Trannie pan removal 2000 silverado

i had this question asked before, and i took for granted advice given. now, that i finally got to it again, i have 2nd thoughts on advice given and just want to reconfirm it, before i bust half transmission case.:sarcasmsign:
so, in it's infinite wisdom(sorry for sarcasm, i am pissed beyond staying polite with how they made it), GM put a gear shifter bracket, bent UNDER the pan, preventing pan from being removed. 2 bolts that hold the bracket in place, are ON THE TOP of transmission, and there is no physical way of getting to them without dropping transmission down. i can slide 2 fingers in and touch them, but that's it.
here's the pics:
http://i43.tinypic.com/2uts3tu.jpg


http://i41.tinypic.com/6o3052.jpg


believe me, i tried.
anyhow, advice was given: OH, YOU JUST BEND THE BRACKET AWAY AND SLIDE PAN RIGHT OFF.
ok, i took it for granted then. but i do have a question now:
it is a solid 3mm steel bracket, bent in 2 different dimensions and attached to ALUMINUM CASE.
1. there's no way to bend it just with fingers or even pliers. i work with metals professionally, and i am aware of what it takes to bend something like this in confined space.
2. say, i get monkey wrench on it and bend. what are the chances of ALUMINUM case not ripping?
3. which way do i bend it? do i bend lower piece, bent towards the pan edge, holding shifter, AWAY from the edge, or i bend the WHOLE bracket away, towards the driveshaft? which i am most sure will rip the bolts out along with the piece of case.
4. as the shifter part is bent at 90 to the bracket, how do i prevent bracket from ripping out of the case?
5. say, i have bending irons at work and i can secure the bracket, while bending the shifter piece away. with shifter cable removed from the bracket, on-steering column shifter does not shift gears right anymore. so, that bracket should be bent back exactly into the same position for it to work. how do we assure this?

here's my question:
can someone who has, actually, DONE IT HIMSELF, be kind enough to explain this, before i mess up transmission, or bend bracket away, then try to bend it back, and it snaps in the process? as stamped metal brackets like this do not like re-bending. stress line right across that 90 degree bend. i broke enough metal bars to know better.

thank you.

You will have unbolt the front of the exhaust from the exhaust manifolds too including removing the front driveshaft.I have been doing it this way and it worksThe metal u clip has to be removes to release the the two fingers and disconnect the shift cable from the arm.

You will have unbolt the front of the exhaust from the exhaust manifolds too including removing the front driveshaft.I have been doing it this way and it worksThe metal u clip has to be removes to release the the two fingers and disconnect the shift cable from the arm.

i had that pan disconnected before, without removing any parts. damn bracket tip holds it in place, YOU CAN NOT SLIDE THE PAN OFF THE CASE WITH THAT BRACKET IN PLACE AS IT IS NOW. so, i need to know what to do with the bracket, please.

i think, i have the solution


yeah, i found a string of posts from various users on this.

one guy did not remove driveshaft:
Well last night I went out and bought and 'easy out' set and rented some kind of small seal puller that I'm going to try. I will let you guys know how that goes. I'll be quite happy if I can get the stripped bolt off and put this replacment on. Got underneath my buddies 2k2 Sierra yesterday and the shop that he took his to to get the filter changed and a flush stripped his as well. It really seems to be common place. I did not remove the front driveshaft but I thought about it. I just put a piece of leather around the driveshaft and then used a C clamp to draw that bracket all the way over to it. I then had to pull down the pan so I'm not sure how much trouble I'm going to run into when putting it back on.

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?...c=51855&hl= (http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=51855&hl=)

so, getting pan down is just half the problem. only one person managed to get the old filter seal out. the rest just went back to using old one.

there was some consensus on "take it to dealer next time". well, around here, "fluid and filter" is $470.

also, i just had an idea. :naughty::naughty: pan has a "lip" on it that is catching on the bracket. nothing will happen to have that lip removed just there. dremel sounds about right for the job. hmm, nothing will happen to have some of that bracket shaved down either.......

I told you before there are torx studs holding this bracket 3....

I when installing used antisieze on the threads...

the torx bit in a 1/4in ratchet with various lengths works..

Iforget exactly what size torx just grabed one the fit..have a complete set..


you could have stubby fingers and if so that will be a problem..

FYI, it is T35 torx.

you can not put any tools onto those bolts on 4x4. access is totally blocked.

It is a T40,there is no T35 torx bit out there and I have never seen one.Clean the head of it out first which is full of dirt.Plus they will not come out easy requiring a torch to heat the threads up loosening them up

you right, there's not. then, whoever told me it was T35 in one of the forums - and i even wrote it down in the book for future reference - is full of old fried beans.

thank you.

you right, there's not. then, whoever told me it was T35 in one of the forums - and i even wrote it down in the book for future reference - is full of old fried beans.

thank you.

how much does a set of small torx bits cost $10 bucks....that russian vodka costs more than that..

you just buy the bit tips no socket....very small and handy esp. on some electronic equiptment....

I also have the flex extension.....

anybody can do it with the correct tools...

ok, i had it done.

only one guy here out of all advisers knows how to do it right.

