THE best way to change oil pan gasket!

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I need to redo mine and just picked up the gasket. This thread should help me out. Thanks
 
As you may notice from my previous posts, I'm definitely no expert, but, I would leave it alone for now. Retorque the bolts in a week. And then do it again in another week.
 
I did it over

Well, I did it over, using the same gasket. Last night, I drained the oil into an open top container, then let it drip overnight.

This morning I transferred the drained oil to one of those Blitz 10 quart oil containers that has a large top with a screw-on lid and a screen for letting the oil drain into it, and a spout with cap for emptying the oil. The nice thing about this container is that it keeps the oil bottled-up and clean while you work.

The I unbolted the oil pan and inspected the gasket. As I feared, the saddle that is to seal on the #4 main bearing end had been pushed toward the front and the sealing surface on the block had pressed into and distorted and cut into the cork.

I cleaned the gasket at that end thoroughly with acetone. The gasket was glued to the pan with Pliobond and I very carefully lifted the saddle end gasket off the pan .

After the gasket dried, I spread some Permatex gasket maker over the damaged part of the cork, smoothed it with a putty knife and let it cure.

Before returning to the Land Cruiser, I used a white marker pen to number all the bolt holes on the pan in a "spiral" pattern. Meaning, I numbered the middle hole on one side as 1, and the hole directly across the pan as 2, then dropped down one hole on the #2 side and marked that hole 3, then directly across the pan to the opposite hole from #3 and marked that as 4, then straight up past #4 and #1 and marked that hole as 5, then across the pan and marked the hole opposite #5 as 6, and so on, and so on.

After sliding under the Land Cruiser block, I had the 22 bolts in a container near me and also half a dozen longer bolts of the same size and thread, and I took two of the longer bolts as suggested in this thread and lifting the pan into position, ran a long bolt into a block hole in about the middle of one side, and another long bolt into a hole directly opposite to hold the pan while I fiddled around trying to get the damaged end of the gasket into the right spot. (thanks CardinalFJ60)

It took some doing, but using another suggestion from this thread (thanks Poser) I used a right angle pick tool to tease the damaged saddle shaped gasket into its correct spot on the #4 main bearing end of the block. This took several tries and at one point I was about to give-up, but with much juggling how tight the long bolts were and how far I had teased the saddle end out toward the rear of the pan, it finally looked good-enough to tighten the long bolts to hold things in place then thread two regular bolts into the last two and opposite holes on the #4 bolt end of the block.

Then I began installing the remaining 20 regular bolts through the pan and into the block according to the "spiral" pattern given by the numbers I had written on the pan.

I was careful not to tighten too much and made several circuits around the pattern. I used a Phillips screwdriver to do the tightening, being fearful that if I went with the ratchet and socket I would over-tighten the gasket and get a leak.

Then I poured the stored oil back into the engine and when I was satisfied there were no leaks, I started the engine and took the Land Cruiser for a spin around my neighborhood. Still no leaks, and tomorrow I'll recheck the bolts and tighten any loose ones in the spiral pattern then try some highway miles and see if it all holds-up.
 
Well, I did it over, using the same gasket. Last night, I drained the oil into an open top container, then let it drip overnight.

This morning I transferred the drained oil to one of those Blitz 10 quart oil containers that has a large top with a screw-on lid and a screen for letting the oil drain into it, and a spout with cap for emptying the oil. The nice thing about this container is that it keeps the oil bottled-up and clean while you work.

The I unbolted the oil pan and inspected the gasket. As I feared, the saddle that is to seal on the #4 main bearing end had been pushed toward the front and the sealing surface on the block had pressed into and distorted and cut into the cork.

I cleaned the gasket at that end thoroughly with acetone. The gasket was glued to the pan with Pliobond and I very carefully lifted the saddle end gasket off the pan .

After the gasket dried, I spread some Permatex gasket maker over the damaged part of the cork, smoothed it with a putty knife and let it cure.

Before returning to the Land Cruiser, I used a white marker pen to number all the bolt holes on the pan in a "spiral" pattern. Meaning, I numbered the middle hole on one side as 1, and the hole directly across the pan as 2, then dropped down one hole on the #2 side and marked that hole 3, then directly across the pan to the opposite hole from #3 and marked that as 4, then straight up past #4 and #1 and marked that hole as 5, then across the pan and marked the hole opposite #5 as 6, and so on, and so on.

