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.

 

[EclipticalGS]

Im sorry but in this strange occurance, like I had with my rebuilt motor by the graveyard, Just dissassemble the bi***, get some gasket kits, replace any worn parts, and deal with a leak free motor.

Oil on the firwall could be from oil pan seal blowing out from a bad pcv valve so when you hit boost, your pan leak sprays oil all over...Your turbo return is leaking and rolls off the bottom of the pan, ofh and front case gaskets are very essential and cant be just RTV, those can leak very easily too.

I feel you though man, I spent $2500 on a motor built by a vendor here that leaks oil, water, air, and more oil. I am tearin it down and replacing parts for free after talking to the owner, and doing everything the right way.

The even sadder part, those "free" parts were ordered by me via phone 2 weeks ago, and they STILL havent got them to me, or even have them so I can pick them up!?

I feel your frustration.

 

[falcon8r]

Sorry to hear about the engine. Well now you can intimate with it, put back correctly. The sealer you want is Permatex's "The Right Stuff" . It comes in tubes and cans. I do mechanic work and the right stuff keeps people from coming back. It is a factory use rtv -it's the grey stuff whatever. It can replace gaskets relaibaly. Lots of other engines use no gaskets on the oil pan, just sealer. Tres....

 

[tsi1991awd]

Im sorry but in this strange occurance, like I had with my rebuilt motor by the graveyard, Just dissassemble the bi***, get some gasket kits, replace any worn parts, and deal with a leak free motor.

Oil on the firwall could be from oil pan seal blowing out from a bad pcv valve so when you hit boost, your pan leak sprays oil all over...Your turbo return is leaking and rolls off the bottom of the pan, ofh and front case gaskets are very essential and cant be just RTV, those can leak very easily too.

Yea, I am beginning to think it is probably the PCV allowing boost into the crankcase and caused the seal to blow out and it's spraying oil everywhere. And since it's already ####ed, when the car is just idling, you can see the oil seeping from where the pan and block meet.

Sorry to hear about the engine. Well now you can intimate with it, put back correctly. The sealer you want is Permatex's "The Right Stuff" . It comes in tubes and cans. I do mechanic work and the right stuff keeps people from coming back. It is a factory use rtv -it's the grey stuff whatever. It can replace gaskets relaibaly. Lots of other engines use no gaskets on the oil pan, just sealer. Tres....

I used The Right Stuff on the oil pan for my old DSM. Worked good....but then again, I already had my catch can set up installed with an inline check valve so boost never saw the crankcase...assuming this is what happened with my car now. Except isn't The Right Stuff black, not grey?

 

[EclipticalGS]

Just use Permatex Ultra-black = win on an oil pan. But have fun taking it back off

 

[tunethis]

Get yourself a Mitsubishi pcv valve for your car, they are designed for boost. The cheap auto store pcv valves aren't designed to hold back boost and will leak. I don't know about that oil leak. It's weird how it leaks while the car is idling. Something may be warped.

 

[tsi1991awd]

As I mentioned earlier, on my last DSM, I had a Mitsu PCV and I could blow into both sides just like the cheap one I got from AutoZone....I ended up using a one way check valve in line check valve anyways because of my catch can setup, so it didn't bother me.....i will probably just get another cheap AutoZone one and run a check valve.

 

[tsi1991awd]

I changed the PCV, installed a check valve between the PCV and nipple on the intake manifold and replaced the hose going from PCV to nipple.....oil still plastered the crossmember, firewall, etc. etc.

So today I run the car up to the guy who did my oil pan, he takes the lower cover off, alternator belt, timing belt, etc. And they clean everything. They spray it all down good with brake cleaner and wipe it down, spray the oil pan, etc. Everything's good and clean. I witness it being spotless.

We get the car on the lift and let it idle.....it's idling, idling...nothing happening. They go to work on another car and I'm watching for the oil. I see nothing coming from the oil pan, nothing from the front case, nothing from the OFH.

I would say maybe 3 or 4 minutes later, I see oil coming from one spot where the oil pan and block meet.....it starts to run along the seam toward the front of the engine. I call my guy over and we start looking with the flashlight and he says he doesn't think it's the oil pan leaking because if it was the pan, it would leak from the pan down....it wouldn't get all over everything else.

We check around and see little tiny "mist" up near the water pump, meanwhile I'm still monitoring down at the pan and the block....we keep looking around and notice the front case start to get slightly shiny and there I am still looking at the one spot where the pan and block meet and the oil is steadily flowing along the seam....it's not being kicked up by the timing belt or anything.

Well, we lower the car and look from the top and can't see much....turn the car off and raise the car up again. I notice that the timing belt is now wet with oil, one of the timing belt tensioners now has oil on it as well as the back side of the crank pulley. It was dry beforehand.

So I am thinking 90% that it's the crank seal....BUT my question is, would the crank seal leaking make it look like the oil pan was leaking? Because pretty much around the crank pulley area is where I see the seepage start to form and run down along the pan/block.

 

[T is for TURBO]

Just curious to see if you figured this out?

 

[tsi1991awd]

Yea, it ended up being the oil pump. The castle plug was never tightened down all the way and the O-ring behind it was turned to hard plastic. Even though it looked like it was coming from the seam at the pan and block, it ended up dripping down from the castle plug and running along that seam.

The driven gear wiggled around when you touched it, so I'm assuming the clearance was bad anyways.

Ended up replacing the whole pump and now it's as good as new.

 

[99vipereater]

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

Incorrect! There are two SHORTER bolts that go in the front cover. One goes in a blind hole, and the other goes directly below the timming belt. Which is an open hole. If you put a long bolt in this hole it can rub on your timming belt and ruin it.

