long story short: water pump gouged timing chain cover. Have all parts in hand and cover off. removed without dropping oil pan out - just removed bolts.
1. can the oil pan gasket be used again. manual says not too. would save the college student i am doing this for 40 bucks but i don't want to do this again.
car port mechanic and don't charge for friends of family.
update: used new one.
2. The oil pump center gear has a dimple mark on it. does this have to be aligned with the crank. My searches have produced only that this side must face towards front of case and one reference to it being an alignment mark. none of the instructions (including manual) found indicate it must be aligned with anything.
update: didn't worry about it - worked fine.
3. the oil pump parts from the damaged cover look to be in better shape than pump in used housing. better to use pump in used housing or use pump from damaged housing (show less wear). 1/2 in edge of used
housing oil channel shows very slight wear bevel. picture tomorrow if needed.
update: used pump that came with replacement timing chain cover. 70 psi pressure.
update: after many hours of reading posts about oil pan removal and no success found placement of jack under transmission makes all the difference. place jack near rear of transmission (drivers side). with engine cradle and starter removed the pan will fall out. requires very little encouragement. may not need to remove cradle and starter - try without 1st.
thanks for any info
billw19
