Why I Hate Felpro

[71Nissan240Z]

Long story short. I work as a part time mechanic. Full time manufacturing tech. I have had nothing but trouble with felpro and Victor reinz (european) gaskets in the last couple years. They used to be the best. I've had to do timing belts twice since the felpro crank seal seeped oil. Rear main seal. Differential seals.

My car recently started Leaking oil from the oil pump. So while I had the sway bar off for some bushing upgrades I decided to throw on a felpro gasket. Torqued it down to spec and it leaked! I really had to uncomfortably torque down the fasteners to stop the leak since there was no way I was taking the sway bar off.

What's the deal are these? Are they made in china now or something? All the problems I had were solved with oem seals...nothing different except the brand....

[siteunseen]

I used that Permatex gasket sealer, red and tacky, when I rebuilt my 280 with a full Felpro gasket kit.  I'm going to use their Aviation Form A Gasket on the one I'm doing now and as many Nissan gaskets as I can.  Felpro seems thin and easily tears apart.

[zKars]

Your oil pump gasket issue was likely caused by problems with the sealing surfaces rather than the gasket itself. Being a simple flat piece of material it relies on the flatness and cleanliness of the metal on either side to get a seal. The gasket itself would have to extremely irregular in thickness or have holes rips or voids to not be able to seal such a simple situation if the mating surfaces wereclean and in good condition. Even a deep corrosion pit in the front cover or oil pump face might be the cause of the leak rather than the gasket.

Im not discounting the possibility of cheaper materials that don't survive routine handling as well, or don't conform as well to "well used" surfaces, but lets be cautious about placing on the blame on gaskets while not mentioning the importance of proper surface prep.

[Kurbycar32]

The last time i walked into Orielly auto for a valve cover gasket I went home and found the sealed box was empty!  I don't think the people in the store believed me but since I had been shopping there for 20+ years they gave me the benefit of the doubt and gave me a new one.  Other than that I have used dozens of their gaskets without issue, but dad taught me to massage all surfaces before installing the new gasket.

[Oiluj]

I've found it helps to wipe the gasket surface with alcohol or acetone to remove any oil or silicone that can keep the gasket sealant from bonding.

Don't need to scrub, just a quick wipe with a damp, clean cloth.  Old school, professional "field" mechanic taught me that.

[71Nissan240Z]

You would think 15 plus years in the automotive industry I'd know how to prep the surfaces . Guys it's not gaskets that I'm mostly upset with about felpro. It's their shaft seals main seals. Terrible time with these lately to the point I just flat out stopped using them. Felpro used to be all I used in the past.

The last timing belt I did was on a 1996 camry. Put new cam and crank seals on. Put the balancer on snug and started the car with everything off and they leaked. Told the customer he needed to buy new oem seals and pay for installation (he brought the parts to me the first time ). Low and behold...New toyota seals and it sealed up tighter than a drum. And this is with a vehicle that has 230k miles.

[siteunseen]

I'm with you on that, nothing works as good as OE.  I drove 45 minutes one way for a $3 seal for my Camry that my local Toyota dealer was out of stock on and the mechanic needed it ASAP.  He did the "full monty" on mine, water pump and oil pump with the new belt.  I always thought Porsche had the only motor that came out from the bottom but I was WRONG.  He dropped that motor in an hour. 

 

I forgot to say he put another motor in, I over revved the 240,000 mile original and busted the engine balancer all to h e l l.

Edited March 12, 2015 by siteunseen