Long story short, I took my 1996 F250 351 4x4 to a guy to have the oil pan changed as it was rusted and leaking like a siv. He replaced the oil pan and everything looked great up until I checked under the truck a day later after driving it.

Oil was leaking between the oil pan and the crankshaft hump on the block in both the front and back. The pan appeared to be somewhat ill-fitting because there was about a 1/4" gap or so between the oil pan and the block in this crank hump area (but it was filled with some type of gasket sealer).

I told my guy about it and he had me drop it off to fix it again. When I picked it up, the same oil pan was on there but he used (allegedly) some super awesome silicone (it is a metallic silvery) on these areas and put new oil pan gaskets on. He says that the super silicone should do the trick and it should never leak.

My question to you is will it do the trick? I'm thinking he should have just got a better fitting oil pan but I wasn't sure if this was a commom problem or not and if the silicone was the common solution. Will the silicone eventually leak and I will be calling this guy back in a year saying wtf?

 

Yes the oilpan should fit better than that, a 1 piece gasket is all that should be needed... no sealer at all.

 

1 piece are a pain in the a**. the 4 piece is very easy, compared to the 1 piece. the pan should fit better and sealer optional, unless its a 4 piece, then i would do corners just for extra insurance. the silicone will prolly leak after a year or so, and is basically a temporary fix in large quantity. im wondering if he left part of the old gasket in there and that is why it isnt fitting so good. but idk

 

you're one of very few that share that opinion

 

Take it back and tell him that his fix is bull***t. Tell him the pan should fit good and that you will not be satisfied until these four criteria are met:

1) All traces of the old gasket material/"super awesome silicone" are gone.
2) A new 1 piece gasket is in place.
3) The pan fits perfectly just like factory.
4) The SOB is sealed up tight and does not leak.

Sorry about the frustration this has caused you, I know how it feels. I have only taken a vehicle to a shop once. A spindle bearing went out on my truck and it was super cold and snowy outside and I don't have a garage. The shop charge me about $900 to replace it (They claimed 8 hours of labor, which is funny because I can do it in 3 with smoke breaks) and it went out again 3.5 months later. Best part, they would not fix it. When I fixed it, I found they had used the wrong seals, the spindle bearing looked as if they barely even tried to pack it with grease before installing it, and it was not pressed in correctly. NEVER again will I take anything in to a shop.

 

Agreed. From my experience too, a Ford gasket is always best...better than even Fel-Pro.

Not all shops are bad. I work at one and try my absolute best to make a repair look and work like it came right out of the factory. Many jobs take me longer than book time pays because of this but I wouldn't do it any other way.

 

on my 351, without pulling the motor, i couldn't get a 1 piece on and fit right. it took me half the time and half the hassle after i bought the 4 piece and put it in. if i could have pulled the motor, i would have gone with a 1 piece, but given the circumstances, 4 was a lot easier for me to do.