I seem to have a small oil leak at the right front/side of the oil pan gasket. I have a windage tray, so there is a gasket on each side of the tray. From what I can tell, my mechanic also used some sort of sealer on the gaskets. Any suggestions on how to stop the leak? I have tightened the oil pan bolts (several times), but it still seems to be leaking very slightly. Can the pan be dropped enough on a 64 Galaxie to change the gaskets, if necessary, without raising the engine? I have heard that oil pan studs do a better job of sealing than bolts. Can they be installed without removing the pan? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

i dought you can lower the pan enough to slip the gasket under the oil P/U tube without tearing it up, me and a friend had to raise the motor 3+ inches on his 64 galaxie with a T-bird 390 to get the pan low enough just to drop the oil pump in the pan, theres not much clearence under the pan to the crossmember.

 

There is a sealer (I believe permatex) that's desinged to be applied to the surface of leaking areas. I have no working experience with it, so I can't vouch for it, but considering the work involved here, it may be worth a try. I've seen it at Napa and Carquest, mabey others have it too. Good luck!

 

I'm not so sure now that the leak is coming from the oil pan gasket. I found a trail of oil from the third bolt from the bottom on the passenger side timing cover bolts (the one partly obscured by the water pump). I had tightened all the timing cover bolts previously because the bottom two on the passenger side were loose and leaking. I retightened all of the timing cover bolts (a few were a little loose including the one with the oil trail) and cleaned up any oil stain down the edge of the timing cover. I'll keep an eye on it this weekend as I drive the car and if necessary let my mechanic look at it on Monday when I drop it off to have the power steering control valve and slave cylinder replaced.

I REALLY don't want to pay my mechanic to replace the oil pan gasket. The leak is very small and I may just live with it.