soundquest

1997 K1500 5.7 -- conflicting information. Some say to use the old lip seal at the bottom of the timing cover (but mine is SWOLE and will not allow re-entry into that tight space (without removing oil pan). Shy of removing the oil pan (which I want to avoid at all costs), I want to be able to just put the timing cover back in place (new cover) using copious amounts of ultra black (Permatex of course). I have seen some people have success with this method, and some people end up with big leaks when the procedure is rapped. If enough Permatex is applied, and in the right places, and is allowed to set-up properly, I dont' see why this method should not work. But it's all theory until field-tested by yours truly. So looking for feedback on this one and if anyone knows the part number for that big fat lip seal at the bottom (so I can just get one aftermarket), that sure would be helpful if I elect to go that route. Oh yeah, the other route is to replace the entire oil pan gasket with a uni-body gasket (which negates the need for said lip-seal when doing timing cover replacement). K, thanks in advance. Oh, and in this video, the fella does not use a new lip-seal -- he just goes BIG on the Permatex (grey in this case). He crazy -- he told everyone to torque those cover bolts down to some insanely high ft. lb and they all post comments saying they snapped their bolts and would like to kick him in the nuts for giving them the improper torque specs (6lbs max is all you need!) But back to the question at hand -- you will see him add a big gob of sealant at the bottom of the cover instead of the big brown seal that it comes with from the factory. Has anyone performed this job using this method and had it not leak?

soundquest

Bump. Anyone?

Little Bear

Use lots of brake cleaner to get the parts as oil free as possible, the smallest amount of oil will contaminate the seal and it will eventually leak. If going this route I would suggest after a thorough cleaning to use an RTV primer to try to get the best seal you can.

deter

Did this work?

Gumby22

Even if that method does work, you’d want to make sure the sealing surfaces on both the timing cover and the oil pan/block are thoroughly cleaned and free of oil. Any contamination will prevent the RTV from bonding to the engine and that’s where the leaks will be.

You’d also want to give the RTV several hours to cure properly before running the engine. The colder the ambient temperature, the longer you’ll want to wait. Overnight at a minimum - if it’s near or below freezing, a couple of days.

When using that much RTV, the outer layer can skin over quickly but the interior layers will remain “gooey” until it’s properly cured. If you expose it to oil before it’s fully cured, it will break down and won’t seal.

I highly recommend using the lip seal and only applying RTV to the corner seams of the timing cover to oil pan surfaces.