Oil Pan Keeps Leaking, Any Thoughts?? Oil Pressure??

[tsi1991awd]

When I bought this car, the oil pan was leaking right where the pan meets the block. I thought this was due to the idiots using RTV that was incompatible with oil.

When we took the oil pan off, we noticed there was a paper gasket AND RTV, but they over-torqued the pan so the flange was warped severly where the bolt holes were. Problem solved with a new (used) oil pan with a flat flange, right??

Get the new pan installed with black RTV only. Torqued correctly, flange isn't warped at all. Let it cure for 24+ hours and finish up other work on the car before filling it up with oil.

Oil is STILL leaking. This is really pissing me off because the shit is all over the garage floor. It's not a tiny leak either. When the car is running, you can literally see the oil seeping out from where the pan and block meet.

What could cause this? Oil pressure being too high? How would I lower the oil pressure if this is the case? The balance shafts are gone, this is a 1990 with the air cooled OFH...not sure if there is the pressure relief hole that can be ported out or not.

 

[SmoochDarling]

I had a similar problem,

to solve it I used the stock cork gasket, and used rtv to seal BOTH sides of the gasket. I then torqued it to SPEC. I had enough RTV on there so when it was torqued, i had a nice squished bead of RTV sealing the entire pan. No leaks so far!

 

[tsi1991awd]

Yea, I don't know what to think. Maybe "The Good Stuff" should be used. It's a bit stronger....pretty much the kind of shit you use when you don't ever want to get the two pieces separated ever again.

 

[SmoochDarling]

Oil pressure really also doesnt effect oil being pushed through your pan seal, but blowby would. Have you recently compression tested it?

 

[tsi1991awd]

No, haven't done a compression test. I was thinking maybe if the oil pressure was too high, it would try to find an easy exit by blowing the pan gasket. Dunno....weird stuff.

I know the car has 1g big rods, 2g pistons, SS valves (I think stock size) and a 3 angle valve job.

 

[EclipticalGS]

The pan shouldnt be leaking..If you have severe blowby, that would actually cause crankcase pressures and blow out your pan. Bad pcv valve could let boost get into the pan and pop it.

Are sure its not leaking from somewhere else.

 

[tsi1991awd]

Positive man. I know the first things that come to peoples minds are "front case" and "OFH" but it's not that. I have already cleaned all the oil off, turned the car on, got in view of the pan and witnessed the oil seep out from where the pan and block meet. It happens on the drivers side and front of the pan. can't see the passengers side and rear without having the car jacked up...and I don't want to be under the car like that with the engine running.

 

[Oldsid]

Pressure in the crankcase can also be caused by a faulty PCV valve. Boost can leak back to the crankcase from a faulty PCV and cause an oil leak and high oil consumption. A simple way to check if you have excessive pressure in the crankcase is to remove the breather hose that goes from the valve cover (close to the CAS) to the intake pipe. Close it with your finger and push the gas slightly. If you feel pressure on your finger, you have excessive pressure and the PCV may be faulty.
Check your PCV and clean it because it may be stuck. If you need to replace it, use an OEM one, no cheap ones.
This is one possibility for the leak but you also need to use a better gasket as suggested before.

 

[tsi1991awd]

The PCV I have no idea how old it is. On my last DSM I had, I ended up running a longer hose from the PCV to the nipple on the IM and put a one way check valve in place (well this was a catch can setup with a check valve between the nipple on the IM and the catch can) and never had any problems at all.

I will probably end up doing this and resealing the pan and see if that helps. Might just buy a cheap PCV at Auto Zone or something since I am running the check valve anyways. I had an OEM one that I could blow in either side right out of the box, for my last DSM. So....yea.

 

[my98gsx]

the cork gaskets are junk... do not use them. I worked for a car quest for many years and had oil pan leaking problems. I found out that the cork gasket is not a stock part. This is an aftermarket gasket used my companys ( ex felpro and victor ). I called mitsubishi dealers for an OEM gasket and it came back to an rtv part number. NOT black rtv. What you need to use is made by permatex its called ultra GREY. this is high pressure rtv, it dries harder then the ultra black. Take your pan off clean it and reinstall with the ultra grey and NO GASKET! i garentee your leaking problems will be 100% over as long as you do this correctly.

