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Sump gasket

1K views 21 replies 8 participants last post by  Bren 
#1 ·
I changed the two sump gaskets on my Cav gsi 16valve yesterday.

I did it up quite tight but it is leaking like a sieve today.

I brought one cheap gasket from a parts supplier and one good one from Vauxhall - £13 difference. The reason was because i thought it would only need one.

How tight should they be and shall i use Gasket sealant? The haynes manual says to use sealant on the gasket that joins the cylinder block but not on the bottom one. I have the good gasket on the bottom one - Shall i get another good one for the top and use sealant?

HELP..
 
#3 ·
Yes ok but that will cost me 36 pounds for two stupid gaskets which i already spent 30 on two now... That is over 60 for sump gasket and then it took me 4 hours work removing exhaust mainfold to do the job etc.

How tight do i have to do it...
 
#9 ·
SBD recommend not using sealant anywhere on the sump gaskets (except around the rear crank oil seal and oil pump). They say to put them on dry. We are going to try this on mine - I'll let you know if it works.

The XE gaskets has steel spacers in them. Do the bolts up until these spacers are being compressed - but don't crack the sump. Best to do each bolt a bit at a time to slowly increase the tightness.

(Sorry - this goes against what Gary said)
 
#12 ·
Well i'm on garys side here, i did it the the haynes way with haematite gasket sealant. It did weep for a while, not enough to culminate and drip, but after a few thousand miles its just sorted itself out.

I wont go into how i cracked the sump the first time i did it, it wasnt from over tightening though.
 
#15 ·
Ok i have had three completely different responses.

One to use sealant.
One to under no circumstances use sealant.
One that it is ok to leak oil as that is what it is supposed to do.

I am going to buy the two sump gaskets for my car at the weekend for £18 each which is a £36 plus 5 litres of oil at £15 and i want it to not leak... this is becoming a very expensive repair job.

Please someone like andyk or any one who actually can give me a good reason to believe them post a message here. I am desperate as my parents are going mad as the drive way has more oil than me.

What is the best procedure for changing my sump gasket on a CAV gsi 2wd 16valve.

Thanks.
 
#16 ·
perhaps best clarify this - I think the 'no sealant' recommendation is derived from the fact that some sealants will degrade and break down in the presence of oil etc.. coming adrift and finding somewhere expensive to lodge in the engine is probably worse than a leaky sump, probably ;)

the sealant to use (which is a bit of a given, so I wasn't specific) is not any old cheap stuff you'd buy in Wickes to fill plasterboard holes - use proper RTV etc.. - personally I use the exact same stuff that Vauxhall use to seal the oil pump gasket - silicon based with a bunch of additives to make it immune to the various chemical crap floating around in the sump - if it's recommended for use on the oil pump, it's more than good enough for the sump imho, wrt to the above.

- this is after two 'dry seal' gaskets both leaked - 3rd one I used Hemetite Red, 4/5th with the above - 3, 4 & 5 all sealed perfectly - not a single drip, though the HR is a pain to strip off again next gasket change as it doesn't cure fully.

there is though apparently a later baffle plate with a rubber seal built it - Vauxhall brought this out as they knew full well the cork ones on there own were flawed - don't know whether it cured the problem though.

If anyones got a reliable and repeatable way of getting the gaskets to dry seal then lets have it - I'm all out of Eye of newt though so if the spell includes this I'm staying with sealant ;)
 
#21 ·
andyk or any one who actually can give me a good reason to believe them post a message here
a bit cheeky, but then again I've not been entirely serious myself.

Mr rgb, the reason you are getting conflicting answers is because a lot of people here have suffered the same problem as yourself.

One thing to pay attention to is the order the bolts were done up. Ideally it should be a sort of random tightening sequence, otherwise you tend to push the gasket out.
 
#22 ·
If you feel the need to use a sealent, its best to leave it overnight before starting the engine up.
the pick up pipe loves excess crap though, so be sparing when applying..
don't forget to check that it really is the sump thats leaking,
i'm not saying you are thick, but a lot of the time, the oil pump gasket is the one causing the probs, but most people just think its the sump..
ps, I can get you the gaskets for less than half that price, genuine Vaux ones...
 
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