Spent all night last Thursday installing a new oil pan gasket to finally fix the 10 year leak I had. Got a full engine & undercarriage steam the next day. Checked this eve and the brand new gasket is leaking at the rear. I swear I had it in the groove just fine. Torque it down more? Any other tips? (it was a bitch to get centered and in there)
3FE oil pan gasket install tricks
- Thread starter Clack
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I've been there and basically reinstalled a new gasket with the OEM Toyota goo and fixed it. Fortunately it was easy to remove and clean up. So, I was only out the time and gasket.
LAMBCRUSHER
SILVER Star
check your side cover gasket and valve cover gasket..if they leak, they will blame it on the pan...
Robbie Antonson (powderpig on MUD and Tech Editor of TT) showed me a pretty simple way to install the gasket correct every time:
1. Remove pan and remove old gasket material from both the pan and the block side. Clean well till all traces of cork are gone.
2. Inspect pan to make sure it doesn't leak. Some of the older ones are now.
3. Put Toyota FIPG (black: 00295-00103) and put it on the pan flange mating surface going around the outside of the bolt holes. Make sure to put some on both the front and rear pan arches.
4. Take pan gasket and put it on correctly lining up the bolt holes. Make sure you are doing this on a table or flat surface.
5. Take the 22 pan bolt and put them into the holes from the gasket side down. Let everything dry for about 20-30 minutes.
6. Have a few #6's.
7. Take bolts out. Your gasket should be stuck well to the pan. If it isn't (i.e., you live in a humid environment), let it dry some more. (Have a few more #6's).
8. Take pan and crawl under your rig and put pan up to block: everything should line up really well. Clean bolts and reinstall.
9. Put oil in and check for leaks.
10. Enjoy a few #6's for a job well done.
1. Remove pan and remove old gasket material from both the pan and the block side. Clean well till all traces of cork are gone.
2. Inspect pan to make sure it doesn't leak. Some of the older ones are now.
3. Put Toyota FIPG (black: 00295-00103) and put it on the pan flange mating surface going around the outside of the bolt holes. Make sure to put some on both the front and rear pan arches.
4. Take pan gasket and put it on correctly lining up the bolt holes. Make sure you are doing this on a table or flat surface.
5. Take the 22 pan bolt and put them into the holes from the gasket side down. Let everything dry for about 20-30 minutes.
6. Have a few #6's.
7. Take bolts out. Your gasket should be stuck well to the pan. If it isn't (i.e., you live in a humid environment), let it dry some more. (Have a few more #6's).
8. Take pan and crawl under your rig and put pan up to block: everything should line up really well. Clean bolts and reinstall.
9. Put oil in and check for leaks.
10. Enjoy a few #6's for a job well done.
With all those #6's, key thing is to remember to do #9 
before starting engine ...
And Toyota FIPG is seal it and forget it.
before starting engine ...And Toyota FIPG is seal it and forget it.
With all those #6's, key thing is to remember to do #9
Spike needs to drink more.
And how!
LAMBCRUSHER
SILVER Star
we covered this in a different thread earlier this week( the search function works wonders BTW). idea is to use a bottle jack and block of wood- jam the jack sideways against the frame, stick the block of wood between the jack and side of the pan, give it some force and then tap around the pan with a screwdriver handle till it pops free...
LAMBCRUSHER
SILVER Star
let it drain overnight and wear goggles and a hoodie
SUMMIT CRUISERS
SILVER Star
Another trick on the pan gasket that I use is to tie the gasket onto the pan with pieces of string. Leave 4 bolt holes open without string. Position the pan into place, install the 4 bolts and loosely tightened them. Cut and remove the strings one by one and install the remaining bolts in their place. I also prefer the one piece gaskets and use the FIPG sealer on the pan.
