I had to replace my oil pan so I got a new gasket, new pan and put a little bit of ultra black sealant on both side of the gasket prior to installation. What is the torque specs for the oil pan bolts? I set my torque wrench to 7ft/lbs to be on the safe side... still seems loose though...

Also, is it okay to put a little gasket sealant around the thermostat housing prior to reassembly? It wont seep onto the thermostat and cause it to malfunction? sorry im paranoid!

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The manual says 10 Nm. That's about 7.4 ft-lbs.

Did you keep the sealant from getting on the bolt? That could give you a false torque reading.

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Current:
1985 300D aka Miss Margaret
1991 300SE aka Alarice
1995 SL320 aka Samantha
1997 K1500 Silverado
Past:
1999 E300 ex-wife got it and let her son ruin it
1984 190 2.3 ex-wife got it and let her son destroy a great car
1985 300D (CA version) aka Maybelline lost to deer at high speed.
1981 300D aka Madeline (went to salvage at near 400k) rusty, yet best car I ever drove
Wishlist:
McFarlan TV6 (only a few privately owned)
ReVere with Rochester engine
1917 Premier (only one left)

I personally dont use permatex.

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1984 123.193 372,xxx miles, room for Seven.

1999 Dodge Durango Cummins 4BTAA 47RE 5k lb 4x4 getting 25+mpgs, room for Seven.

No, the only place on the engine to use sealant is the upper oil pan mating surface. Other than that, just use the gasket or o-ring it was designed to use.

I second that. MB's don't use "sealant compounds" they use gaskets.

I couldn't believe it when I did the tranny service on our minivan.....the dealer kit includes a filter....and a TUBE OF GLOP to smear onto the pan/surface. From the factory it has a gasket like our MB's....but the replacement kit comes with goop. Which promptly began a slow leak once I buttoned it back up.

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The factory does not use sealant, just make sure all mating surfaces are clean, free of old gasket material, smooth and free of and grease/oil. Use a new gasket and all should be fine. For what it's worth, I have rebuilt well over 300 engines and repaired countless others and have never used any sealant on any mating surfaces unless that was what the factory recommended.