During My cam swap in my 5.3l SierraI dropped one of the cam retainer bolts. I tried a magnet but had no luck. How hard is it to drop the pan? I have a 2wd rcsb.

 

Not hard, just unbolt it. Be gentle when you put it back on though and dont overtighten the bolts.

I almost dropped one in there, but I stuff some rags over the holes to catch anything I dropped...and im glad I did since I did drop one that was barely caught by the rag.

 

It's been a while since I did mine but I don't remember it being too hard. Remove the crossmember, drop the power steering rack, and unbolt the pan. Should slide right out. Good luck.

 

Drain your oil. Find a large magnet and drag the bolt(through the pan) out the oil pan bolt hole.

 

I'd leave it in there and just drive it. What's the worst that could happen? It can't get sucked up by the oil pump pickup since it has a screen and there's a windage tray protecting the crankshaft and connecting rods. Eventually it'll work its way to the back of the pan and be stuck to your oil drain plug magnet someday. Or if you have a REAL STRONG magnet you could work your way back and forth across the bottom of the pan and drag it from the inside back to the oil drain hole. You gotta have skillz to do that though

 

I was thinking that exact same thing. Dropping the oil pan in the truck is a huge pain in the *** for something that won't cause damage. Just get another bolt from a dealer and you're good to go. And since he dropped it down the front by the oil pump, it is already below the windage tray and only needs to go past that little shelf in the oil pan before it falls to the bottom.

 

Thanks guys, I was able to leave the steering rack in and drop the oil pan just enough to stick my hand in and pull out the bolt. I didnt feel comfertable leaving the bolt in there.

 

I hate you 2wd guys for just that reason. If that was me, that bolt would be a permanent fixture in my oil pan.

 

i did the same thing when i did mine but i got mine with a magnet right up threw where i dropped it i got lucky