After sliding under the Land Cruiser block, I had the 22 bolts in a container near me and also half a dozen longer bolts of the same size and thread, and I took two of the longer bolts as suggested in this thread and lifting the pan into position, ran a long bolt into a block hole in about the middle of one side, and another long bolt into a hole directly opposite to hold the pan while I fiddled around trying to get the damaged end of the gasket into the right spot. (thanks CardinalFJ60)

It took some doing, but using another suggestion from this thread (thanks Poser) I used a right angle pick tool to tease the damaged saddle shaped gasket into its correct spot on the #4 main bearing end of the block. This took several tries and at one point I was about to give-up, but with much juggling how tight the long bolts were and how far I had teased the saddle end out toward the rear of the pan, it finally looked good-enough to tighten the long bolts to hold things in place then thread two regular bolts into the last two and opposite holes on the #4 bolt end of the block.

Then I began installing the remaining 20 regular bolts through the pan and into the block according to the "spiral" pattern given by the numbers I had written on the pan.

I was careful not to tighten too much and made several circuits around the pattern. I used a Phillips screwdriver to do the tightening, being fearful that if I went with the ratchet and socket I would over-tighten the gasket and get a leak.

Then I poured the stored oil back into the engine and when I was satisfied there were no leaks, I started the engine and took the Land Cruiser for a spin around my neighborhood. Still no leaks, and tomorrow I'll recheck the bolts and tighten any loose ones in the spiral pattern then try some highway miles and see if it all holds-up.


I'm in the same boat. This Saturday will be a week since I installed mine. I will check the bolts too. So far, no leaks!:wrench:
 
I changed mine this weekend and no leaks. I used Poser method and it worked great, I did use the silicone a little more liberally, just in case. Not a hard job, just time consuming and oily.
 
i've always used tube gasket sement for most of my gaskets, and i'm soo glad i did.
I use the one most suited for any application, spread it nicely, tighten the pan til it touches the block and just about comes out the side. Then i let it cure for a while, then bolt it tight.
I've done quite a few oil pans like this, and only leaks i've had was if i did not align the pan right the first time, having to move it around.
Also had a pan down shortly after getting it sealed, and the gasket was looking good, no goop hanging on the inside, and very little on the outside.

Why does everyone dislike this rtv/tube gasket? saved me hundreds of dollars, a lot of hours and leaks.
 
Yes, can be very frustrating. I put the gasket on the pan and secure the corners with string and every two holes or so with string. Once the pan is up and there are some bolts holding in place I will cut the string and pull it out. This method seems to work pretty well. I also use black RTV on both sides of the gasket.

HTH
Don't use a cork sump gasket just clean both faces and apply a good quality silicon gasket maker.
 
Posers method, cork one piece gasket. Only use FIPG on the curves at both ends and up to the 1st two bolt holes. No sealant on the straight part. No leaks...easy peasy.

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My recommendations:

1. Do it according to FSM.
2. RTV in the corners of gasket only
3. Let the gasket to pan rtv cure for a few minutes prior to install. Bring 2-4 bolts with you and make sure holes in gasket are loosely aligned with pan.
4. Lift into place and install two bolts so you can take the weight of pan off your hands. (If you need those bolts holder/alignment pins someone mentioned, feel free to use those).
5. LOOSELY install all the bolts. These are cork gaskets, most don't realize the bolts need to be installed equally and not wildly tight the first go-round. You can tear the gasket (which is the cause of overtightening). Seen it a bunch and it then scares people into overusing RTV/FIPG.
6. Using an inch-pound torque wrench (cheap at Harbor freight or Amazon) start at the middle hardware and work outward. Think head bolts or X pattern. Start low at 53in-lbs.
7. Once they are all 53in-lbs evenly you are done. Fill with oil, finish whatever else you're working on and start it up.
8. Since it is cork, it will heat and shrink. Inspect the area for sweating or leaks after a day or two, retorque. It WILL need to be retorqued. I usually go up to 70in-lbs.
9. Repeat Step 8.
10. You should no longer have leaks after performing retorque once or twice. Gasket doesn't require more than the 100in-lbs.
 
I'm glad I saw this, as I'm about to tackle mine. I've done plenty of gaskets in my time, and a few oil pan gaskets. It can be pretty frustrating trying to get everything lined up for installation, so I'll probably take plenty of time to complete the job.

