So, before power washing my oil pan this afternoon I wanted to share what I found lurking in the sump where the oil pump pickup lives. Strings of RTV. Because someone before me thought it was a good idea to smear much more than necessary on the oil pan gasket. Then when they tightened the pan they created a bead all along the inside of the oil pan, much of which wound up in the sump.

If you use this stuff at all use it sparingly.

 

And let it setup before tightning

 

Like any tool, it can be misused.

 

Light or liberal use only by heavy use is a no, no. Some loons even smear their headgaskets with RTV

 

When the oil pan goes back up I'm not using any RTV with the new gasket. Zero. New gasket with the proper torque should seal just fine.

 

I applied a very thin layer of sealant in the areas specified by the service manual. Only odd issue I had was a really slow oil leak around the head of one of the bolts towards the middle of the pan. Removed the bolt and applied sealant lightly to the threads and head of the bolt to correct it. Agreed though that you should be able to get the gasket to seal without RTV-ing it to death.