I have a leaking oil pan after re-building the engine and it is in the same area front drivers side of the block behind the oil fillter. I used Ultra Grey and it is a BiT@H to take off without bending the pan. I think my problem was caused by blowby because, it is a new engine and had 24 psi dumped into it on the dyno. My venilation system is not stock either it is two -08 an lines ran into a catch can and a -10an line ran back to the intake to pull the air through it.

I am going to clean the matting surface and this time use "The Great Stuff" by permatex and hope it solves my problem. What a PITA taking off your oil pan can be Round Two here I come.

 

[sciondan]

My 1990 was factory sealed without a gasket and man was that a bi*** to get off. Cleaned the mating surface and used a gasket to reinstall. Leak free for about 300 miles then one started near the front case. Checked the bolt torque and they were loose. Re-torqued and all good again. Used my factory manual spec, so is there a different spec for gasket use? The gasket was not the cork but a rubber one.

 

[99vipereater]

My 1990 was factory sealed without a gasket and man was that a bi*** to get off. Cleaned the mating surface and used a gasket to reinstall. Leak free for about 300 miles then one started near the front case. Checked the bolt torque and they were loose. Re-torqued and all good again. Used my factory manual spec, so is there a different spec for gasket use? The gasket was not the cork but a rubber one.

I think a rubber gasket would be a good idea. I don't know if I would trust a cork one with the crank pressure out cars see. Problem is I don't know if anyone makes a rubber gasket for 2gs

 

[bryanwheat]

The pan isn't designed to use a gasket. There is a valley along the rail for the rtv to fill and create a seal. Pans that are designed to use a gasket will have a raised area all the way around to dig into the gasket and hold it in place. You don't need anything but some permatex ultra grey rtv, some paper towels and a bottle of acetone. You surfaces have to be spotless, no rtv or oil. Put a bead all the way around the pan, install it and torque the bolts immediately. Don't let the rtv dry before torquing the pan. That will cause it to squish out. You want all the excess to squish out when it is wet. You aren't trying to make a gasket, you are only filling the small gaps between the pan and block.

 

[elterror]

The cars are not designed for them but they do sell them at any auto parts store, and do work great. There is alot of things on these cars that people put on them that are not desgined for the car but it does not mean it does not work... Plus if you use a gasket on anything you should NOT add any kind of other silicon gasket because that just adds a bigger gap in between the seal! You CAN to many things tho but need to add very very small amount.

 

[sciondan]

The cars are not designed for them but they do sell them at any auto parts store, and do work great. There is alot of things on these cars that people put on them that are not desgined for the car but it does not mean it does not work... Plus if you use a gasket on anything you should NOT add any kind of other silicon gasket because that just adds a bigger gap in between the seal! You CAN to many things tho but need to add very very small amount.

exactly, Manufactures are not making these gaskets to rip you off knowing you will have a leak. It's just another option and a good one if you need to drop your pan again for any reason.

 

[bryanwheat]

Yes you can make the gasket seal, BUT the rtv will work better every time if you use it right. For the first 3 or 4 years that i was building these engines i used gaskets. IT was always hit and miss. Because the lack of metal collar in the gasket you can't torque the bolts tight enough for them to stay put or else the gasket will squish out. So you are left with putting loctite on the bolts so they don't back out because they will if you do not. Than about ten years ago i bought a factory service manual and saw that they recommended rtv. I have done them like that for ten years straight with not one single leak. So again, yes it can be done, it might leak, it might squish out, or you can just pick up a tube of rtv for 5 bucks and it will not leak for the life of the engine.

 

[elterror]

Yes you can make the gasket seal, BUT the rtv will work better every time if you use it right. For the first 3 or 4 years that i was building these engines i used gaskets. IT was always hit and miss. Because the lack of metal collar in the gasket you can't torque the bolts tight enough for them to stay put or else the gasket will squish out. So you are left with putting loctite on the bolts so they don't back out because they will if you do not. Than about ten years ago i bought a factory service manual and saw that they recommended rtv. I have done them like that for ten years straight with not one single leak. So again, yes it can be done, it might leak, it might squish out, or you can just pick up a tube of rtv for 5 bucks and it will not leak for the life of the engine.

Of course it will work everytime and can be done! IF YOU KNOW HOW TO BEAD IT CORRECTLY!, like explained in the service manual. Some people slap a bunch of rtv on it and think the more you put on it the more it will stop the leaks... WRONG!! But of course you know i dont have to tell you this sins seems like you bin using it for quite sometime, just saying for those other folks out there.

 

[chrysler kid]

Yes you can make the gasket seal, BUT the rtv will work better every time if you use it right. For the first 3 or 4 years that i was building these engines i used gaskets. IT was always hit and miss. Because the lack of metal collar in the gasket you can't torque the bolts tight enough for them to stay put or else the gasket will squish out. So you are left with putting loctite on the bolts so they don't back out because they will if you do not. Than about ten years ago i bought a factory service manual and saw that they recommended rtv. I have done them like that for ten years straight with not one single leak. So again, yes it can be done, it might leak, it might squish out, or you can just pick up a tube of rtv for 5 bucks and it will not leak for the life of the engine.

I am bumping this thread for this one post

My pan has been leaking and it had rtv and a cork gasket on it. It was impossible to get the pan off of the block and now that the pan is off I can tell the bolt holes on the pan are all dimpled inwards from tightening them every time a leak came up.

Do not use a cork gasket because it will mess up your pan when you torque it down completely, atleast that's what the previous owner or shop did