new and need a few questions awnsered

where to start
1 new to the forum but not jeeps
2 I am slightly inclined but not a pro
3 I owned a 99h.o 240kmiles clean as a champ and would fry 2nd
4 sold #3 and now I have a 97 2door sport 4x4 will still fry 2nd :guitar:

im having a few issues with my 97 I bought from a friend
has a 4.0 with 245k miles mostly stock
I just replaced the coil, wires, plugs, cap, rotor, runs way better now than before but still hesitates on idle (im guessing the cracked header is a contributor but still) also gets the dumy light at idle when warm

however it has sludge :l :bawl: and the sludge is starting to clog the oil pickup, so its parked for the moment as I don't want to spin a rod
now my father did the work for my friend and said its pretty bad sludge in there

now my questions here are has anyone gone about removing it on a 4x4?
I know I need to remove the downpipe and starter but can I clear the pumpkin ?(I have a car hoist available if that helps, suspension completely off ground)
I would like to replace the oil pickup and clean the pan of sludge and remove the valve cover and clean away at that too best ideas and routs of completing my mission?
before winter I live on a 10grade hill-_-

sorry removing the oil pan *

i recently removed an oil pan on my 88 i jacked it up so the axle is hanging. then remove all 7 trillion bolts and wiggle it around to remove the 2 oil pump bolts and take that out. then keep wiggling until the pan slips out. might need to toss a curse word or 2 but it will come out.

might be easier if you remove the shock bolts to let the axle drop more. and remove the starter.

now I remember droping the pan on my 99 thanks haha but I never removed it I just slid the gasket under XD but yes the 9trillion bolt thing got me there .... I would say why but then again when you look at how long the 4.0 lasts ....

Lifted? I did mine just recently when I changed my rear main with the jeep on the ground in the garage. 4.5" gave me more than enough clearance to pull the pan down. I may have removed the exhaust, but I honestly don't think I did and just used a wobble bar to get at the bolt or two over the down pipe.

I dropped mine a while back on my bone-stock '96 and will probably drop it again at the next oil change (apparently, using RTV on Fel-Pro pre-cut rubber gaskets can cause oil leaks, crazy as that sounds. Woops.) Anyways, I found that disconnecting the steering linkage at the pitman arm on the steering box and moving it out of the way helps with clearance too. Might need to get a ball joint press to get it out though Speaking of the Fel-Pro gaskets, those things are pretty nice because they come with little plastic push pins you can screw into the block to keep the new gasket and pan in place. Once you get all the other bolts in, you can remove the 4 little plastic pins and put the rest of the bolts in their place. If come across studs, make a note of where they go. I seem to remember there being some brackets and such that use those studs as a mounting point.

i just got mine back on. but improbably going to be doing it again. i got the cruddy cork seals for it.