Help Leak-proofin' My Sbc Oil Pan

After trying several different things to keep my cheapie chrome oil pan from leaking I sanded and wire-brushed the radiused ends of it, wiped the pan rails and ends with solvent, and put a good sized bead of Black RTV sealant on the radiused ends. Then I cleaned a Felpro #34509T gasket with solvent and put it on the pan, and then installed the pan on the block, tightening the bolts a bit beyond snug.

The next day I took the pan down and trimmed any excess RTV sealant, cleaned the top of the gasket and block with solvent, and remounted the pan/gasket. It did not leak for about a month, and then started at the rear. After removing it I noticed that the RTV sealant had come away from the pan, but was still attached to the gasket, and that's where it had leaked, between the pan and gasket.

I like the "old school" look of a chrome oil pan, but it's becoming more of a "no leak" issue at this point, so I have a couple of questions:

1. Would Permatex Aviation Form-A-Gasket bond better to the pan and gasket?

2. Does anyone sell a good chrome oil pan for a SBC?

2. If the OEM GM stamped oil pans are the best choice for no leaks,
then what about taking one to a chrome shop after making sure it's not leaking?

3. What about an aluminum oil pan? Prices seem to range from $79.00 - $132.00. Does anyone offer a good quality one that's not made in China?

Your expertise is appreciated.

 

Wipe the chrome with Brakleen or carb cleaner. 3M weather strip adhesive. That stringy, snotty stuff. It stick to steel.
Smokey

 

toss that piece of **** and find an old original pan, clean it up, paint it, put it on, no problems any more.

 

try using weather strip glue to seal the gasket to the pan instead of sealant it worked on my pan

 

What squirrel said, those cheap aluminum ones **** worse than the chrome one you have now!

 

since i was a kid,i remeber my dad always used elephant snot(weatherstrip adheisive),,but about 10 years back i started using the indian head shellac for the gaskets.

a bead of black RTV around the front and rear(let the RTV set up a few mintues or so before mounting)

but yeah,those taiwan chrome ones are usually ****ty...

you sure your rear main isnt leaking?

 

chrome bad -oem good, also over tightening bad

 

Clean everything up and go buy a one piece oil pan gasket from Fel-pro. They are about 30 bucks and well worth the money, a quality gasket. I've seen many hold up under seasons of racing circle track with no leaks including my own.

 

Besides, it's hard to see the chrome oil pan. Get an OEM and powder coat it if you need shiney(ish).

 

anearobic sealer will work much better than silicone.

and the one piece fel-pro gasket works wonders.

 

I've got the same problem with the chrome pan on my sbc. It was leaking before I ever started the engine!!!

 

Also check the holes in the pan for puckering, like an ***hole puckers lol....every engine they get bolted to, they pucker in slightly and sometimes you have to tap each hole flat again before you use the pan youself and get that right amount of tension. Same with rocker covers..........I better lay off the ****............................Bert

 

One shop I worked at years ago, they used to guarantee their motors to not leak oil. We plugged the breathers and fill tube (if equipped) and hooked a vacuum pump to the motor (can use a shop vac but have to have enough hose to get it far enough away to defeat the noise of the vac motor). With a stethoscope, run around the gasket surfaces listening for air getting ****ed in & touch a dab of silicone to those spots. Worked every time. Course we always used premium Fel Pro or McCord gaskets too.

 

Sealer of any kind will not fix this, betting that it was over tightened or not true to begin with. Getting an oil pan to seal right takes a delicate hand....

 

WORD, end of story!!-MIKE

 

I posted this awhile back, but it never made it to the Tech Forum.

Maybe it'll eventually get there.

I had a similar problem with a pan, this is what I did:

Don't know why, but it seems like SBCs seem to like to stake out their territory like a male dog .

Here's a trick I used to seal up some leaks on a '29 on '32 rails roadster with a SBC several years ago.

I had an old vacuum pump that was used for doing A/C work. It was actually made from an old refrigerator compressor if I remember right.

Drained the motor oil out.

Duct taped over all the oil breather and oil filler openings.

Pulled out the dipstick.

Hooked this el-cheapo vacuum pump to the dipstick tube and started pumping.

Took a piece of fuel line hose and held one end to my ear and the other to the oil pan gasket sealing flange areas.

You'll hear a whistle where the leak is. Mark it. You might have several.

Clean the area(s) with some Brake-Clean.

With the vacuum pump still running, put a dab of silicone sealer where the leaks are. On one spot, I watched the stuff get ****ed into the hole .

Pull off the pump, let the stuff cure. Recheck again with the pump. Pull off the tape, refill with oil and keep an eye on it for any leaks.

It worked for me. I neutered that leaker. After that, it didn't stake out it's territory anymore.<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

 

RTV is an evil product.

If you can't make it seal with a gasket & some grease, you've got a warped pan. Period.

Oil pans (and auto ****** pans, & stamped steel valve covers, etc.) cannot be overtightened or they WILL leak.

I've never had an oil pan leak & never used anything but grease on my gaskets. But were I to have an oil pan leak, the first thing I'd do is to re-work the mounting flange until it is flat. If you can't get it flat because it's too stretched - get another pan.

Glomming on a ****load of RTV is just plain lazy. While it has its uses, replacing gaskets (the OEMs be damned) ain't what it's for.