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Dorman Oil pan and Felpro Gasket

T

thecougarguy

NAXJA Forum User
Location
SF Bay Area, CA
Hi everybody,

I'm new to this site, but not XJs. I'm on my 3rd, a '98. I needed to replace my stock pan, so I got the Dorman one and a felpro one piece gasket. When I layed the gasket on the pan, it looked like this photo (which I borrowed from another post), minus all of the rtv. Again, this is not my pan or gasket, and I didn't use RTV except in the front and rear corners of the block.
oilpan.jpg

Notice how the gasket sits about 1/4-3/8" above the pan where the rear bearing cap would be. That's how my gasket sat in my new pan. It was 3pm on Sunday, so I went ahead and installed and hoped for the best, but I'm getting a drip about every 20 seconds now.

I feel like the problem is the pan, because it was kind of rocking driver/passenger when I was trying to put it up, but I'm not sure if the back part of the new pan is too shallow, of that part of the gasket was too long.

Thanks,
Mike
 
I'm not fond of the quality of dorman products.

The felpro gaskets do need some RTV where the main cap meets the block. There are two notches that the pan gasket use to fill. The New gaskets don't. IIRC there is a/was a small piece of paper than came with the gaskets that indicate this.
 
Lay the pan down on a flat surface and see where the gaps are. You may have to try another gasket and see how that fits. Or return the pan.

If all else fails get yourself a tube of gasket cement, like contact cement (glue). Put a few dabs around the gasket and pan at critical points. This stuff will hold the gasket in place. Trim out the excess near the top (on one side hopefully) where it is giving you issues and put a glob of silicon where the cut meets. Treat it like a multi section gasket instead of a one piece gasket. Just make sure you use a quality silicon and clean the ends well. I bought a can of silicon solvent, it tacks up silicon gaskets well and helps them stick.

Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.
 
thecougarguy said:
I got the Dorman one and a felpro one piece gasket. When I layed the gasket on the pan, it looked like this photo

I feel like the problem is the pan, because it was kind of rocking driver/passenger when I was trying to put it up, but I'm not sure if the back part of the new pan is too shallow, of that part of the gasket was too long.
Click to expand...

Bought the same combination last year. Spent over a hour with a die grinder opening up the mid-stamped bolt holes. The flanges needed straightening too.
It was a hassle with the engine on a stand, it would have been much harder to replace the pan with the engine still installed.
In restrospec, taking the time to find a good, used Factory pan would have been worth the effort.
 
Thanks for the input guys. I did not try the gasket in the original pan (which in hindsight would have been a good idea). I'll probably just end up dropping the pan and test fitting it to the block without the gasket to see how it fits. I still have the old pan, so I can test fit the gasket on it to compare how they fit together.

Lazyxj, the pan seemed pretty straight on the flanges, and all of my bolt holes lined up, so maybe different batches. I bought it from Summit, hopefully they'll be good about returning it if I need to. There's a Jeep recycler about 90 minutes from me that I could pick up a pan from.
 
thecougarguy said:
Lazyxj, the pan seemed pretty straight on the flanges, and all of my bolt holes lined up, so maybe different batches. I bought it from Summit, hopefully they'll be good about returning it if I need to.
There's a Jeep recycler about 90 minutes from me that I could pick up a pan from/QUOTE]

We both bought poorly produced parts. I have learned that many of Dorman and Crown parts are not worth buying. Many times used original parts are superior to any you can buy today.
It's a sad state that will eventually drive a lot of us away to newer vehicles.
Unfortunately, there are no vehicles built and for sale in the US today with the capability and small size of the Cherokee.
A Subaru is no substitute and neither is the "New" Cherokee.
Click to expand...
 
Quick update. I got a new gasket from the dealer, and it fit the dorman pan perfectly. One of the mechanics told me they use sealer on both sides of the gasket in the corners of the curved parts. Put it all together using right stuff sealer in the corners and it still leaks. Pretty much the same.

How can I tell if it's the pan or the rear main seal? I can see oil on the 5/16 bolt in the back of the pan on the passenger side.
image.jpg
 
Make sure it's not the oil filter adaptor. They can leak down and make it look like a pan gasket. Also the oil pressure switch at the connector. Good luck.
 
Drive it for a bit and see if it goes away. Could be just residual from earlier. Also, it could be the valve cover. Also, put a bit of extra torque on those two bolts. I've found that them need a bit more than the FSM calls for
 
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