Oil pan gasket sealing issues
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I have a 2000 Chrysler Grand Voyager with 3.3L V6 engine and 4 speed automatic transaxle. Vehicle odometer reading is 145,000. Today I noticed some oil seepage where the oil pan mates to the bottom side of the engine block. Most noticeably it is the entire sealing edge on the side that faces the radiator. Six months ago there was no leakage.
The oil filter is not leaking. I checked the area around the front drive pulley and I believe the front seal is not leaking. I am thinking that the gasket seal between the oil pan and engine block has decided to leak. This seems very strange and odd. A gasket between similar metals, stamped steel and cast steel should not leak. Oil pan bolts are tight.
I had a similar situation on my 2003 Neon with 2.0L 4 cylinder engine. Around 120,000 miles the oil sealing gasket between the pan and engine block started to leak. On this engine it was the entire sealing edge between the pan / block and the firewall. On that one I thought it was the front crankshaft seal behind the pulley. I replaced this crankshaft seal but there was still an oil leak. I finally came to the conclusion that heat over time caused a sealing problem. I removed the pan and gasket and applied rtv sealant and reinstalled and that eliminated the leak.
On older Chrysler engines I have never had a problem with an oil pan to block leak. A 1988 Caravan with 3.0L V6 did not leak nor did a 1989 Acclaim with 2.5L 4 cylinder leak in this area.
I suspect that the Daimler era caused a supplier change in gaskets and a drop in quality and now the oil pan is leaking????? Has anyone else encountered oil pan leaks after many years.
Forty to fifty years ago when cork was the predominant gasket material, a leak like this would be expected. But not with today's better sealing materials???
The oil filter is not leaking. I checked the area around the front drive pulley and I believe the front seal is not leaking. I am thinking that the gasket seal between the oil pan and engine block has decided to leak. This seems very strange and odd. A gasket between similar metals, stamped steel and cast steel should not leak. Oil pan bolts are tight.
I had a similar situation on my 2003 Neon with 2.0L 4 cylinder engine. Around 120,000 miles the oil sealing gasket between the pan and engine block started to leak. On this engine it was the entire sealing edge between the pan / block and the firewall. On that one I thought it was the front crankshaft seal behind the pulley. I replaced this crankshaft seal but there was still an oil leak. I finally came to the conclusion that heat over time caused a sealing problem. I removed the pan and gasket and applied rtv sealant and reinstalled and that eliminated the leak.
On older Chrysler engines I have never had a problem with an oil pan to block leak. A 1988 Caravan with 3.0L V6 did not leak nor did a 1989 Acclaim with 2.5L 4 cylinder leak in this area.
I suspect that the Daimler era caused a supplier change in gaskets and a drop in quality and now the oil pan is leaking????? Has anyone else encountered oil pan leaks after many years.
Forty to fifty years ago when cork was the predominant gasket material, a leak like this would be expected. But not with today's better sealing materials???
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I don't know this engine, but the Camry my wife had developed an oil leak that suddenly got a lot worse. The dealer said it was the oil pan gasket, and they wanted $500. It was not that, the oil pump mounted to the front face behind the crank pulley and was driven by the timing belt. An oil seal leaked and ran down to the lip of the oil pan. It was $425 labor at an independent shop, $20 for parts.
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