Thanks Bert, if you can come up with the Permatex P/N I can get/order some locally.

It says: Spray "n" seal leak repair. Its made by Permatex. Item# 82099.
I looked all over local and ended up ordering two cans on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Permatex-82099-Spray-Seal-Repair/dp/B0018PW15I

I first used it on a GN. The front of the oil pan had a slight leak. Cleaned it good with brake cleaner and let it dry well first.

Bert

there is a tsb for replacing the oil pan gasket and the oil pan because they warp. this is for the 95-96. i would replace the pan if it hasn't been done once in its life already. and gm specifically states to not use any kind of sealant on the new gasket whatsoever. just loctite and proper torque specs is all you need. just my two cents. on my lift it took me no more than 10 minutes to do the whole job.

Thanks Tom,
I''m planning on buying a new pan from GM along with a gasket, just because I haven't been able to get the leak stopped after 2 gasket changes.
It only makes sense that the pan is the culprit and I have a 98.
Regardless of what year the TSB was for I would recommend a pan replacement to anyone else who has had the same problem I have.
I've been waiting for some free lift time at a friends shop, should be soon.

Update:
I picked up a used cast aluminum oil pan for the 3800, thanks to a tip from BillBoost, off Ebay last month. Instead of buying a new GM tin pan, which is what i was going to do, I got this solid aluminum one completely cleaned with a flat "gasket" surface. It doesn't require a gasket just sealant. This pan came ready to install with a new pick up tube, oil level sensor and a tube of GM sealant for $50.00 shipped.
The new tin pan from monsterpartsonline.com was going to be just under $100.00 plus the cost of the gasket and shipping.
I think this cast aluminum one will be the permanent fix to the leaking oil pan issue.
I'll let you all know after install if it solves the persistent leak that I have been dealing with.
I have no doubt that it will though. A very solid solution to the problem.

yeah, i did my pan gasket without sealant, per the tsb and it is leaking same as ever...well, it did hold for about 3 weeks, but it is back, which leads me to believe thats what is leaking on mine. so much for the tsb. i should've used my original intuition and used sealant. i wonder if they make a cast pan for the series 1 engines, as i would like to probably do that as well.

Is the Series 1 block different than the Series 2 ?
If not, then the cast aluminum will work, I don't know for sure, maybe someone else on here knows. This replacement will solve the problem for good.
I'm sure of it. It's a nice solid, heavy duty oil pan with a flat mating surface. So the sealing surface between the cast iron block and the "flat" cast alum. pan will work very good without the need for a gasket just sealant.
There were some earlier cast aluminum pans that had a milled groove in the flat machined surface for a seal / gasket and from what I hear those leaked too because of the seal. They finally made this one with no provisions for a gasket and the problem's with leakage finally went away.

what kind of vehicle did the cast pans come on? all i am finding are the steel pans.

The Ebay auction stated it fit 95-2008 3.8 liter engines.
I'm not sure exactly what year engine this one was off of.
You might want to try PM to BillBoost, he's the one that forwarded the link to the auction site to me.
He's more knowledgeable about what fit's what.
As I mentioned in a previous post I have since been told that there is some years that used cast aluminum with a groove for an o-ring type seal and later they went with this type that is just a flat machined surface to be used with sealant only. I believe this type is the better of the two.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250479924873&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME%3AB%3AEOIBSA%3AUS%3A1123

Take a look at this link. It is the original link I bought from and has a very good description of what the pan fits and what year vehicles it came standard on.
Take a look at it and see if it helps.