 

[e85_4g63]

warped block?

 

[Boomdeeze]

I used the RTV ultra blue and it sealed great. But the ultra grey seems like it would seal alot better for the oil pan. Check to see if your block is warped and if its not, buy a new oil pan gasket and put ultra grey RTV on both side of the gasket and torque it down to spec.

 

[velocitysport31]

I don't use any other gasket sealer other then the brand " The Right Stuff " the tube is pressurized so you can get a nice even bead, ive never had a leak with this stuff, even with old motors with blow by. Run a bead around tell you get to the bolt holes and go to the inside of the hole, then tighten the bolts from the inside out. Torq if you like i've never have had to used a torque wrench on a oil pan.

the cork gaskets are junk... do not use them. I worked for a car quest for many years and had oil pan leaking problems. I found out that the cork gasket is not a stock part. This is an aftermarket gasket used my companys ( ex felpro and victor ). I called mitsubishi dealers for an OEM gasket and it came back to an rtv part number. NOT black rtv. What you need to use is made by permatex its called ultra GREY. this is high pressure rtv, it dries harder then the ultra black. Take your pan off clean it and reinstall with the ultra grey and NO GASKET! i garentee your leaking problems will be 100% over as long as you do this correctly.

Yes there is a factory 6-bolt cork oil pan gasket not for 7-bolts

 

[tsi1991awd]

I have used the good stuff or whatever its called, by Permatex....which would be better? That or ultra grey?

 

[2slow4now]

+1 my98gsx same thing I found out. I would still check the pcv system and look over your front case/oil pump.

 

[BigBeans]

the cork gaskets are junk... do not use them. I worked for a car quest for many years and had oil pan leaking problems. I found out that the cork gasket is not a stock part. This is an aftermarket gasket used my companys ( ex felpro and victor ). I called mitsubishi dealers for an OEM gasket and it came back to an rtv part number. NOT black rtv. What you need to use is made by permatex its called ultra GREY. this is high pressure rtv, it dries harder then the ultra black. Take your pan off clean it and reinstall with the ultra grey and NO GASKET! i garentee your leaking problems will be 100% over as long as you do this correctly.

My oil pan is going to be coming off tmrw and i was wondering what the ideal sealer is.

Thanks for a great post.

 

[my98gsx]

well i have a 7 bolt. so i dont know about the 6 bolt gasket... anyways you should never use rtv and a gasket. the only thing that should ever go on a gasket is indian head sealer ( the brown stickey sealer ) DO NOT MIX RTV WITH A GASKET! ultra grey will be just fine by itsself.

 

[EclipticalGS]

Well, I just used a felpro gasket and its sealed perfect. Now next time I take my oil pan off, I wont ahve to bend the shit out of it. Try taking your pan off after using ultra grey...You'll end up bending your brand new pan all to shit.

 

[tsi1991awd]

I NEVER use a gasket plus RTV. But these idiots that put the motor back together used this shitty ass white RTV on EVERYTHING. It's a flimsy white RTV that I don't think is oil compatible even.

When I took off the VC (it was cracked), I noticed they used the Fel-Pro PERMADRY gasket, which SPECIFICALLY says on the box DO NOT USE WITH RTV, INSTALL DRY...which I always have. No wonder the ####ing thing was leaking on the cam gear side. Put in a new Fel-Pro gasket and installed the new VC....no problems whatsoever.

Hate to see what else they used this shit on...I know they sealed the IM with it. Idiots.

 

[EclipticalGS]

someone else built your motor and used white rtv on everything?? Thats almost jsut as bad as the motor that was built for me by the graveyard. Blue rtv on the pan, Water pump seal, oil pump...Guess what leaked...the pan, water pump blew out, and oil pump leaked.

