Hi, I have a 2000 3.8L Chev Impala and I wanted to replace oil pan since the current is pretty rusted i got under found there are few screws on the belt side of engine (passanger side) which seem to be a pain to get to them... any suggestions on getting to these few screws... I have not removed anything yet... I hope i don't need to remove the engine to change oil pan

The screws on the driver side of the oil pan seem more accessable but also not to easy under some little plastic covering hope they come out easy

Any suggestions on this job are welcome
Thank You
Andy

 

I have an 03ls, and my oil pan is rusty and feels kind of spongy when you push on the
bottom. Did yours leak or puncture?

 

It leaks, I did not press on it, but you can see that is becomes wet in an area.. is very rusty.. it seems as the oil comes out through it as trough a sponge.. so i want to replace it ASAP.. , just a few screws that are there they seem so unaccessible.. well i don't have the pan yet so I will wait till i get it before playing with the screws

 

Well I did it, screws are the least of the problem! even though they are hard to get at.. they are accessible.. big problem is that once they are off you can not pull the oil pan out!!! it is very very hard.. since it was the old one i just almost literally riped it out.. ( the trick ) there are some bolts on passenger side of engine that secure engine to frame by something that looks like a shape of a "U" bracket, these bolts should be removed and engine should be raised UP (lifted) well i have no way of doing it.. so i had to nearly rip the pan with the gasket out of there then i just barley shoved the new one with the new gasket in!! Very difficult and very easy to brake the gasket... well i did it and it's done, but i would not recommend anyone doing it unless they can lift the engine Up by a hoist or somehow... without it you risk braking gasket and then you would need to buy new one.. I got lucky i had to cut some other holes in the gasket so that both pan and gasket can fit in there, but again I do not advise anyone to do it...

gasket does not look like you would imagine a normal gasket (piece of rubber or cork) it's a "big bowl" with some holes to allow oil to drip back to bottom of pan.. i had to make some of the holes bigger because an intake of oil pump would prevent putting Oil PAN with gasket inside.. well unless of course the job is done wright and the engine is hoisted UP..

SCREWS being difficult access is the least of your problems.. the BIG problem is getting the OIL PAN OUT and then even bigger GETTING THE NEW ONE BACK IN !!!

Oh yeah i also broke the oil level sensor.. should have unscrewed it before ripping the oil pan out of there.. []but i was able to reuse it to plug the hole so when i buy new sensor i just replace it.

ANDY

PS Hope you find it usefull... again unless you have a lot of patience and some good mechanical skils DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO IT... well if you have a HOIST to raise the engine UP then go for it..

 

sorry for the late reply Andy, but the forums were having problems and I couldn't reply.
You could have used a floor jack with a 2x4 to lift the motor by the crank pulley. Was also trying to suggest you put silicone on both sides of the gasket to prevent future failures, and ease of installation
Sory for the late info but glad to hear you got it done