Oil pan gasket, changed twice still leaking

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eastbloc

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I did rear main seal, valve and oil pan gasket in one go.
Valve cover is holding up good, other two (or one of them) are leaking worse than before i touched it. Tbh i dont even know if other two were bad since the top one was leaking so much.

After the 1st gasket change i lost somewhere around a quart of oil in 50 miles.
After the 2nd change things are much better, but still i see a drop going down every 10 -15 seconds

I took my sweet time on rear main seal to make sure everything is kosher, twice, so im ruling it out of the equation.

For oil pan gasket a FelPro was used. Both times i used red rtv on both the top and the bottom of the oil pan gasket, at the front of the block and where the rear bearing cap. just like in the pic below.
Both times that i have done this, i noticed that gasket did not want to stay on the lip of oil pan where it mates with bearing cap.
During the 1st change, i did not pay attention to that area, and i think that gasket slid off and missed the grove in the bearing cap. Second time i did my best to be more careful, but there is only so much that can be done once the oil pan goes up.

Oil used is synthetic, i have read plenty of theories on it, but theory is a theory.
Don't know how to feel about the use of rtv since the original did so well for 120k miles without it.
Im open to suggestions guys and girls, i want my 3rd time being under there to be the last time for next many many miles.





Screenshot from 2020-07-24 17-02-56.png
 
I changed my oil pan gasket a little over 3 years ago. I used a Fel-Pro also, but I didn't put any RTV on the gasket like you did. All I did was 4 small spots in the corners like the factory manual describes.

In case you didn't know, there are factory manuals and parts list on this site in the Resources Forum. You can download them to your computer and even use them offline.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...ice-manuals-fsm-technical-documentation.4618/
 
Did you clean the mating surface on the engine really well?

Where exactly is it leaking? Any pictures? (We love pictures, LOL)
 
I wouldn’t be surprised if the RMS is still leaking and you just did a better job on the oil pan gasket the second time around when the leak slowed down.
 
eastbloc said:
I did rear main seal, valve and oil pan gasket in one go.
Valve cover is holding up good, other two (or one of them) are leaking worse than before i touched it. Tbh i dont even know if other two were bad since the top one was leaking so much.

After the 1st gasket change i lost somewhere around a quart of oil in 50 miles.
After the 2nd change things are much better, but still i see a drop going down every 10 -15 seconds

I took my sweet time on rear main seal to make sure everything is kosher, twice, so im ruling it out of the equation.

For oil pan gasket a FelPro was used. Both times i used red rtv on both the top and the bottom of the oil pan gasket, at the front of the block and where the rear bearing cap. just like in the pic below.
Both times that i have done this, i noticed that gasket did not want to stay on the lip of oil pan where it mates with bearing cap.
During the 1st change, i did not pay attention to that area, and i think that gasket slid off and missed the grove in the bearing cap. Second time i did my best to be more careful, but there is only so much that can be done once the oil pan goes up.

Oil used is synthetic, i have read plenty of theories on it, but theory is a theory.
Don't know how to feel about the use of rtv since the original did so well for 120k miles without it.
Im open to suggestions guys and girls, i want my 3rd time being under there to be the last time for next many many miles.





View attachment 179205
Click to expand...

Where is the oil dripping front or rear.
 
Last edited:
MountaineerTom said:
Did you clean the mating surface on the engine really well?

Where exactly is it leaking? Any pictures? (We love pictures, LOL)
Click to expand...


circle #1 where the leak coming from, there is still a drip you can see.
now that i put light to it, i see a wet spot in circle #2, which i dont know what to think of, because i scraped, cleaned, sprayed and wiped and wiped some more before putting everything together
Screenshot_2020-07-24-18-17-45-1.jpg
 
eastbloc said:
circle #1 where the leak coming from, there is still a drip you can see.
now that i put light to it, i see a wet spot in circle #2, which i dont know what to think of, because i scraped, cleaned, sprayed and wiped and wiped some more before putting everything together
View attachment 179224
Click to expand...
Did you use anaerobic sealant on the bearing cap/block surfaces?
 
Like others said it’s probably the rear main seal. It took me two try’s to get it right and I’m usually pretty handy working on things. I did it pretty much the same as the first time. But it worked the second try thinking I must have nicked the seal. On the bright side the header bolts should be easier this time. You’re not the first one to have to do it twice. And the first time I filled it up with synthetic oil the second time I took other people’s advice and went with plain old motor oil and I’m not going to chance it again.
 
I will say though, I initially thought my rear main seal was leaking, Once I got the pan off, I could see the original gasket was compromised, so I didn't change the RMS, only the oil pan gasket.
 
I have babied that rms with a lot of patience and attention to the details, wiped everything with acetone and brake fluid. At this point i dont know what else can i do to make it any better.
If a tiny imperfection somewhere that is out of my sight is happening and is causing so much leaking, then i might as well buy 10 more in hopes that one of them will work out.

Will give it a 3rd go with rtv in only the corners like manual states.

TJ4Jim in post #8 mentioned support strap, anyone else has that thing?
 
I think the RMS being in 2 pieces technically makes it easier to replace. But with the price of being about 5 times more likely to leak. It’s kinda of a bad design there’s a lot of 4.0 out there leaving oil spots lol.
 
eastbloc said:
I have babied that rms with a lot of patience and attention to the details, wiped everything with acetone and brake fluid. At this point i dont know what else can i do to make it any better.
If a tiny imperfection somewhere that is out of my sight is happening and is causing so much leaking, then i might as well buy 10 more in hopes that one of them will work out.

Will give it a 3rd go with rtv in only the corners like manual states.

TJ4Jim in post #8 mentioned support strap, anyone else has that thing?
Click to expand...
Did you install it with an offset? To where the seam where the seals meet is offset from the block/cap seam?
 
Rubicon John said:
Did you install it with an offset? To where the seam where the seals meet is offset from the block/cap seam?
Click to expand...

Lol you are asking me something that makes question my own work.
The way old one came out, is the way i inserted the new one. Made sure everything was as flush as it can be. I cant think of a possibility for any form of an offset, as any deviation from intended path will cut the seal and make it a pita to insert back.
Hope i understood you correctly
 
eastbloc said:
Lol you are asking me something that makes question my own work.
The way old one came out, is the way i inserted the new one. Made sure everything was as flush as it can be. I cant think of a possibility for any form of an offset, as any deviation from intended path will cut the seal and make it a pita to insert back.
Hope i understood you correctly
Click to expand...
I don’t know about you, but my old one was leaking pretty bad! 😁

I did mine like the pic, and I offset it even a hair more than that. That way, if oil gets past the seam where the seal halves meet, it runs into a wall of metal rather than flowing through the seam where metal meets.

BFA98186-5644-4CEC-868C-C9C7AFAED63A.jpeg
 
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