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Oil pan removal: my how-to, my hell

Been thinking of doing this for a while, but honestly I dont want the headache. If i get one of my buddies to help me, i may knock it out. Otherwise, i'll probably take it to the repair shop. Hopefully they dont charge me out the ass with those AllData or Mitchell prices. Good write-ups though, I will definately refer to this thread......
 


I think the job is coded at like 4 hours or something. Dealership quoted me about 480 or something like that. For this reason i bought some tools and did it myself.

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Bout to go H.A.M.
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I also have a leaking pan gasket, and the steel oil pan has some rust on it, so instead of buying a replacement steel pan and gaskets, I went ahead and aquired the parts for an aluminum pan since I have to replace the pan anyways. For the price of the aluminum pan was not much more than a steel pan and gasket, althouth the extra cost of the bracket and oil pickup tube was not too bad. I also get the benifit of the ease as installation by not having to reinstall the "U" bracket and the 4 hard to get too bolts.
Also, thanks to those who posted the part numbers for the conversion to the aluminum oil pan!
Just waiting for some cooler weather to do the swap!
aluminumpanparts.jpg
 
QUICKSILVER462 said:
I also have a leaking pan gasket, and the steel oil pan has some rust on it, so instead of buying a replacement steel pan and gaskets, I went ahead and aquired the parts for an aluminum pan since I have to replace the pan anyways. For the price of the aluminum pan was not much more than a steel pan and gasket, althouth the extra cost of the bracket and oil pickup tube was not too bad. I also get the benifit of the ease as installation by not having to reinstall the "U" bracket and the 4 hard to get too bolts.
Also, thanks to those who posted the part numbers for the conversion to the aluminum oil pan!
Just waiting for some cooler weather to do the swap!
aluminumpanparts.jpg
Click to expand...

Might as well pick up an aluminum cradle while you are at it.

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QUICKSILVER462 said:
I also have a leaking pan gasket, and the steel oil pan has some rust on it, so instead of buying a replacement steel pan and gaskets, I went ahead and aquired the parts for an aluminum pan since I have to replace the pan anyways. For the price of the aluminum pan was not much more than a steel pan and gasket, althouth the extra cost of the bracket and oil pickup tube was not too bad. I also get the benifit of the ease as installation by not having to reinstall the "U" bracket and the 4 hard to get too bolts.
Also, thanks to those who posted the part numbers for the conversion to the aluminum oil pan!
Just waiting for some cooler weather to do the swap!
aluminumpanparts.jpg
Click to expand...

Can u post a link of that thread for the aluminum part numbers and required parts for the job I can't seem to get to search to work on my phone

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Pan (part# 12597244_
Pickup tube (part# 24506437)
Mount bracket (part# 10345562)
Mount (old one should work)
Small tube of GM engine sealant (no gasket on these pans)
YI...Pan Number is 12597244
Pan: 12597244
Pickup: 24506437
Bracket: 10345562

2004 gp or lucerne with 3800
If you get a lucerne..there is no bracket so it's part number 10345562 bracket eng mt

Engine Oil Pan
Grand Prix 2005-2007 W(L32)
Grand Prix 2005-2008 W(L26)
Lacrosse/Allure 2005-2008 W(L26)
Lucerne 2006-2008 H(L26)

The Above is info I have collected here for the pan swap, it was compiled from sources I cannot remember, but thanks to them Hope it helps you, it helped me.
 
AWESOME!

Mines an 04 comp g.. kinda confused me on the lucerne... is that what car the aluminum pan is part listed from?

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QUICKSILVER462 said:
I also have a leaking pan gasket, and the steel oil pan has some rust on it, so instead of buying a replacement steel pan and gaskets, I went ahead and aquired the parts for an aluminum pan since I have to replace the pan anyways. For the price of the aluminum pan was not much more than a steel pan and gasket, althouth the extra cost of the bracket and oil pickup tube was not too bad. I also get the benifit of the ease as installation by not having to reinstall the "U" bracket and the 4 hard to get too bolts.
Also, thanks to those who posted the part numbers for the conversion to the aluminum oil pan!
Just waiting for some cooler weather to do the swap!
aluminumpanparts.jpg
Click to expand...

