I'm changing out my old somewhat leaky cork oil pan gasket for one of those blue rubber Fel Pro gaskets. I just got the oil pan off, and I found that one of the sides of the timing cover isn't flush with the block. I had to take timing cover off a while back, and getting it back on was a huge pain. I remember had to squish down the cork gasket by tightening the oil pan bolts down a good amount before I had any hope of getting it aligned with the other bolt holes. It looks like I didn't get one side tightened down enough, and there's about a 1mm gap that was filled in with RTV. I'm wondering if I putting some RTV in this area would be a good idea? From reading around, I gather that RTV is not necessary with this gasket, except in the bearing cap corners.
What engine is this ? The most important thing with the timing cover alignment is centering the front seal on the crankshaft. I would start over and remove the timing cover and get that centered on the crank before installing the oil pan and gasket.
It's a 302. I forgot to mention that. I went ahead and filled the gap with permatex gasket maker, just because I needed to get the car back on the road. I was redoing the steering system, and it made sense to get to the oil pan as well. It seems to be holding, but I have a small leak coming from the back. Does anyone know what I should torque these bolts down to with a rubber gasket? Reading around, I've found numbers from 8-15 foot pounds. I went with 10 foot pounds. The crank seal was pretty tight when I put it on. Moving it around a bit didn't seem to create any gaps. It's been on there roughly a year and a half without leaking. I should fix this eventually, but taking this stuff apart again is not a job I'm looking forward to. So many things have to come apart.
