Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Replace oil pan gasket

[Little Bill]

Gentlemen,



I need to replace the oil pan gasket on a '98 12 valve in a 1 ton, 2WD chassis. It looks like I can loosen or pull the motor mount through bolts and lift the front of the engine to give enough clearance to drop the pan. Tried a search of previous posts but came up dry. For sure, someone has been there and done this. Any tips ?



TIA

 

[mschoenheider]

I had to take the pan off my 96 to weld up a hole in it. You do not have to remove the motor mount through bolts, just loosen them. The truck part of the mounts are slotted so the bolts will slide up. I also had to take the bolts off my fan shroud and windshield washer reservoir so they could move with the fan as I lifted the motor. I used a cherry picker to lift the motor, and unbolted the transmission mount to allow the rear of the engine to come up. If you are taking the pan totally off, you will need to take off the oil pick-up tube after lowering the pan a couple inches. After the pick up tube is out, the pan will slide back and be free. I destroyed the gasket taking it off, and did not have a new one, so I used RTV instead. No leaks yet with just over 10k miles. I would however recommend getting a new gasket before you start.

Mark

 

[Little Bill]

Thanks, Mark. These are the tidbits I need avoid re-inventing the wheel.

 

[Dennis Garrett]

I have a 97 2500, 2wd. I took my pan off a while back, because I thought my pickup tube was rattling in there someplace. (It wasn't) We took the fan off, took both motor mounts loose, took the tube loose going into the intake manifold, also unhooked the tube going from the turbo to the intercooler on the passenger side. Then we just jacked up against the balancer until the front of the engine was up high enough to wiggle the pan out from underneath. The Dodge dealer said it couldn't be done, and they wanted over 8 hrs labor to do it. I think they figured the transmission had to come out first, but obviously it doesn't. Keep an eye on you transmission hoses going from the steel lines, to the cooler if you have an automatic, it'll pull them up tight, but mine had enough stretch, we didn't have to remove them.

 

[Dennis Garrett]

I have a 97 2500, 2wd. I took my pan off a while back, because I thought my pickup tube was rattling in there someplace. (It wasn't) We took the fan off, took both motor mounts loose, took the tube loose going into the intake manifold, also unhooked the tube going from the turbo to the intercooler on the passenger side. Then we just jacked up against the balancer until the front of the engine was up high enough to wiggle the pan out from underneath. The Dodge dealer said it couldn't be done, and they wanted over 8 hrs labor to do it. I think they figured the transmission had to come out first, but obviously it doesn't. Keep an eye on you transmission hoses going from the steel lines, to the cooler if you have an automatic, it'll pull them up tight, but mine had enough stretch, we didn't have to remove them. We didn't even have to mess with the transmission mounts either.

 

[Dennis Garrett]

Well crap, a double post! I didn't think either one of them made it, I thought the server or AOL went down for a minute or two. Oh well, just dis-regard one of them.