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RB valley pan and intake gasket...again.

MWFan

Well-Known Member
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Ok I know this is a well covered subject and have read many posts. Here's mine. Have a 440 with a Mopar dual plane aluminum intake. I have had an oil consumption issue that shows up as oil smoke at idle and low speeds when very warm/hot. Compression is 165-170 on all 8 holes. Does NOT smoke when I am on the gas. Does not smoke when driving normally. Does not smoke at startup. (I originally thought valve seals).
I ran in to a fellow Mopar guy at an auto parts store and he mentioned the possibility of a valley pan/intake gasket leak. Do the symptoms above sound right for this to be the issue?
I have ordered the Felpro valley pan kit with the exhaust risers blocked. The one I took off was not blocked but there is a blocking plate on the manifold so I don't think it really matters. It had the intake gaskets installed on both sides of the pan, a dab of copper silicone at the corners, none on the end rails, none on the gasket surfaces. I have read many posts on several sites from people who regularly say "I have built X amount of big blocks and I NEVER use the gsskets", "I have built big blocks for years and use one gasket under the pan" and "I put it together dry with gaskets and pan and see if the bolts will line up. If not, I take out gaskets until they do, then seal it up and bolt it together". Some use sealer around the intake on one side, some both sides. (Sounds like fun prying the intake off to me.) Most just use a dab in the corners.

I kinda like the last one, but I have built 0 Mopar motors and only have this one. I would like to not have to worry about smoking up the local cruise night. What do you guys think?
 
Yep, everyone does it different. I like using the pan and 440 source thin gaskets. I think the last one I did I used Gaskasinch to glue the gaskets to the pan. And I use Permatex Ultra Grey in the corners.
 
On my 383 engine in my 68 sport Satellite I installed the valley pan dry and only used “the right stuff” by permatex in the corners. It did not leak. Everything lined up. I used a Fel pro gasket.
 
Easy stuff first before you rip and tear. A couple checks you might try if you haven't already.
For gasket, I'm thinking you may see localized oil consumption show up on a plug or two. Have you read them?
If all look similar, do you see oil present in the PCV?
 
Daves69,
Yes, when I ran the compression check there were plugs with oil fouling, mostly on passenger side. When I bought it it ran like crap. Noticed a whistle so got a rubber tube and tracked down a vacuum leak under the intake in the area of those cylinders. Found the intake bolts almost falling out. Tightened them up and sealed the vacuum leak and it ran much better. Have not checked the PCV, thanks, I'll do that next.
OBTW, too late, already ripped and torn, waiting on the kit to reassemble.
 
Before you put it together lay the intake on the motor with no gasket and see how it fits, see if the intake fits flush on the heads. You can use a feeler gauge to find it the intake fits flush. Usually if the intake is sucking oil the ports in the heads will be oily and the intake ports will be normal.
 
Finally got the pan and gaskets from Autozone. O'Reilly screwed up my order (they still don't know what happened to my part but they assure me AGAIN that it will be here tomorrow) so I gave up and ordered from Autozone. Put it together and I will let the gasket goo set up until tomorrow and see if it helped.
 
Yep, everyone does it different. I like using the pan and 440 source thin gaskets. I think the last one I did I used Gaskasinch to glue the gaskets to the pan. And I use Permatex Ultra Grey in the corners.
I just ordered this from OReilly
Fel-Pro High Performance Rectangle Port Composite Intake Manifold Gask (oreillyauto.com)
Another fbbo member says this is what I need.
Anyhow I have plug fouling on the right bank and it looks like it is sucking oil.

intake6and8.jpg intake2and4.jpg
 
Finally got the pan and gaskets from Autozone. O'Reilly screwed up my order (they still don't know what happened to my part but they assure me AGAIN that it will be here tomorrow) so I gave up and ordered from Autozone. Put it together and I will let the gasket goo set up until tomorrow and see if it helped.
Been awhile, but wanted to ask if this fixed the issue.

intakeoily.jpg
 
Glad you got it figured out. Did the valve seals work? Sorry I couldn't get back to you earlier, we're out in Tennessee.
I decided to keep the valve seals as is as they look like new.

valveseal.jpg
 
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