Install of x-51 oil pan questions ...

[viper501]

I have received the x51 pan and baffle assembly from Suncoast. I also have reviewed the Brey-krause instructions regarding their pan installation. Seems that they should be relatively useful for my X51 pan. But, they recommend not using RTV due to adhesion of the RTV and suggest that you use only Porsche Part Number 000 043 203 73 Drei-Bond gasket sealer. Is there a readily available alternative/substitute for the drei-bond out there?

Also, anyone have any experience and tips regarding this project?

BTW, I am doing it in hopes of prevent oil pressure droop when running around in the mountains. Some of the tighter turns at the bottom of a downhill run under braking saw my pressures bounce down more than I was comfortable with. I'm going to try to remember to photograph things as they go along and do my own DIY / Observations.

[tholyoak]

The couple times that I've removed the pan, I simply used the porsche sealant. It isn't that expensive and is recommended so why risk a leak using a different sealer. That said, I'm sure there are many types of sealant you could use, but again, why risk clogging the oil pickup etc with RTV or the like. Every dealer I know of has this stuff in stock, so it isn't difficult to get.

Just my $0.02

Todd

[Loren]

List price is only $17 - Sunset Imports likely has it much cheaper.

I would use the Drei-Bond (brand) that Porsche uses.

[viper501]

Yes, I would like to use the Drei-bond but I know how pathetic my dealer is, especially in the parts area. I'm going to check with them tomorrow and find out whether they have it, and if so, how much they want for it. They drive me nuts.

[viper501]

OK, so I went to the dealer and asked for the drei-bond. They said, none here so I wandered out in the shop and asked the mechanic (the only one) whether he had an extra tube lying around so I might be able to do this project. He said that Porsche no longer uses it for the oil pans and has replaced it with LocTite 5900. He was kind enough to dig around in the shop and actually give me a spare tube. :D So, I'm still on track to install the pan tomorrow morning. I'm going to try to take some pictures while under there to document things.

[viper501]

Well, the new pan is in. Unfortunately, my friend with the lift was busy so I had to do it on ramps and jackstands in my garage. Due to space constraints, I don't have any photos to share, although there really isn't anything earth shattering there anyways. Visual inspection of the old pan and the visible parts showed no apparent, or at least obvious, problems. Everything appeared very clean. No signs of any sludge buildup in the pan, nor any visible metal particles. Carefully removed the minute amounts of sealant and then wiped the mating surfaces clean with brake cleaner on a rag, while paying careful attention to not allowing any of the cleaner inside of the engine. Also wiped down the new pan's sealing surface. The only real difference appears to be in the baffling itself. The x-51 has some small side baffles that are not present on the standard baffle. Total time was about an hour and a half. I think it would have been a *lot* easier with the lift but I wasn't willing to wait until next weekend.

BTW, my friend loaned me his dispenser for the Loctite 5900 tube. Looks like a small squeeze actuated caulking gun. According to my friend, Mercedes uses the same loctite 5900 for their cars so that may be an alternative source if you can't find it at the Porsche dealer or and aftermarket store.

Now I have to get back to the twisties so I can see what kind of difference this made.

At the same time, I switched out to the Castrol Syntec 5/50. Given the ambient temps in the deep south, I think I'll be fine during the summer.