Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Oil pan removal

[Sheepherderspecial]

on a 97 4x4 is it possible to remove the oil pan without much headache. i put a new rear main seal in when i replaced the trans and i am still leaking. I am hoping it is leaking between the main seal housing and the pan.

Any info or helpful hints would be appreciated.

 

[KYOUNG]

my transmission guy took the motor mount bolts loose and raised the motor up with another jack and resealed the pan...

 

[JGheen]

Did you remove the housing to replace the seal or just do it on the engine? I removed the seal housing and replaced the seal and the oil pan gasket started leaking real bad back there so I ended up having to replace that as well.

Oil pan gasket job is not hard just time consuming. You have to lift the engine high enough to get to the oil pick-up tube bolt for removal. I had the trans-case, transmission, clutch and housing out to do the job right. Still no leaks and I check the torque on the bolts monthly. I can tell you it will be a PITA if you try to do the gasket R&R with the trans in the truck, at least it would have been for me.



Joe

 

[Heepdriver]

1. clean engine and blow off with compressed air, underneath to, that is where you will be working

2. take motor mounts, fan shroud and trans mount loose. leave nuts barely on trans and motor mounts, may need to loosen intercooler boots and block off

3. take wiring harness loose from oil pan studs on there way to starter

4. raise engine with shop crane (cherry picker), most people put blocks under it so it can not fall on em.

5. loosen pan and clean gasket area with care not to drop anything in the pan. the rear area will be the hardest, slid the pan forward and you can clean here to.

6. CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN. You can see in the pan with a mirror and flashlite, reach in there and make sure it is clean.

7. it helps to have these little things that felpro used to put in oil pan gasket kits for certain fords, they thread in to the block and hold the gasket in place,it can definatly be challenging to get the pan gasket in place put it is possible.

8. tighten pan bolts reverse order of disassemble and fill with oil.

9. enjoy



Note: More agrivation, But less time.

 

[Sheepherderspecial]

yeah i took the housing off to replace the seal. im thinking that was a bad idea. i dont like the fact that there are no dowels to align the housing. im just hoping that i got the housing centered back where it was and it is not the seal leaking.

 

[JGheen]

yeah i took the housing off to replace the seal. im thinking that was a bad idea. i dont like the fact that there are no dowels to align the housing. im just hoping that i got the housing centered back where it was and it is not the seal leaking.

I hear ya there, I too was disappointed that there was no dowel pin to locate housing and center it with the crank. I just had to eye ball it and it is still not leaking, so I guess my 20/20 vision is still good.

 

[CumminsPower98]

Just happened on this thread while searching for something and thought I would comment on the rear main seal. I changed my seal once even though it wasn't leaking while I had the trany out and I removed the housing so I could do it on the bench. I also ended up with a leak at the rear of the pan but it took quite some time to start and never got very bad. Well last time I had the trany out I got another seal only this time I made a new piece of gasket for the pan section and used RTV in the corners. It's working great now.



Now on to the main reason I wanted to comment. The seal comes with a metal installation ring. Use this ring to drive the seal in as it sets the correct depth. When you put the housing back onto the block use this same metal ring to center the housing and seal to the crank. It works great.