Old school method is to use a knife and cut but this is verrrrrrrrrrrrrry time consuming and much more difficult without the tool. Just need patience.
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f101/removing-oil-pan-368722/
like how this guy did it using thin knife
@
Eyelise - As you consider various tools to remove your oil pan, it is also useful to consider the nature of the joint you are trying to disassemble.
Mating surfaces joined by a sealant will perform at their best when the gap between them is uniform and an appropriate dimension for the particular sealer in use. At one extreme, squeezing all the sealer out depends on metal-to-metal contact (usually a poor seal), while a very large gap may exceed the sealer's ability to resist heat and pressure.
The pressure in the oil sump is pretty low, so the seal between the block and the pan mainly needs to prevent leaks from splashing and weeping. That's not a very challenging condition for the current crop of form-a-gasket type materials.
Permatex (manufacturers of
Right Stuff) doesn't specify a min or max film thickness, but I have great confidence that it would span a 1/16" irregularity beyond the normal film thickness and still seal an oil pan. It could probably handle an even bigger gap.
If you create 1/16"
gouges in your block or oil pan sealing surfaces while removing the pan, you're probably ham handed - but - you'll still be able to easily reseal the pan when it comes time to reinstall it. So use whatever tools work for you. I'm not a big fan of the typical "oil pan separator" tools. Every time I've used one, they've left unnecessary gouges on the mating surfaces. I usually start by scoring the sealer all the way around with a thin knife (
X-Acto, utility knife, etc.). Then I use a combination of putty knives, flat blade screwdrivers and even a spoon adjuster for brake drums (looks like a little crowbar) to pry the pan off. Ease of access (or any access at all) usually dictates what tools I use. Once you get a small area separated, work from that point all the way around the perimeter, peeling the pan off the block as you go.
If you do create minor defects in the sealing surfaces, remove any burrs with a small file and some 400 grit sandpaper, then carry on. There's no doubt getting that first bit of pan separated from the block can be frustrating, but once you do, it is usually just a minute of work after that to completely remove the pan.