Thread: Oil pan gasket questions and help

I've seen them on webpage such as rock auto for 27 bucks not too bad. Probably get them locally too.

Here is a quick walk through I pulled from another thread:

1. safely raise car
2. drain oil
3. unplug and remove oil level sensor (I didn't and broke mine)
4. remove nuts on motor mount (passenger side)
5. safely support passenger side of engine
6. loosen all 4 sub-frame bolts
7. place a jack under the passenger side of sub-frame
8. remove passenger side sub-frame bolts
9. slowly lower jack until all bolts are accessible on oil pan.
10. unbolt oil pan.
11. slowly work it off and wiggle it around to remove it. Be aware of the pick-up tube while you are pulling. You may have to lower the sub-frame even more to get the pan out.

Support engine from above, and completely drop and remove the sub frame to gain access to the oil pan. Its not worth leaving the sub frame in and working half ass around it.

Or,

pull the engine and work on it while it on a stand. Good time to install an after market cam too and do the LIM gaskets while your in there too.

Gaskets, I used to say GM all the way, for sure get the GM ALUMINUM lower intake manifold gaskets hands down.

Oil pan gasket, I have to say get the FelPro gasket. The GM one is just that a stock OEM replacement. FelPro knows of the problems with the "wrinkles" in the oil pans, and they made their rubber webbing on their gasket much-much taller to take up the low spots on the pan, which causes the leaks. FelPro says with their revised, and improved pan gasket you do not need to use any sort of gasket maker. I still do, and would suggest to other to do the same. Do the job right the first time, and adding RTV to both sides of the pan gasket wont hurt anything.

GM's gaskets used to go in dry on the 3800's when they came out. Later, as more and more cars that were the firsts out on the road, started coming back with leaking pans, GM changed how they assembled the engines from the factory, and added gasket maker to both sides of the gasket. They instructed GM techs to do the same when the customers cars were in there for that service that had the gaskets installed dry.

Thanks GM.

~F~