Thanks to the curb my grandson hit, the scrape on the oil pan oozes ever so slow. Next up on the repair is replacing the oil pan. Not one to "Reuse" but when pulling the oil dip stick tube, I want to replace the oil rings. Here is the question...are these special rings. Amazon sells a new tube with o rings, 2 day for 12 bucks, the dealer has them special order for about the same price for just the two O rings. One more question, do I have to release the tube to remove the oil pan?

 

I would replace the complete tube and orings , your choice .

 

If the tube is not bent and the old o-rings are intact, really no need to replace any of it. Just use a light coat of RTV black sealer when you put the tube back in.

 

Here is a picture from the service manual for the dipstick tube. yes, you should remove it before removing the oil pan because it connects directly into the pan.




here is the service manual on oil pan installation (this is for the 2.2, the 2.4 is similar):




Hope this helps. Keep excess RTV sealer from oozing into the engine, as a small piece could break off and block oil passages.

Steve

To answer your O ring question:

There are two concerns for a replacement O-ring, temperature range and oil resistance.
The O-rings that you usually find in hardware stores is made of Nitrile (Buna-N) rubber which is oil resistant but only is good to about 250 degrees F. This is marginal for temperature but may be OK.

The better type of O-ring material is Viton, which is also oil resistant but can handle temperatures around 400 degrees F.

You could pull off the old O rings, measure them ( they are specified by ID and thickness) , and then find a replacement.

I like firemangeorge's idea of a LIGHT coat of RTV, since you will need to buy RTV anyway for the oil pan. There is no pressure at the dipstick seal, you are only sealing a static joint to prevent a drip-type leak.

Remember that any RTV you use should be labelled "sensor-safe".

Steve

 

Great information, Steve. Thank you for your input

 

"sensor-safe". means NO silicone. GM part # 12378521 (Canada 88901148)

If this was a VW diesel I would worry about the dipstick tube, they break all the time. Being that it isn"t I see it as a waste.

 

There is sensor-safe RTV. What was creating the problem was high-volatility silicone that was acetic-acid based (smells like vinegar). The sensor-safe (which most of it is labelled as now) RTV replaces the high-volatility compounds with different ones.

 

Never the less the GM US and CA. part number is the GM recommended RTV.