I am working on a 90 4 Runner 3.0 4wd for a friend. He told me it needed a clutch so I pulled the transmission and put a clutch in it. While I had the trans out I put in a rear main seal. Got it all put back together and the truck would not start. Timing belt was loose and jumped about 6 teeth each cam sprocket. Fixed the timing and the truck ran and drove fine except the oil leaked badly from the rear of the oil pan. I agreed to pull the engine and replace the oil pan gasket. So I pulled the engine not knowing at the time I could simply remove the diff. ROUND #1 - I put on a set of cork gaskets from Autozone with lots of sealant and with very little torque the gasket split around the rear corner of the pan. ROUND #2 - I went back to AZ and got another set of cork gaskets and this time used even more sealant and tightened the bolts to spec with a torque wrench. I put the engine in and it worked great for about 3 minutes then it started pissing out of the same spot, the rear of the pan. SO, ROUND #3 - I am going to drop the front diff (not pull the engine) and replace the gaskets again. My question is can I remove the center plate between the pan and block? Or can there be another problem causing the gasket to blow out at that point. Can I get rubber seals from another parts store? Thank you , Eddie

 

I used RTV sealant, nothing else. Its holding up well, with no leaks. I did make sure the mating surfaces were immaculate- removed old gasket, wire brush, then finally, brake cleaner.

 

There are no gaskets used on the 3.0 oil pan. Use FIPG (Form In Place Gasket) material such as http://www.permatex.com/products/Aut...sket_Maker.htm

 

Did you take the oil baffle plate off? To do the job right, you have to remove the oil pan (you should be good at this by now), then remove the oil strainer/pick up with the two bolts and two nuts. THEN the oil baffle plate comes off. It is held on just w/ silicone/oil pan bolts. You will (should) need a new gasket for the strainer/pickup. Then clean everything off w/ a residueless cleaner. Put silicone on the baffle and stick it to the block. Then reinstall the strainer/pickup. Then silicone and reinstall oil pan. Torque to spec. I only used silicone for the oil pan itself. Did you remove the tranny again? Because if you did, I would pull the rear seal plate out to make sure that is not leaking between the seal plate and the block. This could appear to be an oil pan leak.

 

AutoZone offers a cork gasket which I used 2 times. It had no gasket originally, just sealant. The price seemed cheap @ 7.99 and now I see why(no one uses them). I pulled the baffle plate off and cleaned with a wire brush then brake cleaner. Loaded the block with sealant, placed the seal, put sealant on both sides of the baffle, placed the baffle, reinstalled the pickup tube, placed the gasket on the baffle, loaded pan with sealant. Installed and tightened to spec. I am going to drop the diff and pan then clean the mating surfaces and use straight gasket maker to seal. If it still leaks I will pull the trans for the 3rd time and put a rear seal kit in AGAIN. I have done lots of seals before and NEVER once had a problem. I am by far not an expert, but, come on 3 times?

 

Don't go too crazy with sealant. The factory service manuals even recommend against sealant abuse...

 

The FSM gives specs for diameter of bead.

 

3-4 mm is the right size.

 

.12" is the max for the seal plate and min for the oil pan, so that is what I used. That is hair over 3mm.

 

Ok, I pulled the transmission to change the rear main seal plate gasket. I wasn't going to pull the oil pan back off to re change the gasket but the plate had 2 studs sticking through the oil pan. I know I could have unscrewed the studs but I think with my luck on this piece of crap I would have somehow destroyed them. So I pulled the front diff to get to the oil pan(much easier than pulling the engine). My question now is should I wait until the gasket maker dries somewhat before tightening it to spec? I have never used straight sealer to make my gasket. I am using the permatex black gasket maker.

 

No, you have about a 15 minute window with the stuff.

 

The fsm/chilton i have both say you have 5 minutes from application to being set. So no...don't wait at all. Especially seeing that you have to mount the baffle, then remount the oil strainer, then the oil pan (if you have a 3.0, not sure what other motors have the baffle).

 

Im having difficulty dropping the oil pan. I removed my front dideferential and I've taken the bolt oUT of the pan but it won't drop. How do I seperate the oil baffle plate from the pan. Do I use the two inches of space to unbolt something inside the pan? Any advice will be very helpful thank you.