I'm helping a friend with an SR S13 and we put a new AC Delco pump in the car, he is running the ISR braided line and it used a rubber/metal washer to seal the 16mm to 6an fitting to the pump. The issue is that gasket is not available locally and the Viton O ring we tried produces a slow leak.
Can Teflon tape be used on a regular threaded fitting? I know that flare and AN do not ever use sealants I've attached a pic of the fitting in question
Double check the sealing surface on the pump. Medium duty trucks use that kind of fitting arrangement on the power steering and it works fine.
Go to your FLAPS and ask to see their oil drain plug gasket assortment and/or air conditioning gasket assortment. High quality drain plug gaskets and some GM A/C compressors use that type of sealing gasket.
Teflon tape won't do anything for it.
Mcmaster has them if you can wait a day or two:
In reply to Knurled. :
Yeah the pump is brand new and the threads/mating surface were nice and clean. He needs the car back asap as it's his daily and even Napa didn't have a gasket that was similar and I have a Hub Napa nearby which is massive. I wish I had an industrial supplier around here but it basically looks like a standard oil drain plug but 16mm is an offhand size.
I guess more my question is if I fail to source an appropriate gasket with tape be compatible to seal the thread if applied properly?
Find a hydraulic shop. That's a BSPP fitting and the washer has the seal ring bonded to it's ID. They're also called "Dowty washers"
Hydraulic shop is probably better if you have one, like djsilver says, but failing that, our local "good" hardware stores tend to have selections of that kind of thing.
I found a fitting supplier that is open today and carries a full selection of metric.
The bad part is it's 40 plus minutes away. Luckily for him I'm a good friend
16mm is so close to 5/8 as to be interchangeable here.
FWIW, I moseyed over to our A/C assortment and found these, nice snug fit on 16mm threads.
Double check the pump even though it is new, new just means untested. It could have a defect pre-installed for your convenience.
Even an aluminum or copper crush washer should be sufficient, the rubber is only there for extra belt and suspenders action.
What I think will work better in the long run is to use a more appropriate fitting for that type of seal. We grabbed a fitting with a wider sealing surface vs the old one. Also grabbed a bunch of extra gaskets cause....it's an S13.
Thank you fellas for all your quick assistance
Car is up and running, quiet as a mouse and not a leak in sight after a nice 45 minute backroad jaunt
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