Oil pan gasket leak

[searcherrr]

As most of you know there is just a little half moon shaped gasket that mounts on one side of the oil pan on the winnies. I have the 95 3.8L.

Almost like clockwork, my 3 year or 75k miles warranty on my Jasper engine expired earlier this year in February and now the oil gasket (I'm pretty sure it is the oil pan gasket and not the crankshaft seal gasket like i'd thought before) is bulging outward from the edge of the pan. I don't even have but like maybe 20k miles on this new engine.

What is involved in replacing this and would I use RTV on the gasket to hold it in place so this won't happen again in the future or would I just RTV everywhere BUT the half moon shaped gasket goes? Could I just RTV the entire pan and nix the half moon rubber gasket altogether?

Please tell me I don't have to remove the exhaust pipe. I hate disturbing the exhaust piping. When I took the original exhaust off it was all rusted together.

[olopezm]

Straight from the service manual:

OIL PAN

Removal
1. Disconnect negative battery cable. Raise and support vehicle. Drain engine oil, and remove oil filter.
2. Remove exhaust pipe assembly located below oil pan. Remove starter and torque converter housing cover. Disconnect oil level sensor electrical connector. Remove retaining bolts, oil pan and seals.

Installation
To install, reverse removal procedure. Before installing oil pan, apply Silicone Sealant (F1AZ-19562-A) on oil pan rails of cylinder block, rear main bearing cap and front cover-to-cylinder block areas. Tighten oil pan bolts to specification. See, in this article, TORQUE SPECIFICATIONS . Fill oil system.

CAUTION: Ensure silicone sealant fills groove between rear main bearing cap and
cylinder block at both edges of main bearing cap.

----------------------------------------------------

Wish you wouldn't need to remove the exhaust but as far as the manual says you must... Maybe somebody else has done it without such hassle.

Oscar.

[wiswind]

I am guessing that, as you list, it is leaking.
At least for the 1996, the oil pan "gasket" was "liquid gasket maker" as stated in ALLDATA.
That would be RTV to you and I.
Getting that oil pan off to do this is a ROYAL PAIN as the "Y" pipe is right in the way.
NO wiggle room to work around it.
Once you move that pan a little......you will need to clean and reapply the sealant all the way around, or you will just move the leak issue to a new location on the oil pan.

Try shining a light up from under the vehicle to make SURE that this oil is not running or DRIPPING (even tougher to find) from above or next to....or blowing back from the oil filter gasket or other location.
I would hate for you to do all this work to reseal the oil pan, only to find that it was something simple, like a leak at the oil filter gasket blowing back.

There is another thread where a member is looking for help with "CMP setup 1995", have you adjusted the position of the Camshaft Position Sensor?.....or do you have instructions for this?......I don't know if this is different for the 1995 from the 1996 or not......it may be.

[searcherrr]

Well, I've been under there and inspected pretty good with a flashlight. It is pretty obvious that the half-moon shaped gasket is bulging outward from the pan edge.... unless that is extra RTV, either way its coming from there, but I will do another inspection to be sure before I start.

I never adjusted the CMP myself. I found the importance of it being right too critical to do myself, so I let a tech do it and these days it is hard to find someone who knows how unless they are a senior tech or a young person who got taught by a Senior tech. I did have to buy the adjustment tools though online, from OTC tools and/or ebay. Hope that helps somewhat.

[tomj76]

I just pulled and replaced the oil pan on our 3.8L engine this spring. I could be mistaken, but I think there is only one half-circle gasket, located at the back of the engine. The front seal is formed by a bead of RTV. If that's the case, then it is normal to see swollen "rubber" in that location. If you have an oil leak, it may be the seal anyway, but the bulge may not be the "smoking gun" you're looking for.

[gene21]

searcherrr... let us know how things turned out...