To gasket or not to gasket...

[JeepSJ]

...that is the question.

I have gaskets for the oil pan, but I had a rebuilder tell me not to use a gasket on the oil pan. I have always been of the belief that if a gasket is available, it should be used. So, should I gasket the oil pan, or just use silicon?

EDIT - I just went to the 6.2 forum and someone had posted the same question there. I still want this question to stand to see what the rest of you think. The response in the other forum is that the gaskets will leak. I have 80K miles on the last engine that I rebuilt and it isn't leaking yet.

[Kennedy]

I like to use Ultra black or a very high grade black silicone. You will need silicone regardless, so may as well do the whole thing.

Personally, I don't torque the screws until the sealer has cured so as not to squish it out.

Clean and dry with a good bead of silicone and it will not leak, in fact, it is tough to remove the pan!

[catmandoo]

yeah i'm with you i like that ultra black,the trick is to not tighten the bolts fully til it has had some time to cure.some of the new stuff has dimples along the lips of valvecovers and pans to keep from pushing out the silicon.in that case you just tighten down the bolts