Hey guys, I'm in the middle of a timing chain replacement., and I was extremely curious if anybody has already did this job.

I've been working on it off and on for about a week now. I keep getting small snags that will slow me down.,

At the moment I'm on the reassembly part., The repair manual wants me to remove the front 3 bolts from the each side of the oil pan. I removed 3 bolts from the left and 2 bolts from the right. (I can only get to 2). Then pry the pan half way off to get on the timing chain cover.

is there and easier way?., I can't get the oil pan to budge.,

What engine?
What kind of oil pan?
The old tin metal one or other?
Will the timing cover slip back on without droping the pan?
What kind of gasket set are you using?

Its a V6. I believe its a 4.3 liter V6.
The repair manual says its almost impossible to get the timing cover on with out taking off the oil pan. That sounds like its possible but very very difficult. I tried to get it back on but its not working for me.,
Theres a oil pan rubber gasket that sticks out the front which is making it hard to put the timing cover back on, but the timing cover is brand new because its plastic and its recommended to replace it after removal.
Its has a small rubber, irremovable gasket on it.

The oil pan looks very thick. Its probably cast iron or some kind of composite aluminum.

I can reach the most the bolts on the left side from the oil pan, but I can only reach 2 bolts from the right side. I'm going to try and remove all the bolts from the left and hopefully the pan will drop.

On the thick cast oil pans you will have to remove almost all of the bolts to get it to come down any.
Sometimes you can push straight down and back on timing cover and get it to slip on.
Or
Work on getting the right side bolts lose.
Good small flex sockets work good on the hard to get ones.
Good Luck
MT

Well just to repost to help anybody with this job that runs into the same problem.

You can install the new timing cover with out removing the oil pan.
I simple cut a small piece of the new timing cover off. There is a part of the new timing cover that compresses the oil pan gasket. I cut a corner off with a pair of wire cutters.

Now I was very careful to cut off only what I needed in order for the new timing cover to fit in and still create a good seal. I still had to struggle a little to get the modified new timing cover in.

I was a little worried about an oil leak. But so far there has been no problem. http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/1094/0630081611xw3.th.jpg (http://img503.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0630081611xw3.jpg)

If anybody attempted to follow this thread. I would first confirm that you are working on the exact same vehicle and job.
This job was a timing chain replacement performed on a 2000 Chevrolet Blazer 4x4 with V6 engine. The new timing chain was a polyplastic like material.
If you can get the oil pan to drop slightly I would suggest to take that route. This was not a shortcut but a necessity.

The red arrow is the side I cut the new timing cover. http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/2383/redarrowdw5.th.jpg (http://img172.imageshack.us/my.php?image=redarrowdw5.jpg)