Im curious of what the pickup tube looks like in our cars after a good 10-15yrs.....probably not that bad if well maintenenced, but i can imagine that its not perfectly clean at all.....
 


If it was me..you are welcome ...lol You will love that pan. Matt..it's GM engine sealant, not regular RTV. RTV would probably work, the sealant though..much better stuff.

Dee: It looks like a pickup tube.... not the same as the AL pan though.
 
BillBoost37 said:
If it was me..you are welcome ...lol You will love that pan. Matt..it's GM engine sealant, not regular RTV. RTV would probably work, the sealant though..much better stuff.

Dee: It looks like a pickup tube.... not the same as the AL pan though.
Click to expand...

Ultra grey RTV is what many japanese manufacturers spec for their oil pan seals.

If anyone is replacing their pickup tube, I might suggest a Melling pickup tube. The F body pickup is larger. Unsure on the W body. Someone will have to buy it and compare.

On the cleanliness. You'd be surprised. If you are up on your oil changes you can have a very clean engine.
 
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BillBoost37 said:
If it was me..you are welcome ...lol You will love that pan. Matt..it's GM engine sealant, not regular RTV. RTV would probably work, the sealant though..much better stuff.

Dee: It looks like a pickup tube.... not the same as the AL pan though.
Click to expand...

Naw Bill, I know what the pickup tube looks like......i was referring to how dirty, clogged, gunked, and damaged it possibly could be after 10-15yrs.....

Im just curious of what it looks like after all these years and if it still has good flow......
 
Dee...Let's analyze that.

If the pickup tube was gunked or clogged, you'd have no oil pressure, your motor would have killed a bearing or so by now. If you do oil changes reasonably..then your motor should be clean inside. If you neglect..you'll have a light build up of crud. When I do LIM gaskets or VC gaskets on a car, I can tell how often the owner changes oil.
 


BillBoost37 said:
Dee...Let's analyze that.

If the pickup tube was gunked or clogged, you'd have no oil pressure, your motor would have killed a bearing or so by now. If you do oil changes reasonably..then your motor should be clean inside. If you neglect..you'll have a light build up of crud. When I do LIM gaskets or VC gaskets on a car, I can tell how often the owner changes oil.
Click to expand...

I hear u Bill....trust me, I understand all that. it was just a random thought for any motor out there. Like u said routine maintainence defines it all. i change my oil so often, its not even funny. In the last 10k miles, ive changed my oil 3-4 times and thats with Castrol Titanium...yeah thats overkill, and expensive, but i love my motor and can guarantee that biittccchhh is clean inside out...LOL

But i did buy a new pickup, bc the previous owners didnt know how to lift a vehicle so take a wild guess....yes, the oil pan is dented in about 2-3 inches all the way across. Now im changing the pan and everything, i didnt want to get to deep in the process and find the pickup to be slightly bent or damage and not have a new one to replace it. So, i just bought a new one to be prepared.....
 
Thanks for the wright up on this oil pan removal. Everything was just as you said. I do have a suggestion that should help in the install and any future disassembly. Before I put the Infamous U bracket back on I created a slit in the 3rd hole on the firewall side of the U bracket. Putting that last screw in with the oil pan off the car is much easier than with it on. By putting the slit in the bracket you can start the screw first than slide the U bracket up and install the other screws by the air compressor etc. By putting that slit in the bracket I could install it in less than 10 min.
I hope that helps. Hack saw and hand grinder to create the slot was less than 10 min. I found it was much easier to remove the air compressor than fight the clearence issues.
 
I did this recently following Glendayle's write up using a bottle jack to support and lift the engine from below. Recommend that you go ahead and buy a double offset 15mm wench because there is one bolt that's near impossible to remove without it. I also had to butcher up another 15mm box/open end wrench by grinding off the open end part. This is so I could extend it long enough to remove the bolts between the engine and transmission using short piece of 1/2" emt metal pipe over the cut off end. A standard length wrench just did not stick far enough down for me to get enough torque on it to remove those bolts.

The other hard part of the job was reassembly and blind aligning/screwing the bracket bolts back into the engine. One more tip: I also completely unbolted the A/C compressor and moved it out of the way (leaving the hoses still connected).

Now my son's '05 Impala SS has just started to leak oil in the pan area. So I/we will be doing this all over again. :)
 
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