Using gasket sealer instead on oil pan?

[JET]

Has anyone ever re-used the old gasket when changing out the oil pan (oil strainer cover)?

I've got a new oil pan, thanks aachiu! And I obtained exhaust crush gaskets for the header removal. But apparently the oil pan gasket MAY be on backorder until freaking Sept!!!! I placed an order yesterday and was told it would be here today only to pick up my parts and find it wasn't sent. On the invoice it said backorder until Sept.

I was thinking of using the old gasket maybe or if anyone has one they could contact me.....

tia

John

 

[Auburn]

Has anyone ever re-used the old gasket when changing out the oil pan (oil strainer cover)?

I've got a new oil pan, thanks aachiu! And I obtained exhaust crush gaskets for the header removal. But apparently the oil pan gasket MAY be on backorder until freaking Sept!!!! I placed an order yesterday and was told it would be here today only to pick up my parts and find it wasn't sent. On the invoice it said backorder until Sept.

I was thinking of using the old gasket maybe or if anyone has one they could contact me.....

tia

John

Yes, I re-used mine when I change the oil pan. My gasket came off with the pan and was perfect. It is a metal gasket. Just take your time and work around the dges slowly and it should come off without any distortion. You should be able to re-use. I do have one, but no way I can ship it until next week.

 

[JET]

Yes, I re-used mine when I change the oil pan. My gasket came off with the pan and was perfect. It is a metal gasket. Just take your time and work around the dges slowly and it should come off without any distortion. You should be able to re-use. I do have one, but no way I can ship it until next week.

Sweet! Did you use any gasket sealer or did you just clean it up and re-use it?

I may take you up on the new one, but I want to try the old one first.

 

[Auburn]

I came off cleanly, so all I did was take a little carb cleaner or brake cleaner to it with a paper towel. No sealer used. No leaks at all. Just be careful on all the bolts and keep track of where they came out of since some are longer than others. I dropped the headers, which wa s the hardest part of the whole thing. Becaue I did it without removing the radiator. Had to undo the radiator mounts so I could shove it around a little. IIRC you have to mess with the center stand a little too, but it was 4 years ago when I did it.

 

[JET]

Great tips!

I'm going to just drain the radiator and loosen the hoses so I can get it a little further away from the header. Maybe that will give me more room around the center stand as I don't have any other means of supporting the bike.

I really appreciate all the West Coast help, great bunch of guys!

 

[Auburn]

The main thing is to take your time, as it will take a while. You will have to figure out how work around the stand. May need to find a way to support the bike so you can move the center stand. I have a bike lift so I was able to hold the bike by the front tire and use a small floor jack on the rear to lift it enough to move the center stand around to get at a couple bolts.

My guess is you will need a helper(s) for this if you don't have a way to hold the bike steady

 

[olsonm3915]

Holding the bike up without the centerstand is quite easy if you have a garage and some ratchet straps. A cheap 'come-along'[1] AKA a 'fence stretcher' and some nylon webbing straps thrown over one of the rafters/trusses and Bob's your mother's brother.

[1] (Search for item # 202332202 at https://www.homedepot.com for a typical example)

 

[JET]

I just drained the radiator and removed the side stand. I took a good look around under there and I don't see that the center stand will interfere with dropping the pan. Maybe it was only because you didn't get the radiator out of the way? I've got decent room to work on the header bolts. So I'll know in a little bit. I'm off to grab some Honda coolant before traffic gets crappy, then I'm removing the header and pan. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[JET]

Ok, the center stand does not get in the way at all when dropping the pan, not even close to being an issue. The gasket doesn't look too bad, but..........I'm at another crossroads.

The Yammy dealer left me a message while I was working on the bike. There is a possibility I could have a shiny new gasket tomorrow, or next Tuesday. Do I just use the old gasket, or wait for the new one that may or may not come. Decisions, decisions....

 

[Auburn]

I would use the old one. If you get any weeping, then get the new one. But I am pretty sure if it is as good as you say, you won't have any issues.

 

[JET]

Me and Jack (Daniels) are having a serious discussion right now...

I got the pan on, the bolts snugged up and thought I would just check my smaller torque wrench before I screwed something up. Good thing I did, it's locked up tighter than dicks head band. My other wrench is too big so it looks like I'm hunting down a new torque wrench tomorrow. Ahh well, all in all this job is going to take 20 minutes next time, and I don't feel like I'm over my head or anything, just wish I was better prepared. Not use to that.

 

[dsmack]

Glad you were able to get the pan off without too much trouble, and that gasket is essentially OK from your description.

In my mis-spent youth I raced automobiles with Hewland gearboxes which were housed in aluminum cases with an aluminum cover.

We used a sealant called HYLOMAR, which at that time was imported from the UK. It was amazing stuff for sealing oil pans/trannys/differential surfaces. The secret was a very thin coating on both surfaces (thin to the point that it just lightly turned the machined aluminum surface blue, NOT a bead like you would use a silicone type sealer).

Properly applied, I never saw a HYLOMAR sealed closure leak. As a matter of fact, it was the only product that was capable of sealing the steel pan to the aluminum block of Corvair engines. I had the only clean engine compartment/underbelly within a ten county area back when Corvairs were running in the mid to late 60's. It's good stuff!

I just did a Google search and find that the product is now distributed by Permatex and should be generally available in many good parts houses. Years ago it was difficult to find... used to have to buy it at an aircraft engine supply house.

I'd suggest that a little HYLOMAR on that used gasket would be an excellent investment in peace of mind!

Don

 

[GalaxyBlue]

I messed mine up so I had to buy a new one. Remember me telling out about forgetting the center bolt? Yeah, I pryed on it and wrecked it

 

[JET]

I was able to use the old gasket and its working great. I had to wait until this morning to get a new coolant drain crush washer, but other than that she's 100%. Due to family sickness and the work on the bike I postponed my trip to RI. Instead I packed up and went to the mountains instead. So tomorrow were gonna hit the Cherahala skyway. Then across the Blue Ridge parkway. Plenty of nice roads up here to play on!

On another note...when I picked up the crush washer this morning I got to speak to one of the mechanics. He said he could of done a helicoil without taking off the pan. Too bad the guy that answers the phone couldn't have told me. But at least I gained a ton of experience. I figure 30 minutes and I can have the plastic stripped now