Need some advice! I am currently replacing all the front seals and timing belt on my 92 Volvo 240. I figured I might as well replace the gasket for the front crank and intermediate seal housing as well. I am using all genuine Volvo parts, but when it comes to the gasket for the front housing, most repair manuals say to apply a thin film of RTV sealant on both sides of the gasket. My question is that really needed?? I hate using RTV for anything and can’t imagine the factory doing so when they built it in the first place. Am I wrong? Can I just use the new gasket as is? Also I can’t find the torque specs for the housing bolts/nuts, just for the rear main seal housing, which is 120 in-lbs, so I figured I would use that for the front. Thanks for any help - Justin

 

A few years back I replaced all seals on my '90 240 I used RTV on the plate you describe. I'm going by memory (which isn't the best anymore) but I believe that there is a butt joint in this seal. I felt better to seal it with RTV just to be sure. I didn't have any leaks after that.

 

act1292 you are correct as the oil pan butts up to the front housing, which can use a bead across that, but I want to know why use it on the gasket for the housing itself?

 

I recently did all the seals and the gasket your talking about. There was no rtv when I took the plate off and I used no rtv when I replaced the gasket.

Haven't had any leaks.

 

I used it on the gasket itself. You can do it either way. Really, the biggest reason not to use RTV on gaskets is it really makes it a pain to clean up if you have to do the job again. In my case I was pretty sure I was not going in there again. I was correct as the car has rusted away and I had to let it go.

 

Thanks for the reply’s... I had the same inclination as dytha99, there wasn’t any on the gasket when I pulled it off, so I am not going to add any either. I just wanted some additional input. That gasket was original and after 200,000 miles wasn’t leaking, but since I have the engine out, figured I would replace everything with OEM parts and have it go another 200,000 miles and beyond! Thanks