The dealer tells me my wife's '09 XB has a slow leak in the oil pan seal (they specifically said it's not a gasket, but formed in place seal). I did find that Felpro makes a gasket set which includes RTV sealant, and picked one up at the parts store Tuesday. I'm planning to do the fix this Saturday. The car has over 80,000 miles on it so no warranty repair.

My question is: Has anyone else done this job, using a gasket and sealant? Am I better off sticking with the FIP seal only?

It looks like a really easy fix either way. Just don't want to mess it up.

 

Should be sealant only. I'd buy it from the dealership if I were you and get OEM stuff for a couple more dollars. You should be able to do it yourself though if you have basic knowledge and experience.

 

Thanks. Any idea what the advantage is to sealant, as opposed to a traditional gasket, and why they went that way?

 

A gasket isn't going to work on something that is constantly oil soaked you know. So a sealant is the same as just welding the thing shut because that's exactly what it needs to not escape.

 

Thanks again. Yeah, that makes sense.

 

Take pictures and let us know how it goes and keep this thread posted alright.

 

Will do.

 

Well, I didn't get any pictures because I ran into problems. I got the bolts (and 2 nuts) removed with no problem. Looks like they had been treated with Never-Seize, which I appreciated. But the oil pan itself, I couldn't budge. I tried very gently inserting a putty knife along the edge, especially on two of the corners, where there was a flat, machined aluminum surface to pry against. But zero luck. It wouldn't budge. I can only assume this is because the FIPG has effectively welded the two pieces together. I was being very careful not to damage the parts. Maybe too careful?

Any thoughts? Is there a trick to this?

 

I did put it back together and was changing the oil and filter anyway, so at least I got my oil change done. And I'm watching for any signs of a leak. So far, so good...

 

Descendant had a video overview of them installing one of their turbo kits on an xB. In this video they replaced the oil pan with the tapped TRD unit. As I recall, they show how to remove the oil pan.