My Gf Has a 98 blazer 4.3 that is leaking oil from the timing chain cover, the mechanic said it will be about 600 bucks to change because the book says you have to drop the oil pan. He said that he will try to do it without dropping the pan and if he can it will be quite a bit cheaper. My question is should he have to drop the pan, and is she getting fleeced either way.

 

Normally, you can just remove a few bolts from the pan, and take the cover off. The problem is when you re-gasket it, sometimes it's kind of hard to get the gasket right with the pan not dropped at least a little bit. I'd personally not remove the whole pan, but just drop it an inch or so in the front... gotta be careful with it though.