Adding my recent experience to this thread:
I replaced my #F-E gasket the night before last. What fun. I did one 20 years ago, and tied the gasket to the pan and that trick worked. This time, when I tied it to the pan, the curved ends fell into the pan and I had real problems keeping the gasket on the pan and getting them to engage the grooves in the block. The FIP acts as a 'lube' when still wet, of course.
So, I removed the pan, zip-tied (with tiny zip ties) the gasket to the bottom of the block. This allowed me to get the curvy end pieces into the groove in the crank bearing cap (or whatever part that is) that retains the gasket. At this point, I was looking at the bottom of the engine with the gasket 100% in place, properly aligned on the block. The FIP is sticky enough to hold the end sections in the groove.
Then, when I brought the naked pan up to the block, the gasket stayed put on the block and the pan came down on the end pieces as it should. I installed studs (long bolts with the heads cut off) in the block, to assist pan alignment, and had to start the pan with longer bolts. After I got the pan close to the block, I cut off the zip ties, and replaced the studs and longer bolts with the 22 OEM bolts. So far, no leaks.
This would be a great job for convicts and jailbirds, to prevent recidivism. I think after a few oil pan gaskets, they'd fly right.
I replaced my #F-E gasket the night before last. What fun. I did one 20 years ago, and tied the gasket to the pan and that trick worked. This time, when I tied it to the pan, the curved ends fell into the pan and I had real problems keeping the gasket on the pan and getting them to engage the grooves in the block. The FIP acts as a 'lube' when still wet, of course.
So, I removed the pan, zip-tied (with tiny zip ties) the gasket to the bottom of the block. This allowed me to get the curvy end pieces into the groove in the crank bearing cap (or whatever part that is) that retains the gasket. At this point, I was looking at the bottom of the engine with the gasket 100% in place, properly aligned on the block. The FIP is sticky enough to hold the end sections in the groove.
Then, when I brought the naked pan up to the block, the gasket stayed put on the block and the pan came down on the end pieces as it should. I installed studs (long bolts with the heads cut off) in the block, to assist pan alignment, and had to start the pan with longer bolts. After I got the pan close to the block, I cut off the zip ties, and replaced the studs and longer bolts with the 22 OEM bolts. So far, no leaks.
This would be a great job for convicts and jailbirds, to prevent recidivism. I think after a few oil pan gaskets, they'd fly right.
Bama4door
Supporting Vendor
I followed Beno's instructions above and it was pretty easy...the worst part was actually getting the pan unstuck from the block.
Beno's instructions should work, but when I tried to lift the pan into place with the gasket, the gasket held it away from the block a couple of inches, and no amount of fiddling could bring the pan closer on both sides. After reaching a maximum of frustration, I switched to the block-install method. I'm not sure why I had such troubles, but all's well that ends, at this point.
Wouldn't it be incredibly cool if someone would make a modern, re-engineered and reusable neoprene gasket, as you find on vehicles like a Ford transmission pan or a GM oil pan?
Wouldn't it be incredibly cool if someone would make a modern, re-engineered and reusable neoprene gasket, as you find on vehicles like a Ford transmission pan or a GM oil pan?
I did my pan gasket last night. The wife and I put FIPG on the new oem gasket and put it onto the engine. The FIPG worked well to hold it on there and in place. It's nice to put the gasket on by itself because we could confirm that the semi-circle ends were properly seated. Then we put the pan (FIPG on there too) up against that and put the bolts in. It's not leaking from the rear anymore, but I spilled some oil when I was filling the engine and I can't tell if the little drops I'm getting from the front 3rd member are leaks from the front of the oilpan or just left over oil running down the block from my failure of a miss on filling the truck up. Time will tell. Just wanted to say thanks for this thread, it helped us a a bit, even though we did it a somewhat different procedure.
I torqued the bolts to 80 in-lbs. I'm going to go back in a few days and hit them again with the same torque (I read that was appropriate given the nature of the gasket).
I torqued the bolts to 80 in-lbs. I'm going to go back in a few days and hit them again with the same torque (I read that was appropriate given the nature of the gasket).
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