i'm scraping the oil pan gasket off does it need to be down to the bare metal?

 

please help

 

Yes, for best results you want to have all the old gasket material removed.

 

if you have debris sticking to the machined surfaces, it usually performs the same as a warped surface. a few minutes with scotch brite is well worth it.

 

Think about all the time it took to drop that oil pan. Do you want to do it again? Let us know your results.

EDIT, you asked the same thing here:

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/even-possible-42661/

If you're hoping for a different answer by asking the same question in this thread, you're just grasping at straws. It's just common sense (and on the directions for any gasket that you'll ever buy) that the mating surfaces have to be clean of old gasket material. I'm not sure why you're having such a tough time, but maybe post a picture or two and we can see what the problem is. It's never fun working on your back for stuff like this, but it shouldn't be that big of a pain.

 

Clean all of it off, or you will be doing it again.