Oil Pan leaks again

[funracer]

Rebuilt the engine in March. Replaced the old leaky oil pan gasket with
new gasket and RTV. Leaked. Replaced that last week with the
Right Stuff RTV. Upon initial start, no leaks for 30 seconds, then begins leaking aproximately 1 drop per second (does not sound like a lot, but it is) from the left front corner at the oil pan seal.

When I have the oil pan off it says to check that the edge is smooth and
not bent or dented. Mine looks smooth to the eye but is dimpled up at each bolt hole, I would guess from over torquing in the past. Perhaps this is the problem. If so I believe I will need a new oil pan.

Another consideration is blocked PCV system. During my rebuild the EGR system looked pretty clean and I did put in a new PCV valve. I wonder if I could test this idea by running the engine with the oil cap loose and see if it still leaks.

I have enough Right Stuff for another try so I guess I will do that. The directions say to torque everything down within 5 minutes. Not sure I can do that with 14 (or however many) bolts but will try again.

Any other suggestions before I try this for the third time? I hate having to wipe up oil off of the garage floor every time I drive the Metro and it makes a mess underneath the car.

Regards

[f100240]

All you need to do is take off the oil pan and hammer the dimples flat with a ball peen hammer. When you put it back on, don't use the factory torque figures, Just do it by feel or maybe cut the torque figures in half so you don't bend the pan. I found all of this out with my old pickup truck.

[Woodie83]

You sure it's the pan? Sounds like a crank seal to me.

[brivers]

First, do what f100 said, bang the dimpled holes flat. When you go to put the pan on, make the bolts only hand tight, enough to squeeze out excess silicone. Wait 24 hours before tightening. Make sure surfaces are oil free. Good luck.

[redpepe]

i'll add that it will help if you can find a flat 'edge' of a piece of metal that will fit in the flange and act as an anvil for backing the dimpled bolt holes. good hammering and then light, even torques.

[RossT]

Make sure its not the crank or cam seal first. If it is the oil pan, ditch the gasket and only use RTV. Use little torque and let dry for 24 hours.

[funracer]

Originally Posted by RossT

Make sure its not the crank or cam seal first. If it is the oil pan, ditch the gasket and only use RTV. Use little torque and let dry for 24 hours.

I should have mentioned that I was in the process of changing the crank seal. When I got the belts off and timing belt cover off it was dry as a bone in there. I mean no oil under the timing belt cover anywhere, not even moist under the crank sprocket. Since I had the crank seal in hand I was sorely tempted to change it but decided to leave well enough alone in that department.

Then I had my daughter come out and start the car while I lay under it (car was blocked, in neutral, PB on, and she knows how to drive a stick, besides all that I am desperate). The oil did all but run out from the oil pan so I know where its coming from. I had assumed my previous repair had eliminated that source of oil flow but not so.

I had planned to redo the pan today but something else came up (strut coil spring slipped off the perch on my 04 Saturn) and Sunday is Mothers day so my wife has plans for me (yes, I know she is not my mother, but try telling her that) so now it gets pushed back to Monday.

Thanks again for the suggestions. I will let you all know how it works
early next week.

Regards

[funracer]

Finally got it all done.

Pulled the oil pan again and beat out the dimples. Reapplied Great Stuff RTV (no gasket) a torqued lightly.

Removed the timing cover to get to the crank sprocket. Decided to change it because I wanted to be sure nothing would leak. I used the 17mm wrench bump the starter method described on the forum. It worked great. Once the bolt was loose the sprocket pryed off pretty easy.

The oil seal itself was a pain to get out. It took a half hour of picking at it. I finally got it out with a very small watch screwdriver. I oiled the inside and RTVed the outside of the new one and pressed it in

I forgot who suggested to put a screwdriver into the flywheel to lock up the engine internals when reinstalling the crank sprocket nut. That was a great idea and allowed me to torque the bolt properly.

I have been driving it for about 10 days now and it has not leaked one drop.

Thanks for all the good help.

Regards