Over the summer I found that I had some oil drips coming from my oil pan. I decided while I had the front axle out that I would correct the problem. Well I made two mistakes. The first one was using a fabricated oil pan. The Tilden pan is nice, but I think it contributed to my slow leaks. The second mistake I made was trying to change the pan gasket with the engine in place. I thought that maybe there would be enough clearance to be able to pull the oil pan out if I disconnected the motor mounts and jacked up the front of the engine. Well that didn't work. Maybe I should've tried to slide the crossmember forward to remove the pan instead. In the end I was able to get the old pan gasket out and a new one in. I know you're not supposed to use any sealant with the LS style oil pan gaskets, but I decided to put a thin film on the surface anyway. I just didn't trust the sealing surface of the fabricated pan. Unfortunately, I don't have much confidence that just replacing the gasket and re-torquing is going to solve the problem. I'll keep my fingers crossed and see what happens come spring.
Oil pan dropped down to remove old gasket
Front of engine jacked up for clearance.
Had to remove the pickup tube in place. What a mistake and PITA.
New gasket put in place.
New gasket installed and ready to button it up.
