Last minute sanity check about my rear main.

[Gokou]

No big deal... I only use HondaBond HT now for RTV, it's about $20 a tube, and that's my wholesale price. It's worth the price though, no other RTV I've ever used can even come close to it. Awesome stuff.

Is this the stuff you used-- permatex anerobic gasket maker? http://www.permatex.com/auto/autouh.asp?f_call=get_item&item_no=51813

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[rc1626]

That's the stuff!

 

[Gokou]

Just ran to 4 different stores... none of them stock it.

The shop manual says to use GM sealer #1052756 or equivalent on the block-to-cap mating surface... guess I'll hit up the dealer tomorrow if I can't find the Permatex stuff.

edit: just did some searching... GM #1052756 crossreferences to the Permatex anerobic gasket maker.

 

[rc1626]

Good Luck! Take your time, make sure the block and cap are really clean. I used acetone and a scrub pad........worked very well. If both mating surfaces are clean you shouldn't have any problems.
Rob

 

[Gokou]

It's out... and I think I found my problem. On one side of the cap, the RTV slid out with the pan gasket, on the other half it stuck really well and I had to pull it out in chunks. The main itself looked OK, but a little on the dry side, so it may have shrunk when the car was stored for several years (the car had 2500 miles on it when I got it earlier this year, and most of those were put on between 1989 and 1995).

I can't finish the job tonight without the anerobic sealant, but I'll clean up the mating surfaces and grease up and install the top half of the main.

It actually wasn't as hard as I thought to jockey the pan out. the only things to watch for on the TTA is that you have do disconnect the fuel hoses (they aren't long enough when you raise the motor), and the DS spark plug loom and the wiring gutter on the DS valve cover plows into the wiper motor, but if you lift the gutter off the slots on the valve covers so it can shift forwards everything is OK.

The job isn't as hard as I thought... I just hope it doesn't leak when I put it back together

 

[Gokou]

rc1626-- did you use the surface prep spray with the anerobic? The back of the package recommends to use it.

Thanks again...

 

[rc1626]

No, I didn't. I couldn't find it in any of the parts stores by me. I just made sure things were nice and clean.

 

[Gokou]

That's reassuring... because none of the stores here have the prep stuff, and when I looked in a permatex book one of the stores, it didn't show it Found it on their website though. Weird.

I'm seriously considering smearing Hylomar HPF on the side seals just to "make sure" they seal... I've had excellent luck in the past with Hylomar in similar situations.

Thanks again.

 

[rc1626]

Like I posted earlier, as a back up on the sides of the cap where it meets the block, I used the anerobic sealer. Not directly on the side seals but on each side of the seals. Using this method, the side cap to block mating surface is triple protected. First you have the anerobic sealer, then the side seal, followed by anerobic sealer again. So far so good for me.

 

[Gokou]

It's done and back on the road, and so far not a drip. Thanks again for the help everyone!

I decided to be daring and I used the anerobic sealer on the side seals, too. I lightly painted them and put a dab on the very top of them, then inserted them into the cap, and then slid the cap into place. I then gooped up the pins with the anerobic and drove them into place. I did find (and use) the surface prep/accelerator and I painted the surfaces in the block with a q-tip, then gooped up the cap with the sealer and installed it. That anerobic is weird stuff, and expensive too... the tube of the sealant was $12, and the little spraycan of the prep/accelerant was $15! Still, it's the right stuff, GM calls it out in the shop manual.

So far, so good... I have about 20 minutes idle time and 20 miles on it so far and not a single sign of a leak. The new fel-pro silicone pan gasket is also dry as a bone. So, at the moment, I have a turbo 3.8 with NO oil leaks... is that possible?

I'm picking up another driver's side valve cover from the scrapyard tomorrow morning to put on the passenger side so I can run dual breathers. I don't want to run the chance of pressurizing the crankcase and blowing out seals.

The job was not without a casualty though... I crashed the sparkplug wireloom bracket (part of the EGR solenoid bracket) into the wiper motor and sliced a nice gash in the plastic cover for the wiper motor when I was jacking up the engine. TTA guys, take note so you don't do what I did, and either remove the cover on the wiper motor or loosen the EGR solenoid bracket at the rear of the DS valvecover.