Need expert advice for OIL PAN problem.

[ecucio]

Hi! I'm in the process of repairing seepage/leaks on my oil pan. I have already drop the pan and now cleaning the silicon gasket residue from the pan and the engine block. Now I need some expert advice weather should I use GASKET or just SILICON GASKET MAKER only to seal it back in place? Any advice is very much appreciated. Thanks!

[Gen5.5Cam3MZ-FE]

i think you should use oem gasket

[OEMonkey]

It is advisable to use an aftermarket gasket(such as cork) if there are imperfections on the pan such as the surface area not being completely flat.
Using the FIPG that they use at the dealership requires being careful and precisely tightening the bolts to spec.

[terrastrife]

which is what a torque wrench is for. you should be torqueing every bolt on your engien properly in the first place.

[Cyorke]

Just use the sealer. Every One i have ever taken apart and put back together has been with sealer and had no problems with it. and like terrastrife said, for best results you should be using a torque wrench not matter which route you go.

[ecucio]

Thank you all for the input and advice. Now, how do I make sure I have a flat surface of the OIL PAN? What kind of tools do you guys use to flatten the edges or where the bolts goes through?

[Cyorke]

once you ahve it cleaned off jsut lay it upside down on a table or something atht is flat and make sure it seems even all the way around. As for getting it straigh you can try using a small rubber mallet or something like that to hit it. Or you could try a pair of channle lock type pliers to bend it back into shape. You are not wanting to beat the hell out of it or anything like that though. You jsut want to coax it a little bit.

[fredk]

black silicone and let it tack up before you get the pan near anything

[ecucio]

Thanks for all the replies and advice again. However I went to install gasket to the oil pan since I can not flatten some area on the pan. It's badly warped So I decided to use gasket and hope that take cares of it. Thanks again.