RTV sealant on engine repairs

[Thecarfixerguy]

I'm assembling my 7 bolt engine and I have all the paper gaskets for stuff like front cover, oil filter housing, etc... I work on newer cars for a living and most of these types of joints are sealed with high quality RTV sealants on newer cars. Are people still using the paper gaskets or have people switched them out for RTV? The only place I see where I would be concerned is around pressurized oil ports. Most newer cars use rubber orings for these passages instead of relying on RTV.

on a side note, should I reseal the castle plug when doing a balance shaft delete or just leave the castle plug alone? Is it known to leak?

 

[steve]

RTV only where it says to use it in the FSM. The castle plug has an o-ring to seal it and often won't come loose without the matching castellated socket or something you make to fit.

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

There’s a few exceptions, but for the most part if Mitsubishi put a gasket there in the 90s a gasket still goes there. As steve mentioned, if the FSM calls for sealant then use sealant, prime example of this that people for years have gotten mixed up is the oil pan, sealant only to seal the oil pan just as Mitsubishi originally called out yet people put the aftermarket cork gasket there all the time and proceed to have issues.

 

[97egl]

Oil pan, end cam caps, and Thermostat Housing to the cylinder head are about the only places I can think off the top of my head that I use RTV. The factory did use a gasket on the thermostat housing but for whatever reason they don't come in most engine gasket kits and aren't always easy to find. RTV has worked without issues for me in that spot but everywhere else especially on the oil pump cover and OFH I can't see RTV working well

 

[diambo4life]

RTV works great. It's all about technique; Surface prep, not putting too much or too little and giving it a proper 24 hour cure time.

 

[99dsmer4g63]

For what it’s worth I don’t remove the castle plug if the motor is out of the car or it already has a BSE while in the car.

If you remove the oil pump cover from the rear of the front case then both gears will come out after removing the cover. I then stick the end of the stub shaft lightly in a vice, apply a drop of loctite to the original BS bolt and torque to spec. Then resemble the case with some Vaseline packed in the gears.

Be sure to use an impact screwdriver on the #2 Phillips screw if you proceed this way. They are easily stripped.

I like to do it this way because of exactly what Steve posted. As I don’t have the special socket and neglected to make one myself.

-Daniel

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Easy to make

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