It is possible to replace the oil pan gaskets without removing the engine and transmission?

Thanks Miles 71

 

yes it is. And it will be a real big pain and have a good chance of dropping it in the pan or not sealing correctly.

 

X2 - It's a major pia, raise the engine as high as you can get it.

 

Looks Like I will skip the oil pan gaskets for this year.
I do not have any lifting gear.
I just replaced the timing gears/chain and am about to reassemble the car.
When I put the timing cover back on, I will replace the timing cover gasket with a new gasket.
Thanks, Miles

 

While it is possible to replace the gasket with the engine in the car, it is a royal PITA, as noted. You pretty much need a hoist to get the engine high enough, and once you do succeed in getting the pan off, you will be working on your back with oil dripping in your face.

The reality is that by the time you get the pan off, you will only be a few bellhousing and converter bolts away from pulling the whole motor. Do this. You will be much happier and will get a much better job. You can rent a hoist from most tool rental places.

 

I would check pan bolts for tightness. Gaskets do seem to shrink and tightening the bolts does help.

 

I removed all of the pan bolts for cleaning and painting. Later I will re-tighten all of the bolts.
Would a layers of silicon sealer along the Outside of the oil pan along the gasket help reduce some of the weeping?

A very close call:
I also removed the Starter to get access to 4 hidden oil pan bolts and I am glad I did.
The main positive battery cable was installed wrong and it was “Pinched” under the starter rear support bracket. I guess I had about 1 more week of driving before the cable would have shorted. After I removed the battery cable, I could actually see shiny copper in the gouge caused by the starter bracket.
I will replace the damaged battery cable and take extra care to make sure none of the wires are pinched when the starter is re-installed.

 

Don't waste your time. First, you'll need to get ever single trace of oil and other contaminates off those surfaces to even get the RTV to stick, and second, the RTV wants to be clamped between the parts, not trowelled on the outside like bondo.

 

While it's not ideal, your idea is worth a shot. I had a small leak at the back of my intake manifold... cleaned it up real well and smeared The Right Stuff along the seam with my finger. Fixed.

However, as Joe stated, a leaky pan probably has much more oil to clean up than the back of my intake did. But it's worth a shot, IMO.

 

Hello all:
It was worth asking the questions so that myself and others can learn from all of your first-hand experience.
Since cleaning the oil pan edge is impractical while installed on the car, I will skip this task.

Has anyone tried the extended “washers”?
I have seen that some Fords and others used long washers on valve covers and other places to distribute the screw forces along the edge of valve covers. Would something like that work on the oil pan to assist in sealing the gasket without deforming the oil pan edge?
I would like to avoid removing the engine for as long as possible.


Thank you.

 

I've got my water pump off at the moment and would like to check the timing chain while I'm that close.

Can I get the timing cover gasket back on without dropping the oil pan?

 

Haha... nevermind, I just found my answer:

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...ain-cover.html

I think I'll wait til after this season.