GM 12604911 Pan Assembly, Oil

To take out the oil pan, take off the cable in the negative terminal of the battery, then, loosen the front wheel lug nuts, follow the safe procedures to raise the car with jackstands, drain out the engine oil, and lastly remove the oil filter. We have an engine support fixture to raise the engine off its hangers, remove the front wheels, the lower air dam, and the engine drive belt. Slide the battery cable harness away from the subframe, undo the steering fluid cooler tube, the stabiliser bar links and remove the bolt of the power steering gear. Remove the engine and transmission bolts and nuts and the front wheel speed sensor connectors and lower the control arm bolts from the subframe. Place two floor jacks on the subframe and consequently release every subframe reinforcement plates and bolts, after that systeadingly drop the subframe. Open the torque converter and take off the plastic cover; detach the wiring from the oil pan; unscrew the oil pan bolts. If the pan gets lodged in place it will stick and this is when you start using a rubber mallet to snap the seal of the gasket, finally slide the oil pan downwards and out. For the installation, remove the existing rivets used in holding the oil pan gasket and clean the mating surface and apply RTV sealant in the corners of the block. The new gasket can then be fitted on the pan, and the gasket together with the pan bolted in place with the bolts being manipulated to fit finger-tight with due consideration to the oil gallery passages. With the pan in place, check the flatness between this component and the transmission bell housing and have a 0.010-inch gap between both, if necessary; torque the pan bolts accordingly in a pattern. Some of the steps are: refitting the bolts in the reverse sequence as they were removed, tighten the bolts to the specified torque, put in the right type and amount of oil as the vehicle manufacturer recommends, start and check for any sign of leakage before returning the vehicle to use.

Remove the oil pan mounting bolts and pull the engine about 1/2-inch away from the transaxle to allow the oil pan to clear the protruding boss on the transaxle. Carefully separate the oil pan from the block without prying between the block and the pan to avoid damaging the sealing surfaces.