oil pan will not drop down
 

Hi people, again.

replacong some gaskets on my 88 sunbird, non turbo, and unscrewed ALL the 10mm bolts holding the oil pan up. It broke off the stuck/grungy gasket easy with a wood block, but wont drop down completely. What kind of mystery is this, people?

Ever had this happen to you? Why me............

Oh, its not caught up on the flywheel either. totally freed up!

Hanging up on a baffle hooking onto the oil pick up tube.

I agree, stuck on the oil pick up

my Silverado hangs it on gear shifter bracket. bracket is impossible to undo, without removing trnsmission, so folks basically figured to bend it away with channel locks.
my Silverado(you can tell, how much of a b----h job was it) also hangs it on 2 solenoids in the rear section. oil pan needs to be zig-zagged off all this.

Thnaks, members! So, oil pick up tube?? Hmmmmm, Its not too hard to remove that- I could try it. other than that, I am out of options. Will try that later when back from work!!!

I was referring to the oil pick up built inside the pan, under the engine block, you can not remove this without the oil pan removed. This is was goes to the lowest point of the pan and sucks up engine oil to be pressurized and sent through the engine.

You're going to have to jack up the motor more until you can turn the pan one way or the other to clear the pump.
You might consult a Chiltons manual.

Ohhhhh, I get it now. Thanks! Geez, thats so wierd for GM to do that.

\OK, its a plan. But, actuall, I thing I have to wrestle the 2 rusted bolts offff the exhaust manifold, as thats the limiting factor ultimately. I do have a Haynes. But they make no mention of this problem. Oh well. Ive seen this before in them manuals- you have to enginer stuff on your own, with the help of the members here, of course.

All GM's are like that. That's how I knew.

Oh don't kid yourself. That is by NO MEANS the weirdest - or dumbest - thing GM ever did! :)

Post all your vehicle details and I will look it up on my local library's free online autodata service.
The library told me that subscribing to this service was cheaper than keeping the auto books on the shelves. Your library may offer the same service.
There's even some data on my 2004 Subaru which I couldn't find with Haynes/Chilton yet.

Geez, Yoy, tyhats a great , polite offer! OK, so its a 87 pontiac sunbird, GT NON turbo. 2.0L, removal of oil pan. Now, update:

Sorry guys, but I had to leave town for 10 days, and I just got back, catching up- whew.

Now, I dont know how one can jack up this engine a bit if typically, you jack up the engine with a wood pine board under the oil pan. So, how is one to do this if the pan is already loose/detached'/ dropped a bit and obviously you cant push up engine like that!

BUT, guys, the pan is NOT hung up on any lower car part! Not even dropped down low enough to touch the exhaust pipe, so even if the engine could be raaised, how would this even help? What am I missing here, people? I am stuck in the water ! People, heeeeeeeeelp!

Im gonna yank harder.........