fiber gasket found in oil pan

ryanmlee78 · Nov 15, 2014

I have posted here before, I've been working on a T0-30 with a cylinder with low/no compression. I'm pulled the cylinder head to rebuild and accidentally dropped a valve cap down into the block. So I had to pull the oil pan to retrieve the valve cap. In the process, I found fragments of a fiber gasket in the bottom of the oil pan, it looks like it would make a round gasket the same diameter of the piston. Is this an oil ring or something? Any guesses?

Jerry/MT · Nov 15, 2014

It"s probably part of the thrust washer assembly of the crankshaft.

Charles in Aus. · Nov 16, 2014

If it is the diameter of a piston or thereabouts then it is almost certain to be the gasket that sits under the piston liner, sealing the liner from the block . This raises the question though , is it an old discarded one or did it fall off during a past refurbishment of the engine ?

Jason S. · Nov 16, 2014

The Z129 doesn't have a gasket like the Standards do. They just have orings at the bottom of the sleeves.

Jason S. · Nov 16, 2014

A thought I had was some of the cheaper oil filters have cardboard pieces on the ends. I wonder if one of those could have came loose during an oil change. The thrust washer that Jerry mentioned is a possibility. Look up where the oil pump is. If you look on the crankshaft at the first main bearing you should see a thrust washer. It will be opposite the side that the crank pulley is on. It will be wedged between the crank and the block.The originals were a fiber washer and later they came out with brass ones to replace those. If you do not see a thrust washer there then you have a problem. That will require pulling the crankshaft out and installing a thrust washer and setting the thrust. That's what controls the crank going back and forth from front to back. The only thing is the thrust washer isn't nearly the size of a piston, so do some more investigating and let us know what you find.

John (AR) · Nov 18, 2014

If it turns out to be the fiber thrust washer that broke up and ended in the pan, there may be a way to replace it without dropping the crankshaft. I have a similar situation on my TO30 and have found reference in the archives to using a flanged front main bearing (as on the TO20) to replace the plain front bearing and brass washer which has now replaced the fiber washer on the TO30.
When the parts arrive, I will try to roll the old bearing shell out and roll the new flanged one in. I will post the results. Perhaps others may chime in here to help us both out...
When my engine was rebuilt, the PO put the fiber washer in front of the bearing, leaving no thrust bearing in back, with excess end play the result.Good luck.

fiber gasket found in oil pan

ryanmlee78

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Jerry/MT

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Charles in Aus.

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Jason S.

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Jason S.

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John (AR)

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