Oil Pan Gasket leak, 3rd times a charm?

[tauchen67]

Newer 350 (dip stick on the drivers side), had a leak on the old cork oil pan gasket. Bought the single piece blue rubber "universal" gasket.
-First try i did not put any gasket sealer because the directions said not to and just cleaned it with a shop rag, no brake cleaner.
-Second try, gasket sealer in the corners like a few message boards recomended, still only cleaned with a shop rag.
-Third try, cleaned everything with brake cleaner, razor blade, the whole 9 yards gasket sealer all around, on the threads.

i tighted the bolts to "snug" on my torque wrench.

each time it leaks when i rev up the rpms, and it is on the passenger side when the dipstick hole would be for an early model 350. My next step it to try either the late model specific gasket or just try the good old fashioned cork. Any thoughts?

 

[GIJoe4500]

Mine leaked even after being replaced a couple times. What I ended up doing was scuffing up the oil pan gasket surface with some 80 grig, and using one of the rubber gaskets, coating both sides of it with a little RTV. Also, before installing the oil pan, I tapped all the dimpled bolt holes back to flat, from where they had been previously over torqued.

 

[4X4HIGH]

GM stopped using the driverside dipstick in 1979. Is your engine a crate engine? Some crate engines have a dual dipstick block and that block requires a very specific pan gasket.

 

[tauchen67]

Im not sure what year the engine is then, it came with the truck. The dipstick is on the drivers side, but from what i have been told gm made certain years with the dipstick on the pass side too, which is why the gasket has holes on both sides to allow for either dipstick.
I think putting a straight edge on the pan would be good too to see the bolt holes that have been over tighted.

 

[BoondocK5]

I always make it a habit to re-dimple every pan I get a hold of Except for the cast ones. (obviously)

 

[4X4HIGH]

Take a pic of both side of the oil pan and post them here so i can see what pan you have and if you can take a pic of the passenger side of the block near the pan rail just in front of the starter.

 

[bp71k5]

Subscribed for future reference. My pan has a very tiny leak and I'm sure I could make the leak bigger by trying to fix it myself.

 

[tauchen67]

bp71k5: thats exactly how this started, had a small leak and wanted to fix and its still small, but its more a battle of wills, and that oil pan is not going to win!!

This is the drivers side with the little bump for the dipstick


this is the passenger side where the oil pan is straight, this is where the leak is coming from, when i get the rpm's up. when idling and low speed, its fine

.
This is what the gasket looks like, the guy at oreilly's said it was a universal gasket for a 350

 

[4X4HIGH]

That gasket is incorrect. That gasket is for the crate engines with dual dipstick locations and will leak oil from the passenger side dipstick cutout when installed on a driver side only block.

This is the pan gasket you need if you want the 1 piece rubber design (which I recommend). http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FPP-1882/Application/?query=Year%7c1978%7cMake%7cCHEVROLET&prefilter=1

Forgot to add, DO NOT use any sealer of any kind anywhere.

 

[tauchen67]

after looking i thought i might need this one? to allow for the dipstick bump?

i wont use any more sealer

 

[bp71k5]

Did the leak ever stop? I'm preparing to fix mine this weekend. Got the felpro rubber one with just the single dipstick tube hole.

 

[tauchen67]

Yeah, I ended up getting a new oil pan too because mine was warpped from over tightening. I used a torque wrench too so I didn't over tighten. So I have an extra oil pan the needs to be dimpled on the bolt holes and I have a rubber gasket with the dual dip stick gaps if anyone needs them.

 

[wazzabie]

That gasket is incorrect. That gasket is for the crate engines with dual dipstick locations and will leak oil from the passenger side dipstick cutout when installed on a driver side only block.

This is the pan gasket you need if you want the 1 piece rubber design (which I recommend). http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FPP-1882/Application/?query=Year|1978|Make|CHEVROLET&prefilter=1

Forgot to add, DO NOT use any sealer of any kind anywhere.

Wow! that gasket is expensive but it looks like it would do the job well.

 

[wazzabie]

Yeah, I ended up getting a new oil pan too because mine was warpped from over tightening. I used a torque wrench too so I didn't over tighten. So I have an extra oil pan the needs to be dimpled on the bolt holes and I have a rubber gasket with the dual dip stick gaps if anyone needs them.

did you try to staight out or salvage the old oil pan?