Oil leak, but not where I thought the leak was

[HotWheelsBurban]

Yes.
Haynes says remove the steel torque convertor cover (four bolts) but as that would have entailed disconnecting an exhaust downpipe I merely removed the bolts and moved the cover enough to access the oil pan bolts at the rear corners.
Removing it would have made the job easier - assuming the exhausts co-operated that is.

Yep it's a pain to get out, glad I didn't have to remove it to do the starter! If you have the transmission out like OP has done, the pan probably will come out from the rear. When I had to do timing set and oil pan gaskets on the old 99(C1500 2wd 5.7 vortec suburban) the motor mount bolts needed to be pulled out and the engine jacked up about an inch, maybe 2" at the most. There's a windage tray on the main caps and another one in the pan, and they're very close to each other. They kept catching on each other as I was trying to get the pan off and out from under the truck. It was just on stands in the driveway; on a lift you might have better angles to get it out. Don't know if all vortec motors have this setup but it sure complicated matters then. Dad made a laminated wooden block with a half circle cutout to put under the crankshaft snout, worked great.
The whole job started with an oil change and replacing the belt tensioner. Saw the water pump was leaking, looked at the mileage, thought "how hard could the timing set take?"(had done on older 350s). Found out! Have to replace plastic timing cover, drop oil pan, jack engine up, put the truck back together, 1 day job turned into 3 weeks. Truck went another 5 years though, still ran great when it was wrecked. I ended up dropping the cooler lines and the mount that the filter is on, it was leaking from the o ring. I took my time and cleaned everything carefully, put it all back together with anti seize and torqued according to GM specs in the factory shop manuals. Whenever I have to do this job on my current truck, at least I have some ideas of what I'm getting into! Hope it isn't anytime soon though

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

If you get the Felpro gasket.... there will be four plastic dowels with tangs that screw into where the corner studs are currently. Sealant applied to the gasket corners and said dowels then hold the gasket in place while the oil pan is being manipulated into place.
The gasket kind of hangs there but once the oil pan is lined up with the plastic dowels and then raised, it all sorts itself out. Once you have secured it well enough with a few bolts, remove the plastic dowels at the corners and reinstate the steel studs. Just take care with the dowels so as not to snap any and them be left in the block needing the threaded part removed.
Remember also sealant is required to seal the pan to the timing cover.

Yes I remember this now, it was exactly like that.(l did this job in 2007 LOL) and I think l had trouble with the exhaust pipe being in the way. Didn't know about the crankshaft position making a difference, guess GM didn't have that trick in the manual.

 

[Tiny Trucker]

Yes.
Haynes says remove the steel torque convertor cover (four bolts) but as that would have entailed disconnecting an exhaust downpipe I merely removed the bolts and moved the cover enough to access the oil pan bolts at the rear corners.
Removing it would have made the job easier - assuming the exhausts co-operated that is.

Thank you. I will have to give it a degrease under there and see if I can see it weeping anywhere. Currently the whole underneath is wet from the motor to the hitch and wet spots all over the back of my tailgate.

 

[delta_p]

I put the oil pan back on yesterday. I ended up just sort of maneuvering the gasket an then the pan along back under and then fitted the gasket onto the oil pan. I didn't use the Snap-Ups that came with the felpro pan gasket kit. The U shape held the gasket in place and raised it up and put the 4 corner nuts on. I had also used just a little thin bit of RTV and alignment of the holes at the bench to get the torque spreader rails to hold onto the pan lip so I wasn't fitting that on installation.

No difficulty because the flexplate was out I am right there to fit it, I had lots of room with the back of the engine gone and the exhaust pipes still bolted up.

I like how this felpro gasket is shaped to fit into the corner of the rear between the seal retainer and the U of the retainer. Looks tight even with RTV. I'll get a pic and edit this to add later.

 

[Pinger]

Just remembered - for anyone contemplating oil pan removal - remove the dipstick tube first!
Otherwise, if there is a hole (rather than cut-out) in the gasket for the dipstick - it will foul.

 

[Pinger]

I put the oil pan back on yesterday. I ended up just sort of maneuvering the gasket an then the pan along back under and then fitted the gasket onto the oil pan. I didn't use the Snap-Ups that came with the felpro pan gasket kit. The U shape held the gasket in place and raised it up and put the 4 corner nuts on. I had also used just a little thin bit of RTV and alignment of the holes at the bench to get the torque spreader rails to hold onto the pan lip so I wasn't fitting that on installation.

It's one of those jobs where there's more than one way to accomplish it. I'd have been happy to use your method but for the quite severe slant I had the oil pan at to clear the cooler lines.

No difficulty because the flexplate was out I am right there to fit it, I had lots of room with the back of the engine gone and the exhaust pipes still bolted up.

With trans still in situ, the only reason to detach (if not completely remove) the torque plate cover is to access the rear studs.

I like how this felpro gasket is shaped to fit into the corner of the rear between the seal retainer and the U of the retainer. Looks tight even with RTV. I'll get a pic and edit this to add later.

Out of interest - what did you pay for the Felpro? Just to compare with the price I paid for mine in the UK.

 

[delta_p]

I got it from rockauto.com, about $20 U.S. and about $7 to get it to me.

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

Sometimes you can shop around at Summit Racing (not endorsing them) order enough stuff to get free shipping (over $90) and save a couple bucks. Here's the Felpro gasket for $23. Rock Auto is usually the cheapest but shipping can kill the deal...

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/fel-os34500r/make/chevrolet

 

[Pinger]

£90 here for the same plus two water pump gaskets bought from UK supplier. Around $110 in your money.

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

£90 here for the same plus two water pump gaskets bought from UK supplier. Around $110 in your money.

OUCH!