If the side cover for the push rood access was any indication of how the pan gasket was previously installed, I'm sure I'll have my work cut out for me getting it removed. The side cover gasket had enough black RTV on it to seal up an elephants hiney hole. It took lots of gentle, but persuasive prying to get it off, as well as some serious prep work for the cover side. The gasket was completely incased in RTV.
Also, it looks like someone along the way may have replaced the original pan bolts with stainless. They look much cleaner than the block area around them.
 
If the side cover for the push rood access was any indication of how the pan gasket was previously installed, I'm sure I'll have my work cut out for me getting it removed. The side cover gasket had enough black RTV on it to seal up an elephants hiney hole. It took lots of gentle, but persuasive prying to get it off, as well as some serious prep work for the cover side. The gasket was completely incased in RTV.

I used the Toyota factory jack and wedged it between the drivers-side frame rail and the side of the oil pan with a block of wood on the pan side to preserve the pan as suggested by many on mud. Cranked it up until the pan freed itself. Off in 2 minutes. Saved me a ton of time. I was replacing the oil pan with the a new OEM one so was unconcerned with damage to the original pan. I don't know if the pan can get warped or bent with this method, but mine looked totally reusable after this. Just had a new one so didn't try it to see. But the jack method will get it off of there quick regardless of how much RTV was used. @John McVicker 's method is the way to do this if you want it done without hassles. I used longer headless studs to guide the pan into place while getting the first couple of bolts started. That helped a ton getting it positioned properly. If replacing the pan, the pan design changed slightly and has a different drain plug now. There is a different gasket I believe that works with the new pan design. Different P/N. Good luck and HTH.

Edit: Added P/N for reference to Oil Pan gasket and oil pan:

New updated oil pan:
12101-61013
Gasket for pan above:
12151-61011
Drain plug for above
90341-12012
Drain Plug gasket for plug above.
90430-12028


Old style gasket: 12151-61010
 
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Thanks, they sounds great, but I don't have the factory jack with mine, and the lift that it has wouldn't let that work anyhow. I'm going to do the threaded rod idea, and had already thought it should work well, thanks for confirming. That, along with some gasket adhesive spray should hold things right where they need to be until I get everything snugged into place. Even if it takes me an entire day to complete it, it's worth taking the time in the end. It leaks like a sieve right now, so anything will be better.
 
Also, if I looked it up right, the bolt size is an 8x1.25. Can anyone confirm this? I could just pull one out and take it to the hardware store to size it, but that seems like the right size from looking at it.
 
Also, if I looked it up right, the bolt size is an 8x1.25. Can anyone confirm this? I could just pull one out and take it to the hardware store to size it, but that seems like the right size from looking at it.

Yes, I'm 99% sure that's what I used.
 
I removed the old one a couple of days ago. Came off with just a little persuasion, but took a good bit of time to get the block and pan clean enough to receive the new gasket. Scraping, wire brushing and then wiping with break cleaner to remove the residue. I bought a can of permatex gasket adhesive to hold the new gasket onto the block while I or 3 the pan in place.
I went with a felpro gasket, but didn't realize until I opened the box today that it was a 4 piece gasket. Two side pieces, two and pieces. I used the adhesive, VERY SPARINGLY in between the bolt holes, and then spread that thinly across the surface. That, coupled with the end pieces fitting snugly in the bearing caps held everything in place long enough to get the pan up in position, and starting just two bolts to hold it in place while I finger tightened all the others.
I went around a couple of times with the screwdriver handle 1/4" drive I have to get everything seated. Later today I'll torque everything down to the specified range.
Won't be able to run it for a little bit to make sure all is good due to waiting on a new recurved distributor.
The pan was in rough shape, there were a few areas I had to reshape around the lip with a ballpeen hammer. Looks like it's been beaten a few times in the past.
 
For those of you FJ60 owners, like myself, that this is not abundantly clear, you need to take off the clutch inspection cover to install your oil pan. I did not see the procedure in the 2F FSM, so I went to the 3F manual, which of course does not mention this step. I can’t believe this was not mentioned anywhere, I expect at least the FSM to be written such that a monkey can follow the instructions. If you don’t spend time trying to wedge the pan past the cover, it’s an easy 1 man job with a few zip ties. I’m tired, I hope I don’t have any leaks.
 
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I got a tip from an old school cruiser guy was to use binder clips to hold the gasket first. Once that was all lined up and looking good I used guide bolts to place the pan on. Seemed to work good and not nearly as precarious as when I did this before. Everything else was following the manual.
 

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