2002 L200, 4 cylinder, automatic.

How do I replace the oil pan?

 

An in case you're wondering why I need to replace it...

Over the last couple of weekends I have been working on my Saturn in a very cold barn. (It's 10 °F here!) This includes new struts on both sides, new drive axle on passenger side, (almost) new front tires, oil change, added transmission fluid, etc.

I finally finished up this evening. My fingers and toes were so cold that I had to go in the house for a while before I could even drive it out of the barn.

So at 6 PM I started it up and parked it just outside the barn. With the engine still running, I went back into the barn to turn off my little fluorescent light. And that's when I noticed a puddle of motor oil on the floor.

I ran back to the car and quickly shut it off.

I couldn't understand why the car leaked so much oil. I know I replaced the oil drain plug. I know I tightened the oil filter. I then crawled under the car with a flashlight, and saw a 4 inch hole in the oil pan.

Here's a pic:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/74pbakgvzc...0Hole.JPG?dl=0

I am not exactly sure how this happened, but I must have accidentally put a jack stand under the oil pan when it was jacked up. Which is beyond stupid. I have jacked up cars hundreds of times over the past 30 years, and have never done this – I am always careful to place the jack stands under the frame. I still can't believe I did this.

At any rate, that doesn't matter now. I need to replace the oil pan. I tried googling how to replace the oil pan on an L200, but didn't find much.

Another concern is that I ran the engine for about 45 seconds. I am not sure how much oil is still in the engine. I am hoping there is still some oil in the lower part of the pan. (The hole is up high.)

 

Oops, that looks pretty high up i.e. above the sump. Oil pan replacement on that engine in the L series chassis is straight forward. Just unbolt the old pan, pry it loose to separate the silicone. Clean the bottom of the engine block well. Prepare the replacement pan, apply the proper silicone, install the pan.

 

Thanks.


So I do not need to purchase a gasket? Just use RTV?

 

I did not use a gasket on the 2002 L200 that I repaired.

 

There is no oil pan gasket for these cars. You just apply 2mm bead of RTV sealant all the way around the oil pan. Do this after thoroughly cleaning both the engine side and oil pan side mating surfaces. Let it setup for the recommended interval, it should say on the RTV tube, then install the pan using the following bolt tightening pattern.

Here's a picture of the bolt tightening pattern to follow.

Start with bolt number one and hand tighten them until you've gone through and hand tightened all the bolts. Then go back using the same sequence and torque them down to 18 lb ft, 25 N-m, or 216 inch-pound.

Hope this helps.

 

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