Oil Pan Gasket - While I'm in there...

[whalenlg]

Hi Brain Trust,
Planning to address the last annoying item on my punch list - and everyone's least favorite.
Lots of good advice for the gasket, but wanted to get feedback on the other items I plan and taking on at the same time:
Will start sometime Nov/Dec....

Already addressed:
All cam tower seals
Timing/balance belts (5k miles, 4 years ago), including rollers, etc.)
Upper balance shaft seal
Oil cooler seals
Steering rack rebuild
Power Steering pump rebuild
One caster block + control arm bushing that had PS fluid deterioration
Some coolant hoses
Injector harness
Distributor, coil and spark plug cables

In the plan
Oil pan gasket
Clean injectors ( who's the best option these days since Witchhunter has retired?)
Test oil
Compression test
Leakdown test (any advice on how to use a Motive power bleeder to do this? Need a spark plug fitting..)
Replace remaining coolant hoses
New plugs (4 years since the last set...)
New coolant
Replace heater control valve
Check Lindsey dual port wastegate (MBC is currently disconnected since the cycling valve does a better job keeping boost max if 16 PSI).
Lower balance seal
Rebuilt water pump (who seems to have the best option these days?)
Driver side caster block
Venturi delete

On the fence about
Oil pickup tube seal
Dipstick o ring
Turbo oil seals
Oil separator seals
180F thermostat
Rod bearings (replaced 50k miles ago and I get 4.8 bar at startup on 20/50 oil and 3 bar at idle when oil is 200F+)
Motor mounts (again 50k miles on OEM mounts and they were checked 5k miles ago in 2020 as OK).

Anything else I should be thinking about before going in? (and yes - always expect surprises!)

[Zirconocene]

I would add the oil pickup tube and dipstick seals/o rings, they're pretty easy to do and will give you some peace of mind later.

For the dipstick o ring, there's information around on the use of (I think I'm remembering this correctly) a slightly thicker o ring, and/or 2 of them to really seal things up.

Cheers

[Tom]

I would add the oil pickup tube and dipstick seals/o rings, they're pretty easy to do and will give you some peace of mind later.

For the dipstick o ring, there's information around on the use of (I think I'm remembering this correctly) a slightly thicker o ring, and/or 2 of them to really seal things up.

Cheers

I've did a deep dive on the dipstick tube seal a while back. The TLDR version is to use McMaster's o-ring # 9263K221. The factory o-ring is very slightly smaller than the tube it goes into, so while it might block oil from coming out when under no pressure, as soon as you add a little boost-induced crankcase pressure, it will leak. Pushing down on the tube does not help because the flange (or spacer on later tubes) prevents the tube from going down far enough to squish the o-ring. Lindsey tried to solve that by adding a second o-ring under the flange, but that relies on constant, perfectly plumb, downward pressure, which the little mounting tab at the top of the tube was never designed to do. A second o-ring also makes the tube stick up a little higher, which throws off the oil level reading by that same amount. The McMaster o-ring solves the issue once and for all, with no downsides. See drawings below.

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[Black944 turbo]

Check your turbo for play, check your down pipe and cross over for separation (my downpipe cracked between the two pipes and was starting to fail). I would personally go ahead and do the bearings again. They are relatively cheap and good insurance. You certainly don’t want to pull the pan again. If the turbo comes off, aos seals are a good one too.

[whalenlg]

Check your turbo for play, check your down pipe and cross over for separation (my downpipe cracked between the two pipes and was starting to fail). I would personally go ahead and do the bearings again. They are relatively cheap and good insurance. You certainly don’t want to pull the pan again. If the turbo comes off, aos seals are a good one too.

Thanks - my debate on the bearings isn’t about cost but just want to make sure I get the right fit with plastigauge (never done it before). The current ones were noted as .05 over and with such great oil pressure already, I’d hate to replace them and have it degrade.

[cp99]

My only comment is, think about dropping the motor to do all that work. Might save your sanity!

[whalenlg]

Thanks for the advice so far - especially on the o-ring.
Dropping the motor is probably the worst case scenario. Anything that major tends to result in collateral damage to stuff that's working already (like the harness, which as been partially rebuilt during previous adventures).
Keep comments coming as I won't start this for a couple of months.

[whalenlg]

Any feedback on these questions?
Clean injectors ( who's the best option these days since Witchhunter has retired?)
Leakdown test (any advice on how to use a Motive power bleeder to do this? Need a spark plug fitting..)
Rebuilt water pump (who seems to have the best option these days?)

[Tom]

Any feedback on these questions?
Clean injectors ( who's the best option these days since Witchhunter has retired?)
Leakdown test (any advice on how to use a Motive power bleeder to do this? Need a spark plug fitting..)
Rebuilt water pump (who seems to have the best option these days?)

If you rig up the right hoses, you can spray a can of carb cleaner through the injectors. You need to pulse them open with a 12v supply (or even a 9v battery). If you want them flow tested, I believe Pacific Fuel Injection in S. San Francisco will clean and flow test them.

Your motor felt good to me. If you are not burning oil, or losing coolant, no urgent need for a leak down. If you just want to do the test for good order's sake, I'd use compressed air. You can get a pancake compressor at Harbor Freight for less than than the price of a tank of gas. I don't think the Motive will create and maintain enough pressure to do a good job (e.g., 100psi).

I'd recommend the LASO water pump. Stay away from URO and no-name rebuilds....

[whalenlg]

Thanks for the info and the feedback on our drive. I do have a proper compressor as well as the Motive. I like to document things from time to time like AC gauge readings & air temps, smog test results etc so I can spot any trends.