crazy oil pan leak

ive gota problem, ive searched and noone seemed to have this problem!

i was changing out my oil pan gasket on my 88 4.0, and i got a real niec 1 piece felpro gasket.

well i put the new gasket in place and realized that there was this strange looking u-shapped piece that fits over the rear main seal.,

So i just put it on over top of the pan.

But, it leaks real bad now on the rear, so i was maybe thinking that little steel piece goes on first, then the gasket, then the pan???

either that or the rear part of the seal isnt properly seated on the pan and its causing leaks that way.

But, just wondering if anyone knows where this little u-shapped piece goes, or if it was just a part of the old gasket?

Thanks!

joeyschribar said:

ive gota problem, ive searched and noone seemed to have this problem!

i was changing out my oil pan gasket on my 88 4.0, and i got a real niec 1 piece felpro gasket.

well i put the new gasket in place and realized that there was this strange looking u-shapped piece that fits over the rear main seal.,

So i just put it on over top of the pan.

But, it leaks real bad now on the rear, so i was maybe thinking that little steel piece goes on first, then the gasket, then the pan???

either that or the rear part of the seal isnt properly seated on the pan and its causing leaks that way.

But, just wondering if anyone knows where this little u-shapped piece goes, or if it was just a part of the old gasket?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

It was part of the old sump gasket. You should not have any extra bits with the one-piece moulded rubber gasket installed - I didn't.

Bad news - you're going to have to tear it down again...

this is not good man haha!!
but hopefully i cans till re use that gasket!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thanks for the reply!

joeyschribar said:

this is not good man haha!!
but hopefully i cans till re use that gasket!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thanks for the reply!

Click to expand...

Depends - how long has it been in there, and did you crank down on the screws?

If it's only been a couple of days with no significant heat cycles, and you haven't cranked the thing down, you can probably get away with it. Even with the one-piece moulded gasket, it's important to follow torque specs - the 1/4"-20x.5" screws get torqued to 84 pound-inches/7 pound-feet, and the 5/16"-18x.75" screws to 132 pound-inches/11 pound-feet. Use a torque wrench!