Oil Pan Removal

[knightrider2000]

Just wanting to know if anyone has pulled the oil pan off thier 5.3?  was thinking of adding an oil temp sender, and wanted to know how difficult it would be to pull the pan off..  Would the gasket need to be changed or is it one of those good reusable ones?  

 

Matt G.

[obyone]

It's always recommended to remove and replace the gasket when opening the oil pan. Same goes for the trans pan.

[MountaineerTom]

Supposedly, the gasket is riveted to the pan.  

 

You have to drill the rivets out, but you can use a reguular gasket when you reassemble.  The Haynes manual I have suggests applying a 3/16 inch wide, 1 inch long bead of RTV sealant to the corners of the block where the front cover and rear cover meet the block.  Then install gasket and pan bolt finger tight.  It also says the alighnment of the rear face of the aluminum pan to the rear of the block is important.  "Measure between the rear face of the pan and the front face of the tranny bellhousing with a feeler gauge.  Clearance should ideally be flush, but a gap of up to .010 inch is allowable."

[Victory Red]

Why do you want to go through all that mess to install a temp sender? Sounds like a lot of work to me. The sender can be screwed into the block anywhere there is an oil passage. Used to be right next to the distributor on the old engines. I imagine there is still a place to install one in the new blocks too in that area (rear of intake manifold, on the block).

[knightrider2000]

That is a lot of work..  I will look around and see if i can find some place to screw it in at..

 

Matt