Urambo Tauro

1995 Mustang GT, 172,000 miles

I am in the process of replacing my timing cover gasket (along with a few other things). Right now I am prepping for re-assembly and the next step is to cut the corner pieces of the oil pan gasket. My Fel-Pro kit came with replacement corners for this.

But the pan gasket currently in place is a high-quality, steel-reinforced piece. It flexes slightly upward (due to its previous adhesion to the timing cover), but is not bent or damaged except for a bit of rubber is torn away.

I am very much tempted to clean it up for re-use and smear some RTV on it for a good seal. I'm not sure how I would go about cutting it anyway, and I'm hesitant to use the cork pieces Fel-Pro provided.

Thoughts?

Boss_Hotrod

You can try a good rtv on it and might get lucky. I work for Honda and they make some stuff called Ultra Flange II which is some super strong gray rtv. I used it on the half moon shapes of my pan and it doesnt leak but that was with a new gasket. If you go the rtv route Id put as much on it and possible (meaning wherever the gasket is visible not emptying the tube) and give it a go. Worse case scenario is youll have to change the gasket. I did a felpro 4 peice cork/rubber gasket on mine with the stock pan and k-member while engine was in car, just lifted. It was a pain but it held. I coated that one in some red permatex.

67LimeCoupe

Is it the one piece type? I will never use those stupid 3 piece pan gaskets ever again, the 1 piece felpro is worth every penny of that $40. I would probably try and seal it with rtv, just make sure to follow the correct procedure, apply rtv, wait a bit, slightly torque bolts, wait a bit more then torque to spec.

Urambo Tauro

Not sure if one-piece or not. It's definitely multi-material. The steel core is covered in of grey (rubber?), and what looked like black grommets around the bolt-holes. Plus a bit of black sealant at the block/cover/pan corner.

Thanks for the support! I figured this method would be fine. I'm guessing some other years don't have the steel-reinforced pan gasket? There's no way a razor blade was going to work here.

Anyway, I left the gasket in place, cleaned the area well, and used a generous amount of RTV on both sides of the gasket. Once the timing cover was snugged up, I wiped the excess RTV off with a rag before it dried. After a bit, I tightened the bolts further down to spec. I am pleased to report no leaks.

mjr46

oem was 1 piece.........2 options, either reuse it and hope it hasn't expanded like all rubber does over time when oil soaked....so as to fit properly back in place and rtv corners or replace the entire 1 piece gasket with new = a lot more labor = 2nd option.......using the corner chit they send is "not" an option in this case unless you want leaks

Richard1916

when in doubt use 3M super weatherstrip adhesive otherwise known as gorilla snot, it is yellow and stringy but it is hell to try and remove .just clean surfaces real good and if this stuff didnt work nothing would have