hey there i've had this annoying leak for sometime, right b/w tranny and engine, well a couple weeks back i had the motor out for major repairs including that leak, and found that when i dropped the pan, the gasket was torn/kinked right where the leak was coming from (it was a one piece silicone/rubber gasket) anyways i was glad that i seemed to find the problem

i replaced it with a similar one piece gasket, the instruction paper that came with it said it needed to be installed "dry" so i didn't use any rtv at all....now its still leaking after everything is back together from the front end, and maybe the back end too i can't really tell yet but......is this common for these rubber gaskets to not seal right or what?? should i have used rtv as well?? or maybe just rtv exclusively

i'm really bummed because now that the motor is back in the truck it will be much harder to drop the pan and fix it, but what is my best course of action to get this done right,thanks

 

Add your truck's specs to your profile & signature so we know what you're working on.

The first step is to POSITIVELY ID the location of the leak. Clean the engine top-to-bottom EARLY on a warm day & let it dry. Then, while it's still daylight, crank it up & take it for a quick, HARD drive. Then park it & see if you can spot any fresh oil, and follow it UP and FORWARD to its source. Be sure to look at the valve covers, oil pressure sender, front & rear main seals, & intake end seals.

If you can't find any, take another slightly-longer drive & look again.

 

well the engine block is real clean right now (302 5.0 liter that is)

since i had it out of the truck recently for new timing chain/sprockets/water pump/valve cover gaskets/front main seal/rear main seal etc.

the block overall was clean to start with no leaks really anywhere, intake manifold end seals are new,

im very certain its coming from the pan in front, where it drops down in a "u" shape under the front main, i even watched a drip come from there, the oil pan itself is new, and the gasket is a bright blue, and the oil is clean/new so it was easy to watch it coming out and know where it was from

i'm probably gonna drop the pan this weekend but i want to know if i can reuse the same gasket and just put on rtv or maybe cut out the gasket and use rtv exclusively, or what?

thanks

 

If you put it on dry, I'd just loosen the pan at the front & try to adjust it. Are you sure the little tabs are up in their holes beside the front main at the top of the "U"? It's also common for the gasket to slide forward or backward at the bottom of the "U".

If you do drop it, I'd silicone the gasket into place on the PAN, immediately press it to the block for a moment to push the glue into shape, let it skin over for ~5 min, bolt it up loose for a few hours, and then tighten it to spec.

Don't use silicone sealant ONLY. The pan isn't made for that.