Hello. Question #1 : Felpro makes 2 different types & thickness's of gasket material : Karropak which is tan colored and paperish and Rubber Fiber which is black colored and rubberish. They come in 1/32" & 1/16" thick. Which type and which thickness is best for an oil pan gasket and timing cover gasket ??

Which permatex product should I use when putting a gasket on ? Black RTV gasket maker ? Or black gasket sealer ? Seems by names that 2nd(sealer) would be the choice. Do I put sealant(or maker) on both sides of gasket or just one side ??

Thanks for all your help & advice. Is much appreciated.

Hello,

The general rule is to choose the same thickness as the old material. I guess the 1/32 is too thin. The 1/16 would be just nice. If you use thicker than original gasket, be sure to compensate back the crank oil seal placement by installing (pushing) it a bit deeper.

Gasket material should not include any rubber substance in it (it could be attacked by gasoline or oil later) unless you're using it only for cooling system purposes. As you can see a rubber gasket is used in our B230 thermostat sealing because of no oil involved.

Regarding the use of sealer this is much of personal preference. Some use it and some not. For me I use only a little at the sharp angle mating surfaces i.e during valve cover gasket replacement - at the sides of the front oil seal hump and the sides of distributor hump at the back.

If you decide to use sealant just spread it thin enough on both sides of the gasket material so that it won't overrun at the sides when you mate the surfaces later. There had been cases in which these overruns of sealant broke loose and got stuck at the oil pump strainer causing low engine oil pressures (leading to engine damage).

I prefer not to use any sealant other than the ones described above so that in future dismantling there's no need to remove the traces of old sealant (making replacing gaskets much quicker).

Regards,
Amarin.

Why Felpro? Why don't you just buy Volvo OEM or quality European brands like Reintz or Elwis which are quite good and not expensive. As far as sealants, any good quality one will do. I put a thin bead of sealant on both sides--first on the part then on the other side before installing it.