Went in planning on drilling the transfer case as others have done. Found one bolt on the pan a little loose, took a chance and tightened it. So far, so good, a tank of gas later and it's not leaking.

Was a really small leak so I'm hoping I get lucky.

Wonder how hard it would be to replace the gasket the right way?

 

Boz, from what people have said, plan on taking about 10 hours or so. There is a lot of collateral stuff that needs to come off in order to access the bolts for the oil pan. I would say that as long as you are not leaking, call it good enough. Sounds like you got lucky and simply had a bolt to come loose. Smile and move on.

 

Thanks, got to get the manual downloaded so I can get step by step instructions. Just spent 10-11 hours dropping and reinstalling a tranny/transfer case in a Ford F150 to get at the rear main seal.

Really hoping this simpler fix works because that was a LOT of work :-)