tips on removing/unsealing oil pan?

A6 All/ S6 All
#1

Sorry for such a basic question, but I’ve had a long day in the garage and my searching abilities seem to be off. I’m not finding anything right on point.

So I did have an oil pan leak (in addition to an oil cooler leak I found). About a half dozen of the 29 bolts were loose–the ones all the way in the back on the driver side. At 106k miles, there’s no point in trying to fake it by tightening them, so I want to reseal the pan.

Problem is the pan is still sealed well enough to the case that I’m concerned about damaging the pan when trying to pry it off. The manual says to pry off “carefully,” but how carefully?

Any tips on where/how to start prying? Would love to here from an Audi Tech or very experienced DIYer here. TIA.

#2

Also…manual says you have 5 minutes to install. That seems insane. As I said, there’s 29 bolts that need to be torqued twice (1st at 5 Nm, then 9 Nm, I think). So, tricks for the install appreciated as well.

#3

What I do to start it take a dead blow… NOT A HAMMER a dead blow and a piece of 2x4 and place the flat blunt side of the 2x4 against the very side of the pan just under the lip. Then tap the dead blow against the 2x4 in small steps of hitting it harder and harder. Move the 2x4 around the side of the pan hitting the 2x4 to help break the seal.

There is usually a lot of sealent on the pan flange and when you re-seal I would strongly suggest unless you want to pull the pan off to re-seal the pan again I would do the same.

#4

The manual says to use only 2.5mm bead or it may get in the pan. I assume the concern is a chuck breaking off and plugging an oil passage…