths.
if you do it again, you could always clean out the threads and add a dab of blue loctite.

donniekak · Aug 28, 2015

A properly installed oil pan won't leak even after all the bolts are removed. They need to be pryed off the pan rails. Now I'm sure if you tried to operate the vehicle for any length of time with no pan bolts, you'd have an issue.

mitsumike0 · Aug 28, 2015

Would you guys recommend tightening the bolts and seeing my results? Or remove the pan and reseal it?

2gmitsueclipse · Aug 28, 2015

mitsumike0 said:
Would you guys recommend tightening the bolts and seeing my results? Or remove the pan and reseal it?

If you want to fix the leak, then you will need to remove the oil pan. Check the items listed, and check out the video posted.

Archer Fabrications · Aug 28, 2015

I bet they backed out from motor vibration. And did you make sure your "right stuff" (which is effin awesome btw i use it) cured before you even turned on the car?

donniekak · Aug 28, 2015

mitsumike0 said:
Would you guys recommend tightening the bolts and seeing my results? Or remove the pan and reseal it?

I know this may not be the most popular answer, but I use a new pan every time I remove one. It's the only way to guarantee the pan is perfectly flat. I'd try again with a new pan. Make sure the mating surfaces are clean of any debris.

Also I believe the reason your bolts backed out is because they were torqued into a hole with old rtv, or oil in it. When tightening it feels like the bolts are tight, but they are either pressing on rtv, or hydrlocked from oil residue. After some time the pressure under the bolt bleeds off, leaving it loose.

Chase all bolt holes with a tap, and blow them out with compressed air.

Archer Fabrications · Aug 29, 2015

You can flaten the flange with a rubber mallot if the flange is on a true flat surface, like a thick metal work bench.

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2G stretching oil pan bolts?

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