6L80 Aluminum Transmission Oil Pan Kit with Filter

This is a complete oil pan service kit for the GM 6L80 six-speed automatic, the transmission used behind the 5.3L and 6.2L in Silverado 1500, Sierra 1500, Tahoe, Yukon, Suburban, Avalanche, Escalade, Camaro, Corvette and Hummer H2. It replaces the factory stamped-steel pan and covers GM part numbers 24222657, 24236933, 29535617 and 24224781 as well as the Dorman 265-582 replacement, and it ships with the pan, a new transmission filter, the pan gasket and a magnetic drain plug.

The reason to change the pan is the factory design. GM's original 6L80 pan is thin stamped steel with no drain plug, so every fluid service means dropping the entire pan and catching four or five quarts over your arms. Those pans also distort at the bolt flange after a few heat-cycles and removals, and once the rail is no longer flat the gasket weeps at the corners and you end up chasing a leak that looks like a rear main. This pan is cast aluminum, so the sealing rail stays flat under bolt load, and the threaded magnetic drain plug lets you pull fluid without unbolting anything.

Installation is the normal 6L80 pan job. Support the transmission, unbolt the pan, let it drain, then scrape both sealing surfaces clean down to bare metal - do not leave hardened gasket material on the case rail. Pull the old filter straight down out of the case bore, seat the new filter's seal squarely, lay the gasket on the pan, and start every bolt by hand before tightening anything. Run the bolts down in a crossing pattern to the GM service torque spec; overtightening a pan bolt is the fastest way to pull a case thread or dish the flange. Refill through the fill plug on the side of the case and set the level with the transmission at operating temperature, in gear, on level ground.

The magnet in the drain plug is worth paying attention to at each service. A light gray fuzz is normal wear. Flakes, chunks of clutch material, or a heavy paste of steel means something upstream is failing and the pan is telling you before the truck does.