When fixing a leaky oil pan gasket, what's the most popular way to go with regards to the gasket:

A. use new OE gasket only
B. Use NO gasket and seal the pan with quality silicone only.
C. Use a new OE gasket with silicone or Hylomar on both sides.
D. (an alternative I haven't though of?)

Thanks in advance!

 

Do not use the OEM gasket. Just use some Hondabond or other sealer.

 

Search! Don't use a gasket, I recommend The Right Stuff or The Right Stuff for Imports. Hondabond also works well.

 

High temp silicone will work fine, dont use an oem gasket

 

Using a gasket or not depends on who you ask. Many of the members here think that you should not use a gasket. I recently asked Nick Van Nuteren (sp??) of Rotary Reliability and Racing that same question. He has been building high performance rotary engines for over 20 years. He uses the oem gasket, and a sealer.

I asked Rob from Pineapple racing the same question. He said that it would start leaking again within a couple of years regardless of which method you use. I took that with a grain of salt since he is promoting his "O-ring" pan gasket.

 

I'll put in my vote for no Gasket.

 

You guys are awesome... I was wondering that same question also

 

One of the best places to check out besides here for great RX-7 information is www.scuderiaciriani.com you will find a lot of useful information on that site.

 

C

 

I'm not trying to pick a fight with anyone, but I wonder how many of those who have commented, have done this job, without a gasket, and had it last for 30K without a leak.

I have a leak, and am considering the same question.

 

About 4 years (until my recent incident, but no leaking pan!).

 

The factory manual states not to use a gasket, others including myself have had much success without using a gasket. A gasket is just increasing the surface area for a leak.

 

I would use the gasket with sealer on both sides. And not the cheap stuff. I use Ultra copper. It expands as it gets warm to help seal things better. Keep in mind that if you dont use the gasket your oil level will actualy be the thikness of the gasket lower becuse the pan will sit that much higher putting the oil level higher on the dip stick if it matters to you. I would try to get a larger gasket to lower the pan for more oil since the 13Brew turbos are oil suspended barring. The more oil there is the cooler your oil temps are since it takes longer to cycle all the oil. And we all know that temp is the rotory's worst nighmare. The way I see it is "anything you can do reduce the temps need to be done" and for the price of a gasket hell double up on them. Who cares if you have to change it every year or two. The FD requieres a lot of maintinance, you probly didnt relize how much till after you bought it, like I did. IMO.

 

It seems odd that Mazda makes a gasket, but recommends not using it. Does that make sense?

How many miles for you without a leak?

 

It would be a complete nightmare to drop the subframe and change the gasket once or twice a year. You also have to have an alignment or spend considerable time aligning your car after this.

 

Mazda does a lot of whacky things, like include an exploding AST for no extra cost, or an extremely over complicated twin turbo system. If you have a factory service manual you can see for yourself. My car is has been leak free for 10,000 miles, but I've only got 35,000 miles on my car.

 

my reman i got in january didnt have any sort of gasket. only some pink bubble gum junk i had to clean off to get real sealant on there.

 

I should mention that this is actually the 2nd time I'm fixing the problem on my car. Over Labor Day weekend, I pulled my engine out to fix this very same problem, as well as a rear seal/stationary gear leak and some various other odds and ends that needed attention.

When I put it back together, I used a new OE gasket with Threebond 1217F (virtually identical to Loctite Ultra Grey) silicone on both sides. Within days after reinstallation, my pan appears to be leaking worse than before I did the job! It looks like it's coming out around the passenger side engine mount area where the large bolts pass through the pan.

I have an appointment in our service bay here at work for them to fix my oil pan leak next Wednesday. Our service techs aren't up on rotary stuff, but a pan should be a pan and they have the factory service manual as well as other resources at their disposal.

It's up to me whether or not they use a gasket or silicone or both to do the job... that's why I'm asking. I tried option C and apparently screwed it up somehow.

Specifically, how would you guys recommend routing the silicone at the rear of the pan around the large bolt holes for the engine mounts?

 

When I replaced the motor in my REPU I didnt really look much into it before hand so I ended up using the gasket with whatever oil resistant RTV I found at Checker coated well on each side. That was about 4 years and maybe 15k miles ago and still no leaks. There are plenty of other things that leak under the hood but the oil pan isnt one of them. At Sevenstock I won Robs oil pan with the O-ring so that is what I will use whenever I pull the motor in the FD, if I hadnt won that I think I would have gone with the gasket and RTV again.

 

I just had an idea, not sure if it's a great one or not, maybe the experts can answer. what if you ran a bead of the Hondabond/Silicon or whatever RTV you use, around the oil pan and let it sit overnight to harden. This would create an O-ring on the pan, then put another layer of it all over the new O-ring and bolt it up while it is wet still, for extra sealant.

 

Tom,

I came over and talked to you about your oil pan, just after you won it. I was hoping you didn't have a 3rd gen, and couldn't use it

Str8down,

The problem with that would be getting a nice even bead with no gaps or bulges. It would be hard to do, and easy to mess up.

 

Isn't it true that the bolts holding the motor mounts to the oil pan pass into oil galleries? I believe that to be the case, and you have to seal the bolts somehow or you'll have a leak from the bolts. I had a buddy who did an oil pan gasket job, had trouble with leaks there, then did it again with Hondabond on the bolts - leak free.

Just want to verify that one . Hell, I still haven't been under my car to check for leaks .

Dale

 

No, no it isn't true. You can take out the motor mount bolts and it won't leak. I think the bolts just help hold the pan tight so that the pan makes a seal around the engine.

 

Well, gaps are easy avoid/fix, and buldges won't matter beacuse you will be clamping the entire thing down anyway. When you use the RTV and put on the pan right away, it smashes and you are relying on a thin film that MUST adhear or it will leak. The way I am suggesting, it will be thick, just like an O-ring, and will fill the gap when clamped. Plus, I am saying use more to cause a seal, just like the normal way, but also having the bead to fill any warp gaps.

 

I used hondabond on the rebuild that I did over 2 years ago and no leaks. 40k or so on the motor now

A few points.

Sealant on the bolts is BAD. Some of the bolt holes in the housing are enclosed and some are open. The sealant trapped between the tip of the bolt and the end of the hole generates extreme pressure when the bolt is tightened and can actually cause the housing to crack internally and cause leaks. This is outlined in the factory manual.

A bead of sealant would probably not work; the pan is not designed to hold that much force over the entire surface of the flange, and you would probably get leaks in between bolts.

So just slather on some Hondabond in the areas specified in the manual and bolt that sucker together. I would recommend that you also bolt up the engine mounts and let it dry for 3 days before trying to add any oil. Patience is key.