How to Drop the Oil Pan in a Saturn Ion

How to Drop the Oil Pan in a Saturn Ion. The Saturn Ion is a four door sedan that fits into the compact class. Produced by General Motors, the vehicle was available from 2003 through 2007. In these vehicles, the most common engine size found is the 1.9L engine, although the manufacturer did produce Ion vehicles with larger engines. Remove the oil pan from the Ion if it is damaged or requires cleaning.

Use a jack and jack stands to raise and support the Ion following the jack's manufacturer recommendations for safety. Look under the hood to remove the negative battery cable, located at the very front of the vehicle on the battery, using a wrench to remove the bolts holding it in place.

Drain the oil from the engine oil pan located below the vehicle, between the front tires on the bottom of the engine block. Use a wrench to unscrew the oil drain plug at the back of the oil pan and place an oil drip pan underneath to allow the oil to drain fully.

Remove the front exhaust pipe from under the vehicle, using a wrench to remove the bolts holding it in place. Then, use a wrench to remove the front stiffening bracket and the flywheel cover, located under the vehicle.

Take the front right wheel off the vehicle. Use a wrench to remove the wheel well splash shield located under and behind the wheel to gain access to the oil pan.

Unscrew the bolts holding the oil pan in place, using a wrench to unscrew them. These are located around the outer edge of the oil pan. Loosen the front motor mount bolts just slightly to allow the oil pan to drop off.

Pry the oil pan from the engine block using an RTV cutter tool, being very careful to just slightly enter the seam between the two and to slide it around the edge. The oil pan will drop off.