Originally Posted by Scottydoggs
I probably explained this terribly, let me start over...
Some time back, I had a 3800 motor develop rod knock. I am still unsure/don't remember if the oil I drained from that already had coolant or not, but regardless, I tried the old "replace rod bearings through oil pan" trick. At the same time, I tried to replace the oil pump. Immediately after startup, the oil was filled with coolant. I only ran it for about 20 seconds. I redid the timing cover, same thing happened. First time: Dry gasket. Second time: Reused gasket but covered in black RTV. Same result. No RTV on bolts.
I got a replacement motor which was FWD, so I had to replace the upper and lower intake and oil pan. I did not touch the timing cover on this motor as I wasn't sure if I was going to mess it up more (despite the instructions saying to replace every gasket). It has had zero issues so far, however, I had recently noticed the coolant leak at the timing cover. I want to fix it, but the past experience with the timing cover makes me cringe, as I am still uncertain about where I went wrong, or if the motor was truly shot already.
So I am wondering, dry gasket or RTV it, and black RTV on bolts? And any other pointers/hints? I'm trying to get this down to the detail to prevent any possible errors.
