i need to change it, its dripping in the front and back pretty consistently. so here is my other problem. after about 2-3 weeks I'm about 2 qts low on oil and it starts ticking really bad, like a loud ass exhaust leak. but i still have about 15 psi at idle and 30 psi at 2500 rpm's. throw 2 qts in and the noise goes away. could this be the oil pump? or should i just change the gasket and dont worry about it since the level wont drop that far anymore. :barf: i dont think its the lifters because i still have oil pressure. but what the hell do i know

I had an LTD years ago that would do the exact same thing- it took a couple of miles before the ticking would finally go away after dumping in a couple quarts. I assumed it was the lifters, as nothing else made sense to me.

id think lifters. i have had several cars do that noise with oil pressure...:confused:

i woudl reccomend spending the extra $$ to get one of the nice rubber one peice gaskets with the steel sleeves in each hole....they seal up very nice and are much easier to put in

Rear main seals can also go out which you could mistake for a bad oil pan gasket.
Ticking lifters are a sign of bad things in your engines future...it indicates that your oil pressure is almost zilch, or you are almost out of oil which is basically the same concept.
If it takes a long time for the lifters to stop ticking, even after you add oil, I would put a manual pressure gauge on it and see what kind of actual pressure you are getting.
It might be time for a rebuild.

Rear main seals can also go out which you could mistake for a bad oil pan gasket.
Ticking lifters are a sign of bad things in your engines future...it indicates that your oil pressure is almost zilch, or you are almost out of oil which is basically the same concept.
If it takes a long time for the lifters to stop ticking, even after you add oil, I would put a manual pressure gauge on it and see what kind of actual pressure you are getting.
It might be time for a rebuild.

i have a electrical autometer gauge on it and have hooked a mechanical one to it to and both were reading the exact same. the ticking goes away as soon as i dump the oil in. when it starts ticking (i still have about 15 psi at idle) how do the lifters not have pressure but the engine has 15 psi ?