Leaking taco plate...again, getting really tired of this Options

[ChrisReale]

So my car decided to dump oil all over the floor of my parking space, pissing off the management. Ive spent the last two saturdays cleaning up the mess. I got around to replacing the rubber o-ring, lightly coated it in black sealent to help it stay put. New paper gasket and copper crush gaskets. Today I see it is still leaking oil. There always seems to be a drop hanging off the temp sender wire and a small puddle of oil about 4 inches in diameter right under the taco plate. Im getting tired of this. Im "pretty" sure my plate is not taco'ed, but not 100%. Any other ideas or should I just source a new plate? Oh, and I am not even using synthetic anymore, this is with dino schtuff (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/headbang.gif)

[Cap'n Krusty]

QUOTE (DNHunt @ Nov 12 2005, 05:46 AM)

Hey Jeff I inherited that mess. It's leaked all over the floor of the woodshed. I've used hylomar on the O-ring and Loctite 518 on the plates and nuts. That seems to work for me. Once I got one sealed I try not to mess with it Dave

REPEAT AFTER ME!: "Sealing surfaces with o-rings are designed to have clean, direct contact between the metal and the o-ring. Sealant used in these applications generally, if not always, leads to leakage."

In the case of the "taco plate", there's an o-ring that fits into a deliberately designed gap between the case and the metal cover. The cover is held in place by 2 6mm machine screws, which are each sealed by a composite crush washer. This washer MUST be installed with the "split" side AWAY from the surface of the cover. If the "taco plate" has an oil temp sender provision, then there's a paper gasket installed under the protective plate, making it a 3 part sandwiched assembly. The copper crush washer still goes under the head of the machine screw, and still has the same orientation. One MUST assure that the threads in the crankcase are intact before assembling the cover assembly. The o-ring should be lightly oiled before installation, and thread sealant is permissable. If the threads are in any way degraded, they must be repaired to ensure the integrity of the seal. If the cover is warped or otherwise damaged, it must be repaired or replaced.

Paper or composition gasket = sealant OK.

Rubber or polymer o-ring = No sealant.

How hard is that?

The Cap'n