3SFE oil pan, sealant or gasket?

[jamnett]

While searching with no luck for an engine oil pan for our '88 w/4 cyl. I found out that NAPA sells an engine oil pan gasket, but somebody on the forum said you use a sealant not a gasket. Seems like a gasket would be easier because you could scrape off some of a sealant while navigating the pan around the filter screen. Is this a matter of personal preference? Any advice on finding a pan? The old one is beyond repair due to an accident.

[atobe]

i used car-part.com and i was able to find a lot of oil pans for the car. in the northwest part of the country...as i don't know your exact location...seems like 50$ is the average price. as for sealant/gasket i dunno i would think gasket is good enough. good luck

[CharmCityES]

the gasket should be enough....i know it is usually toyota protocal to replace the gaskety when dropping the oilpan on service cars so no leaks developed from improper seals and cracked/rotted gaskets

[Doctor J]

The OEM RTV seal packing is used instead of gasket on these engines. Download the service manual from general camry discussion forum/ read only section for application instruction.

[fredk]

aresol rtv black or grey works great, put it on the motor and that way you wont get it all over your hands getting the pan up to it