Hey guys, borrowed a lift at work tidy and finally got around to resealing my oil pan. The good News is not a bit of sludge was seen when the pan was dropped. However and this is my question, in order for me to remove my oil pan gasket (GM 3.8 v6) I had to remove my oil pick up. The gasket in these cars are also a windage try and I could not drop it without pulling the pickup. Any way I did not have a new paper gasket for the pick up, so I just used some liquid gasket stuff. The car has perfect oil pressure now, and runs fine. I worry about the long term effects. Should I be worried. Will the seal hold for years?
It may make the next time you remove the pan it may be able to remove it. Did you clean the surfaces good?
What was the liquid gasket stuff ,silicone? may not last long . permagasket? It could last awhile as the oil is really splashing around and hot. Check for leaks regularly especially if you a full synthetic oil
cubpilot
I used this stuff that the Honda mechanics i work with had, and it was badged Honda. It was gray, and they thought I would be fine. Yes we cleaned both surfaces very well with a special grinder they lent me as well.
It’s going to be impossible to determine whether the liquid sealer holds up or not. Personally, I would have never used it.
Hopefully by liquid sealer you’re referring to a product similar to Indian Head Shellac, etc. and not something similar to RTV sealers. The RTV type products should NEVER be used on any part that has anything at all to do with oil flow. Many people have found out the hard way when a dab of sealer came loose and became wedged in an oil galley and which then led to a trashed engine due to oil starvation.
That’s not a good place for RTV and when I read “gray Honda product” RTV comes to mind. If any of the plastic gets loose and passes through the pump the filter will take care of it so it may not be too much of a threat.
This stuff was designed for use on the oil pans and valve cover gaskets. Also I am right when I think the oil goes from the pickup right into the filter??
If it did start to leak the down side would be a loss of oil pressure right??
I talked with the tech who lent me the tube of Hondabond. He had gone home by the time I used it for the pick up. He also thinks it should be OK long term, he sugested I just keep an eye on my oil pressure. The paper gasket was so brittle and old, I cant imagion it being much better then the sealent I used.
Am I just fooling my self? Should I drop the pan again and re-do it all, for the sake of a $.50 gasket?? Can it wait till the next oil change in 5,000 miles?
I think everyone here is getting a bit too cautious.
Firstly, yes the oil goes from the pickup right into the filter.
Secondly, the oil pan gasket is above the pool of oil in the pan. Frankly, youo could run an engine with th epickup tube dipped into a bedpan full of oil, annd as long as the top of the pool remained above the pickup screen, as long as the pickup screen remained immersed, the engine would maintain oil pressure, maintain proper lubrication, and run normally. A leak in the oiloan gasket will not and cannot cause low pressure as long as the oil level is maintained per the dipstick.
As to the pump drawing in air bubbles, the crankcase is pressureized by blowby. And volume removed from the crankcase by the oil pump is replaced 1:1 by the oil running back into the crankcase via the return channels. The oil pump will not create a vacuum, will not draw in air bubbles. Especially considering that the leak would be above the oil pool and the pickup screen below.
In short, while the material you used may make the oilpan harder to remove in future, I can’t see where it would cause a problem as long as the pickup was properly reinstalled with clearance between the pan bottom and the screem. It sounds like it was, bacause if it were not you’d have low oil pressure.
Thank you Mountainbike, but I think I may need to clarify. I am not worried about the pan gasket… I am worried about the oil pick up gasket. On this motor (GM 3.8) The pickup tube bolts into the engine block with two bolts. When the crank case is filled this is above the oil level in the pan.
This point where the tube meets the block had a paper gasket (which was old and brittle any way) when I pulled it off, but since I did not have a new paper gasket to install I used the Hondabond HT between the block and the tube.
See the pic below to get a better idea of what I mean (repalce gasket 3 (PS the gasket looks thik in the pic, but in real life was very thin) with sealent, is what I did).
I think the concern of the others and thus me, is that if A) the seal gets broken over time I will suck air and not oil, thus causing an oil pressure problem… And B) if the sealant was to brake free it would get stuck in the motor somewhere (however since it goes right into the filter, I don’t see this as a problem right now)…