I was wondering why my car would have had a tranny replaced not long ago, if it was driven nicely, and it also has the 4T60E-HD, which according to this forum, would be the better tranny.

Today my son and I got some Mobil 1 and an oil filter, and decided to change the oil, and to my surprise, the previous owner bottomed out somewhere, and smashed the oil pan. The tranny pan seems lower than the oil pan, so, I assume the tranny pan got slammed too, and caused the tranny to suffer for fluid, and killed it.

The good news is, I have a newer tranny.

The bad news is, my oil looks like mud, and I am destroying the oil pan drain bolt with various wrenches, and that bolt won't budge loose.

Now, as for the help I need:

Does the 1996 supercharged and non supercharged have the same oil pan?

Is it ok to swap mine with a used one?

Can we get the oil pan off a 1996 SSEi without having to unbolt or move the engine?

Is it expensive to buy a new oil pan for my engine?

I need to fix this real quick, if possible.. I have possible access to my brother'* 1996 non-supercharged bonne for parts.

Thank you all in advance. ...............
............ Sam

Oil pan will swap from any 96+ Bonny. Tranny pan will come from any 92-96 Bonny.

Not sure about price. And the pans may swap from any 92-current, but I'm not so sure about that.

ok, so I can take my brother'* 96 and swap it to my 96 SC. That'* a huge relief.

I have no problem with the tranny pan. The car has a newer remanufactured tranny that was there when I bought the car, so, I'm speculating that it too was crushed when the oil pan was crushed..

My focus is on the engine oil pan only. I took a look , and felt around, but i didn't have it jacked way up , but it seems like the pan should unbolt with no engine lift or anything.

I found 2 new oil pans on e-bay, for 52 each. I assume a new one locally shouldn't be too much more than that....maybe. http://search.ebay.com/3800-oil-pan_W0QQfkrZ1QQfromZR8

One says it has a baffle, and the other does not. What is the baffle for? and how do we know which one we need?

They also say there is no sensor hole.

I don't have any experience with your gen, but with mine, replacing the oil pan is a sinch! First off, if you have an SSE[i] you need an SSE[i] pan. They are different from the LE, SE, and SLE. I'm not sure exactly where it is different, but the LE/SE handles 4.5 quarts, and the SSE[i] handles 5.5 quarts. I also do not believe the LE, SE, or SLE have baffles. When I was looking for a new pan, I looked at an LE pan, and it did NOT have baffles, and it also slightly shallower. Now, will this apply to you? I'm thinking so, since you said you can get one with baffles, or without.

Since you have a parts car, pull the oil pan off that, and pull your'*. If your oil looks like mud, you shouldn't be driving it. Compare the two pans. If the parts car one does NOT have baffles, but is the same size I recommend not using it. The baffles are used to keep the oil from sloshing around too much, causing a lack of oil in the engine. Obviously that is bad.

As far as removing the pan goes.. like I said, it is a sinch. There is a flywheel cover that needs to come off, and my FSM says to remove the starter, but that wasn't even close to being in the way, so you may have to remove that also. Other than that, get about 12" of extensions, and have at it. If you are weak, you may need a cheater bar.. but I didn't. When replacing the pan, replace the pan gasket too. Even though it may look fine, there is something with it that it is garbage after it'* use. Mine doesn't leak all that bad, but it leaks [got a replacement, will do it within the next week]. This isn't mentioned anywhere, but there is a proper torque sequence, that TRUST ME, will save your *** from a big leak later on. I didn't do this, and had a significant leak. I'm not sure of your car experience, but have you ever seen the torque sequence for a Cylinder Head? How you work your way out, in criss-cross form? I can't find a good picture of it.. but if you don't know what I am talking about, I will find one.

You will also need to drain the oil before this, otherwise you will have some problems with a 30lb oil pan, with 5-6 quarts of oil, in a small space, under a car. Not pretty. If you don't need the pan at all, ever again, drill a hole on the side [on the bottom will cover your drill in oil], and your good to go.


-justin

justin,

I have done tranny pans before, and it is a simple criss cross on many. If the engine oil pan is the same, I know exactly what to do. If it'* an oddball one that needs to jump around a lot, I'd need some illustration.

Do you know the torque specs for the oil pan bolts on this engine?

Thanks for the info ...., Sam...........

Sam search techinfo for torque specs...everything is there. I mean everything

On the pan..I'd also suggest calling around to local junkyards...you'll probably find one for $10 local.

I didn't think about junk yards.. good idea. I also forgot about techinfo..

Remove the oil level sensor first. You can take it out with the pan if you are careful. I left it in when I did the pan gasket on my wifes car as I was only replacing the gasket but after getting it out I could see where it is very easy to break. Since you are replacing the pan, you'll need to remove it anyway so do it before and save yourself some grief and added expense.

Justin, I'm pretty darn sure the oil pans are all alike from one trim to the next 92 on.

And there was no LE and SLE in the same year.