I am fixing an oil pan leak. I have read in several places that I may not use a gasket but meed to use the red permatex which is what was used last time.  I am not able to maneuver that pan back into place without getting the red stuff all over everything else and having to take it out and reapply it again. I do have a gasket. What damage would a gasket do? Has anyone else run into a problem when using a gasket. This is a '96 1600cc auto trans 4wd Tracker.

Some of the 16v engines have a crank position sensor at the front of the oil pan, directly behind/beneath the crank pulley - if yours is like this you can end up with the sensor being too far away from the pulley to "sense" the teeth.

That makes sense. I have one of those. Since It is beyond my ability to get that cover in there without messing it up and since the gasket is pretty thin to start with I wonder if I could get away with carefully sanding a tiny bit of the shoulder of the sensor to bring it in closer. It looks like I can install the pan and check it first then alter the sensor (or the outer edge of the pan) if I have a problem.

For those who might find themselves in this situation here is how I managed it. I cleaned off all of the gasket goo from the prior attempts. I went under the trucklet and experimented with it dry. I found that it went on with the pickup tube in place but only if I lifted it up sideways and slightly tilted. Then it could be rotated  to   front/back. To do this I had to loosen the drivers side  mount for the front left dif end and tie it out of the way. I had to choreograph every movement.   I put on the red  gasket goo as carefully s I could. The instructions said to let it sit for around a half hour to firm up. Then hold sideways, up, tilt, rotate and slowly raise. So it can be done, even with an old man like me!