Rep Power: 0

I have a 94 V6 Chevy Camaro. I had a leak from my oil drain plug, and found that the plug is stripped. So, I needed to replace the whole pan. I had a guy I knew work on it. When it came time for him to take the pan off he couldn't, even with the engine raised as far as it could go. So, he told me that I would have to remove the whole front wheel suspension just to get the oil pan out. I guess there is a section that crosses the oil pan. Other shops have said that the whole engine needs to be taken out. I have looked all over the internet, but no luck. I NEED ANSWERS!! WHAT SHOULD BE DONE!!

 
Rep Power: 1069

gotta pull the motor, that suspension piece is the part that holds the engine in the car

 
Rep Power: 910

no you dont. my haynes manual is at work, but i've read it. you have to lift the engine up high and then just yank the pan out towards the back. i havent done it but imagine it to be tricky but possible with the engine still in the car.

 
Rep Power: 1069

you risk damage doing that since the engine has to be tight against the body.I've done 3 4th gen pans, technically it's possible, but when we tried that we ended up pulling the engine anyway we needed another inch (this was at the dealer, really we just lowered the cradle and raised teh engine)

 
Rep Power: 895

its a PITA job to do alone your best bet is to take it to a garage. Unless your highly skilled and have all the proper stuff then u can try it. I took mine to the shop for the oil pan gasket and rear main seal..........sadly still leaks some and smokes lightly.

 
Rep Power: 0

The mechanic that worked on my car couldn't get it out even with the engine raised to the max. He said that the front suspension would have to come off just to get the oil pan completely off.

 
Rep Power: 696

Why dont you go with an oversized drain plug and retap the hole. Leave the engine in and oil pan on, you can flush out any debree with dumping fresh oil down the motor and doing a filter change after you run the car for an hour.

 
Rep Power: 1069

becasue that is a horrible thing to do, and is the wrong way to fix it, those things leak, quite often strip themselves, or crack the pan.I have also seen some fall out (theybreak the nut off that's in the oil pan and are using just the sheetmetal for holding)

 
Rep Power: 0

yeah, I even thought about retapping the drain plug, because to even get the new oil pan was about 100 bucks easy. But, I thought about the metal shavings getting in the engine and ruining my engine. And, someone also told me that retapping it would only be a temporary fix. I could run the risk of it leaking, and I would still have to change the oil pan. This oil pan is becoming a PITA!! Should I pull the front suspension?

 
Rep Power: 829

Basically you need to pull the motor. Unless you have a way to hold the car up off the ground other than by the suspension you can hoist the motor up to the firewall then pull the 6 bolts that hold the front suspension system in and drop it enough to get the pan out.

And while you are at it, I would either weld a better quality nut on the inside or outside, if outside make sure its a good weld all the way around. This way you aren't doin it again down the road!!