I'm about to change the oil pan gasket, having just finished changing the seals on the turbo drain pipe.

I have a Reinz gasket. It looks like paper. Do I use sealant with this gasket? Have you had good experience with this gasket? If you use sealant, what do you use? Any other tips?

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1984 300D Turbo 350K 50K WVO (two tank) "Maeby"

I didn't use sealant. 3 months have passed, so far no leaks.

How pitted was the mating surface of your oil pan?

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1984 300D Turbo 350K 50K WVO (two tank) "Maeby"

I have done this twice, with that gasket.

The main thing is to get that old gasket off of there, and the make the two surfaces extremely clean. I have used CRC gasket remover to speed this up, along with a lot of brake cleaner, razorblades, paper towels, and patience.

Once removed, I use Permatex High Tack gasket sealant to guarantee correct placement.

And then, when putting it back *do not* over torque. I believe those bolt are 9NM per the FSM. Go slow and tighten in a criss cross pattern gradually.

Both of my gaskets have sealed wonderfully for years.

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

I use a very light coat of sealant on the gasket. The reason is that after 30 or 40 years, you can't assume the mating surfaces are perfect, especially if you had to dig at them with metal tools to remove the old gasket. I just use enough to "wet" the surface of the gasket, not so much that it can squeeze out. Another trick: I use Vibratite on the bolts. It's a low-strength thread locker. Strong enough to keep them from backing out, weak enough to allow you to undo them later. It's similar to the blue stuff they apply to factory brake bolts and such.