la_gator

Thanks, I will try that. I wish I would have checked back before I went to home de-pot to buy my rubber weapon. But, I didnt use it yet. I was going to use a thin razor blade before, but I didn't want to scrape the pan.

I am a new user, and I have to say, this is probably one of the more useful forums I've seen. Most have ranting and raving, but this has some real substance. That being said, I am a fairly recent owner of a 97 es300 w/ now 190k miles. This weekend I tried to be a good owner and start the update process. The first thing I attempted was changing the oil pan gasket since I was changing the oil anyway. I unbolted all of the 9mm bolts, and ta-dah, the pan wouldnt budge an inch. I tried using a normal hammer very lightly against a wooden block to get it jarred loose. No dice. From looking at the screws I can tell the gasket material (grey???) has hardened slightly. Any ideas on how to get this thing loose? I dont want to bang my pan up (plus there are female nuts attached to screws that come through the pan). My next after-work task is to buy a rubber mallet and go to town..... One more side note: I used SeaFoam through the intake, in the gas, and in the oil for a few miles before change this weekend and am experiencing great results.

new forum user and so far its pretty cool. me: 1997, 180k+ mi, well maintained. paid under $4000. it has minor issues (read radio lcd, driver-side leather, small oil leak), but the engine is good, and tranny seems strong.