Oil Pan Gasket

[Matt Bachand]

I might be jumping the gun, as I havn't given it any time since fixing the filter adapter leaks, but The more and more I clean and scrub under my engine, it seems as if the entire gasket around the oilpan is culprit. Should I try to give the pan bolts little extra torque?

It also doesn't look like the pan comes off too easily with the front diff right there. Does it?

 

[Turbine Doc]

IIRC no gasket from factory, they use sealer, so I don't think torquing bolts is gonna do much for ya. Front axle/Tcase has to come down on a K series truck to get pan all way off, coming down with floor jack is 1 man job, going back up you'll want a 2nd pair of hans for about 30 minutes to get mounting bolts started back up.

 

[got-h2o]

Agreed, and to confirm, yes it is sealant/rtv that they use to seal it up. A piss poor idea IMO, and tightning the bolts could make it worse. What is happening is that the sealant is squeezing out from where it's supposed to be. Tightning the bolts could assist in the problem. Kind of a PITA, but fixable. That nasty black oil isn't very forgiving to anything it comes in contact with.

 

[teroma25]

Droppin' the diff is easy, I just did it not long ago.

Remove both half shafts and tie'em out of the way
Remove driveshaft at diff
Unplug the actuator
Remove the 2 bolts that hold the axle tube to frame of truck
Remove lower carrier bolt
Support the diff now with a floor jack
Remove the upper carrier bolt
Lower diff out of your way

I had trouble with the lower carrier bolt. It has a bracket thats welded to the frame. I had to bend the bracket out of my way to lower the diff. Once back into place I bent it back and put the bolt in. IIRC you can remove the inner tie rod instead of bendin' the bracket for enough room.

 

[bison]

might be easyer to to take trough bolts out of engine mounts and jack engine up a bit, i never traid it though, just an idea.