I’d like to do a transmission pan drop on my son’s 2010 Silverado 1500. I understand the 1500s have an exhaust crossover immediately under the pan. You Tube videos show some folks try to loosen exhaust connections ( not very successful in the rust belt) and using wood 2x4s to force the exhaust system down. In some of the cases the pan still hangs up and the have to clean it and put on a gasket with it jammed in place between the transmission and exhaust crossover. Anyone come up with a better technique where you get the pan out and can clean it properly and put in the new filter? Thanks.
Transmission Pan drop on Chevy Silverado 1500
- Thread starter Snagglefoot
- Start date
I don't know, but you might want to consider an aftermarket pan with a drain plug so you don't have to drop the pan again 
I have found a lot of the time in the rust-belt, that torx just strips and it becomes a sick joke trying to get out. What I usually do is remove the "metal staple"/U-shape clip from where the shift cable hooks to the linkage arm and then pull the cable off of the arm. I then ever so slightly bend the linkage (where the cable goes through it) away from the trans case to give you just enough room to snake the pan by it. It is tight but doable with a little push.
If you remove the transmission mount and the cross frame bracket (4 bolts for brkt and 2 for mount) then you can raise the transmission to give more room to maneuver the pan away from the valve body and filter. I did this last summer on my son's 2012 Silverado.
One thing for sure, the 3/4 tons do not have an issue. There is enough room between the pan and the exhaust crossover to move the pan down and away.
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On my 04 tahoe the pan can be removed aswell. Not sure. I have heard of other having issues aswell, I just have not seen it.
There may be some variations out there but You Tube has all sort of videos of guys using floor jacks, straps and 2 x 4s to come up with their method of sneaking the transmission oil pan out.
i did one on a 2011 with a 4l60e w/ the shallow pan and did not have to lower the exhaust at all. It was a tight wiggle but i got it out. Once you've changed the filter you'd probably never need to take the pan off again. Get in there, change the filter, put a pan with a drain plug on and you're sailing.
My old 04 avalanche 4x4, same as burbguy82, no need to mess w the exhaust pipe
@Snagglefoot,
we don't have a rust problem in TX so vehicle last a long time.
I'm a DIYer, so I've dropped the exhaust and trans pan 3 times from our 07 Yukon Denali w/6.2L & 199k miles. The first time was when we purchased it in 2018. It had 130k miles, had a rear main engine seal leak that I fixed. I also changed the tranny filter, and installed a new torque converter (preventative mx) before the original TC took out the 6L80 tranny.
Since then I drop the pan every 25k miles to replace the fluid and change the filter&fluid every 50k.
we don't have a rust problem in TX so vehicle last a long time.
I'm a DIYer, so I've dropped the exhaust and trans pan 3 times from our 07 Yukon Denali w/6.2L & 199k miles. The first time was when we purchased it in 2018. It had 130k miles, had a rear main engine seal leak that I fixed. I also changed the tranny filter, and installed a new torque converter (preventative mx) before the original TC took out the 6L80 tranny.
Since then I drop the pan every 25k miles to replace the fluid and change the filter&fluid every 50k.
I had a 2009 Silverado 1500 6 liter. I decided to do a pan drop. Took all the bolts out of the pan, couldn't remove the pan due to the exhaust pipe. Ended up unhooking an exhaust hanger and removing the 3 bolts that attach it to one of the manifolds to get enough room to pull the pan out and replace the filter.
I just did my 11 Tahoe and what i did was to remove the trans mount bolts and jack the trans up as much as it would go. I then took a 2x4 and a rachet strap around the rear converter and cranked it down just enough to remover the pan. Not that hard to do, but what a stupid design.
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