You will have unbolt the front of the exhaust from the exhaust manifolds too including removing the front driveshaft.I have been doing it this way and it worksThe metal u clip has to be removes to release the the two fingers and disconnect the shift cable from the arm.

wafrederick. thank you, friend.

so, here it goes:
1. donno about y'all's trucks, on mine, there's no way to get to the damn torx bolts even with driveshaft removed. maybe to one, but then the other one is completely covered by some connectors. so, yeah, if you did get to those and had them removed - what can i say...
2. thank you, dear GM, for using substandard metals on your brackets. that gear shifter bracket bands whichever way you want to, and with basic tools. it has to be bent in 2 directions: away from trannie and then, the L shaped bend in it - must be streightened. not completely, but about half way.
3. no, i did not remove driveshaft. i simply bent the bracket. then secured it to the driveshaft with tension wire loop, so it does not go back.
4. heat shield on the pass side must be loosened a lot, or pan will not come off.
5. that was all easy. after done with all this, and not even drenched in ATF, i hit the brick wall. and the wall has name. EXHAUST PIPE. it runs right underneath the rear edge of the pan. in that place, trannie has some sort of a gismo, that buldges all the way down into the pan. no way to slide pan past it - it hits the pipe.
6. i got away with loosening only pass side exhaust manifold nuts and removing muffler pipe off exhaust pipe. grabbed the pipe and put my all weight on it (265) - and that pan slid off.

if you must remove or drop driver side pipe, you'll have to remove O2 sensor first, as one of the bolts is blocked by it.

i had to drill drain plug out. it was dead stuck in the pan. yeah, heat my hiny, all it did was to burn the rubber seal inside the plug. anyhow, i went through about 5 drill bit sizes, slowly making center hole bigger, then hammered what was left from the plug into the drilled hole - took griptite socket to the head, and it let go.

took me 5 hrs. 1 hr went on exhaust only.

btw, if you want to replace filter without all the hassle - you will have enough opening without removing pan, to pull filter out and put new one in.

I never seemed to have all those problems, pan comes off fine for me....I must be doing something wrong

just for clarification:

THIS IS 2000 4X4 5.3 ENGINE.
I am not sure which transmission is in it.
should you look at the 2nd picture in my original post, you can see how close bracket, driveshaft and exhaust are to the pan.

it is most likely very different for 2wd models, or for models that have different exhaust configuration, or different transmission, without that large cylindrical shaped piece in the far back corner of it, blocking pan removal.

this is the picture of my 2000 sil 4X4 5.3L 4 dr LT 1500 standard bed m30 deep transmission pan.....







http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/jcat2140/2000silverdotranpanv-1.jpg


http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/jcat2140/2000silverdotranpanv-3.jpg

mine looks slightly different, not much:
http://i43.tinypic.com/29w1iiv.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/2cdh8hk.jpg

and you can see how close is the far driver side edge, with slight bulge in it, to the exhaust pipe. that's where it was hitting the pipe. also, how close heat shield on the pass side, and driveshaft on the driver side are. heat shield has inward, towards the pan, lip, that catches on pan.

made old man crawl under and take pics, shame on you.:runaround:

I can see a difference . it is the exhaust pipe on my vehicle is further away from the pan....not much but still a little more room...

why do I see red rtv on that pan gasket ??? I hope thats not RTV silicone.....

I can see a difference . it is the exhaust pipe on my vehicle is further away from the pan....not much but still a little more room...

why do I see red rtv on that pan gasket ??? I hope thats not RTV silicone.....

no. it's HTV silicone, not RTV slicone. high temp, not room temp. for engine blocks and high temp environment. made perfectly sure none was left inside the pan. the way it was, i had to lock it on the pan somehow, considering frigging tight space i had to slide it into in the rear. be awright.

sometimes little differences can cause big headaches. i was so beat up after this job - esp the exhaust bolts, as i had to use 3 extensions hooked together plus cheatpipe to break them loose - that i barely recovered today. considering that i biceps cirl 170 x 3, that was some job.

no. it's HTV silicone, not RTV slicone. high temp, not room temp. for engine blocks and high temp environment. made perfectly sure none was left inside the pan. the way it was, i had to lock it on the pan somehow, considering frigging tight space i had to slide it into in the rear. be awright.

sometimes little differences can cause big headaches. i was so beat up after this job - esp the exhaust bolts, as i had to use 3 extensions hooked together plus cheatpipe to break them loose - that i barely recovered today. considering that i biceps cirl 170 x 3, that was some job.

I don't, never ever , used any sealant on the transmission gaskets..

I purchased a rubber gasket from NAPA that has holes for the bolts that are smaller than the bolt dia... I populate the pan bolts with the gasket holding them in place then I torque 3x gradually to 7-10 ft lbs,,using a hand driver/ or a 1/4 in ratchet.....

this gasket has been used for 3 tranny pan drops so far ,,,in september it will be 4 ...gasket cost 12.oo ...

pans can be installed on sealant only. same goes for valve covers. i have learned this on don't remember which of my cars - that one had blue, light duty sealant. i think, some manufacturers do not use gaskets anymore, just sealants, as scary as it looks.
this one was dropped once before. it was toast when i removed it - caked and with spider cracks. it held, but i wouldn't have re-used it again. since i moved into the country, in 93, i have learned to secure gaskets in place with sealant. or it turns into nightmare.