Recently we heard another story about an engine block that was broken by silicone gasket.
Another proof of how damaging that product is. Or not?
Silicone packing mass is the younger brother of the old-fashioned liquid packing. Usually that stuff was with the color of rust and the spreadability of stringy peanut butter.
There are also 'fixed' silicone gaskets.
Oh yeah; by using that good old liquid gasket, quite a few engine blocks have died.
Silicone sealant - even the excellent blue lockTite - and liquid gasket have two deadly properties:
* They do not have thickness. When pressure is applied to the parts, the 'gasket' becomes as thin as aluminum foil. And if that thickness of the original-fixed gasket was meant to arrive at a correct mounting distance between parts ... Then it goes wrong.
* As in Kruijf: "You should not use it too much, but not too little either." It goes wrong with too much. The superfluous mass is then pushed away, and can clog oil channels etc. So sloppiness of the user.
But properly used, silicone mass is a good packing material. Oh yes: What many people forget is that a silicone mass has to cure.
The usual drying time is 5 hours for 1 mm. Before that time it is very sensitive to contact with oil and such.
A common temperature range within these products is -60 to 300 degrees
That is why it is apparently possible to repair - or call it 'ricochet' - a crack in a sump pan or the like. In that case, the surface must be vigorously degreased (brake cleaner) and that the aforementioned drying time must be observed.
Silicone kit: great stuff when used properly.