Man no one has ever heard of nice new gaskets? Or is it that shops are so cheap, so instead of buying all new gaskets for a build, they throw rtv on everything that "seems" like it can go.

I only use rtv on coolant housing and plug for BSEK.

Goodluck

 

[Boomdeeze]

When you say the blue shi* sucks, do you mean the regular blue or the ultra blue?

 

[slowgsr]

pull the pan, and clean it extremely well, I would use a wire wheel on a grinder. Once its clean, clean the surface with brake clean, then clean the mating surface on the block with brake clean, and make sure theres no debris on there.

You need to use JUST black rtv, no gasket. Put a bead all the way around the pan, and around each screw hole. Get a friend to help you place the pan up so it goes up perfectly square, and throw a few bolts in it.

Get the rest of the bolts in, and tighten them up, just a bit at a time, and evenly all the way around. Tigthen them JUST untill you see a bit of RTV squeeze out all the way around. Then come back to it in 12hours, and tigthen them up to spec.

Doing it this way, even if you pan is slightly warped, I don't understand how It can leak.

 

[SmoochDarling]

Ive done 3 oilpans with RTV plus the cork gasket. Seals GREAT. Not one leak.. A little bit of RTV goes a long way.

 

[EclipticalGS]

Oh yeah, to the OP, There are two "longer" bolts for the oil pan, and if you put these two long bolts somewhere other than the front case, that can cause the pan not to seal at the spot the longer bolt is at.. Thats another problem Ive seen someone have. Good luck

 

[tsi1991awd]

someone else built your motor and used white rtv on everything?? Thats almost jsut as bad as the motor that was built for me by the graveyard. Blue rtv on the pan, Water pump seal, oil pump...Guess what leaked...the pan, water pump blew out, and oil pump leaked.

Man no one has ever heard of nice new gaskets? Or is it that shops are so cheap, so instead of buying all new gaskets for a build, they throw rtv on everything that "seems" like it can go.

I only use rtv on coolant housing and plug for BSEK.

Goodluck

I bought this car from some asshat douchebag, the motor was rebuilt...I have pics of the rebuild and I know it is the same motor because they used some type of silver coating on the outside of the head and block to make it look new. Pics of the motor being pulled and put back into the car...the car is the same car in all the pics, same license plate I have, etc. etc.

They however, DID NOT build the motor like they should've, it seems. The oil pan had a paper gasket with white flimsy ass RTV, the oil pickup tube had RTV used on it....WHY CAN'T YOU USE A GASKET ASSHOLES!!?!? BIG NO NO using RTV on the pickup tube. The oil strainer had strands of RTV hanging off of it so I changed the tube and strainer. The valve cover had this RTV, who knows what else does....maybe the OFH and the front case have this shit holding it together as well, I don't know.

They had a cheap ass ebay AFPR on there, didn't even have the right fitting for the fuel rail outlet so they took a piece of flat aluminum and RTV'd it to a flat fitting for the fuel rail....maybe cut the stock FPR or something. I put in a STOCK FPR and when I took that make-shift fitting off of the fuel rail, it fell apart into 2 pieces BECAUSE THAT RTV ISN'T MADE FOR FUEL, WTF!??!?

Somehow there's oil EVERYWHERE...all over the intake manifold, against the firewall, etc. etc. I pulled the coil pack out to relocate it near the drivers side strut tower. Oil was all over it. Oil all in the space by the IM where the coil pack goes....I mean, shit what happened? He said the timing belt had snapped which is why they needed to do the rebuild....but that doesn't explain why oil would be everywhere still. Unless he was running without a goddamn oil cap on or something.

There was no lower cover, no timing plate, the timing was set at -11 degrees because they couldn't time the ####ing thing because there were no timing marks anywhere to do so. Timing belt was soaked in oil...changed that out and put a lower timing cover on it because the belt was starting to crack.

I mean do you really want me to continue? This car's a ####ing headache....I have fixed many more things than mentioned above, and I still have kinks to work out.