ford fiesta sump replacement

Yes, get the proper gasket from ford (i forget if it is now one piece or multipiece) and be prepared to wrestle with it around the bellhousing end. Some thick grease is essential to stick it in place, otherwise it will be in the dirt countless times!

Do Not use any silicone.

Tim..

Blue hylomar is what you want. Silicone is not - I've picked it out of oil pump intake strainers enough...

On the old Mark III Escorts the official Ford advice was to stick the sump gasket onto the sump with superglue!

Well having built dozens of CVH race engines I always used silicone sealant on both multipiece cork gaskets and one piece rubber ones. Without it they leak and with it they don't. The technique though is to use sparingly in a thin bead along the centre of the flange on both sides of the gasket and just nip the bolts up until it's set for an hour or so. Then do them up fully. That stops it squeezing inside the engine. If you've used the right amount you should just see the edge of the bead around the sump flange but without any great amount squeezed out. It should then be the same on the inside of the flange. It's still a PITA trying to do one in situ though with oil dripping everywhere. I did have to do it once on the drive on my own Fiesta and it still leaked first time round despite how many engines I've built on stands and never had a problem. Much easier when the engine is upside down and everything is clean and dry.

Any other views on whether you need a sealant?

I'm just about to put a new sump on a KA (Endura engine). The Haynes manual says use a sealant available from Ford dealers. Been to 2 Ford Spares Departments who say no sealant is flagged on the screen when you look at the sump/gasket screen which means you don't need any. Confusing! Is sealant just belt and bracers?

Jon McD

I wouldn't use it to hold my trousers up.

;-)

Chris