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Oil pan gasket replace, how to....

J

jhc7399

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Cincinnati, OH
Well, I installed the rebuilt a few weeks ago and have had a small leak on the front of the engine since then. I was thinking it was tranny fluid because of the tranny cooling line that runs by the harmonic balancer might have got beat up a little when we pulled the engine but nope, it is the front of the oil pan. Apparently I didn't seal the front of the pan enough, bolts are all tight.

So this weekend I guess I will be pulling the pan and installing a new gasket.

Any advice on the easiest way to get this done? I have heard horror stories about dropping the whole front end to get by the oil pick up screen?
 
Jack the front end up as high as you can and put jack stands under the body, not the front end. This allows the front end to droop as low as it possibly can. Remove exhaust and any steering parts in the way and monkey it down.
 
x2 on drooping the front end, did this last weekend, do whatever youve gotta do to get max droop, i removed my trackbar brace(obviously in the way), and disconnected the trackbar at the bracket(to get more droop, and get it out of the way). If your not lifted you will have to disconnect shocks as well, and disconnecting that trackbar is a whole lot of fun...

When you goto reinstall it, make alignment dowels, basically old oil pan studs with the head ground off, with a flathead screw slot ground into them. Use 4, 2 per side , keeps your gasket from schmearing/moving.
 
MACH90XJ said:
I would add to get the 1 piece blue rubber gasket, much easier to deal with.
Click to expand...


Yes yes yes! So much so it often gets forgotten to mention, A must. Same for up top.


Also one last thing... if youve got any leaks, or enjoy the mud, for the love of god, powerwash it now, tomorrow, and the day before you sit down to do this gasket swap, Its a messy job if youve got leaks. Wear clear safety glasses.
 
Nothing like getting dried dirt raining down into every orifice in your head while laying under there. I sure like my home depot cheapy electric washer for this. I blast the area I work on the day before usually.
 
As stated, let the front axle droop as much as possible and it won't be too bad. Mine was lifted 3" when I did mine and had plenty of clearance. I've heard of people removing the exhaust and a ton of stuff but all I removed was the starter.
 
x-jay vision said:
I would replace the rear main seal while you are in there. By far the worst part of the rms replacement is removal of the oil pan
Click to expand...
It's a fresh rebuilt. If it isn't leaking after a few weeks of driving, I wouldn't mess with it.
Why would a new seal be better than the existing, leak-free seal?
Dropping the pan does nothing to damage the main seal.
 
lazyxj said:
It's a fresh rebuilt. If it isn't leaking after a few weeks of driving, I wouldn't mess with it.
Why would a new seal be better than the existing, leak-free seal?
Dropping the pan does nothing to damage the main seal.
Click to expand...
You are right. Had I read the first post I may have caught that. Instead I look like an r-tard.
 
FYI, the newer felpro gaskets do not have the little protrusions on the back for where the rear main cap meets the block. You need to fill the gaps there with RTV prior to installing the gasket.

Aside from that I have a 3.5" lift and never disconnect anything when dropping the pan. I just let the front axle hang.
 
Take your time, if at all possible. Really give yourself a few days. If you get frustrated take a brake, relax then go back. PITA yes. The steering damper removed from a drag link saves some wear on the pan, also a bit easier with it out.
 
I replaced an oil pan gasket on a 2" budget boosted rig without even jacking it up. its really not that hard to snake out of there.

jacking it up makes it easier, but disconnecting all the shocks and etc is unnecessary.
 
Anytime you ask people for shortcuts, you will allways have a d-bag who says none of them are necessary.

Nobody said it was necessary, we said it makes things easier.
 
so wait... I'm a D-bag because I told the OP what he needed to know?

you don't HAVE to do any of that shit.

obviously the more room you have the easier changing the gasket is going to be, but you have to weigh that against how much time and effort you are going to spend making that room. disconnecting shocks and drooping the front end out is arguably more work than just doing it.

hell the easiest way in your logic is to be to pull the whole goddamn motor and do it on an engine stand.

its a ****ing gasket, pull it into the garage, and go after it. if you've got a stocker put some jackstands under the frame, but like I said, we snaked it out of there on a 2" lifted rig without that.
 
Easy fellas!

Turns out it was my front crank seal. Replaced it yesterday, no leaks so far. When I put the HB on after the rebuild I did not put sealer on the HB keyway. I am thinking that was the problem.

Also replaced the tranny mount while I was at it, what a bastard that was. The two nuts and bolts on the cross member we good and came out easy. Three of the bolts on the mount came out easy but of course one was too rusted and stripped on me so about two hours later I had ended up prying and grinding the other three off so I could turn the mount fore and aft to get to the two 18mm bolts that hold the mount to the tranny. Those were in so good one of them tried to strip on me as well. Used a breaker bar all the way out. Then put the cross member in a vice and used the grinder again to get the last bolt out.
 
I'd rather take the time and disconnect a few extra things to give myself room rather than hassle with trying to snake things out of a tight spot.

I disconnected the sway bar and shocks to push the axle down as far as possible. A few seconds with those extra bolts meant I spent a lot less time on my back grappling with the oil pan, well worth it to me.
 
I didn't know sealant was needed on Harmonic Balancer keyway. An oil seal in the timing cover should work without sealant. :arrowr:?:arrowl:
 
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