Help with stupid oil pan.

97VAXJ · Mar 17, 2009

I needed to replace my oil pan gasket and now i cant get the pan itself out of its stupid little hole.

I have the Haynes manual and i have tried all the things it says except removing the steering components cause i dont have the right tool.

any suggestions on what else to try before i go crazy???

Otter · Mar 17, 2009

didn't have to remove any steering components on mine (01). i did have to remove the starter and droop the axle and it came out easily. what is ur pan getting stuck on?

joe_peters · Mar 17, 2009

Seek ye truth and enlightenment here:

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=101118

jneary · Mar 17, 2009

if you remove the 4 nuts from the trans mount at the crossmember, you can lift the trans up and that should give you enough clearance

Terrific · Mar 18, 2009

Otter said:
didn't have to remove any steering components on mine (01). i did have to remove the starter and droop the axle and it came out easily. what is ur pan getting stuck on?

Worked for me. Lift the jeep. Put it on stands, and let the axle drop a pretty good amount. Then you'll be able to drop the pan.

sjkimmel99 · Mar 19, 2009

You might want to disconnect one end of the sway bar to help the axle drop. The other thing that can help is a bottle jack between the axle and the "frame."

stephenspann27 · Mar 19, 2009

and the passenger side shock at the top.

dave92cherokee · Mar 20, 2009

Disconnect both sides of sway bar and both bottom ends of shocks. Jack it up until the axle is drooping freely, if still not enough room get small bottle jack between axle and frame to push down just a little more. When I did mine at stock height I disconnected one of the lower control arms to allow it to drop down enough.

wishbone · Mar 20, 2009

I just pulled mine and had to remove the steering dampner shock thingy - fell right out, but drooping axle is easier

tomcat · Mar 20, 2009

all you need to remove steering components are a pair of pliers or cutters to remove cotter pins, a wrench to remove the castle nuts, and a hammer.

the hammer is to smack whatever the tie rod is going through, not the tie rod itself. a little tough love and they will pop or fall right out. a little pressure with your free hand in the direction you want it to go, and it is gravy.

i would leave the one on the pitman arm alone, but take the axle ends off to move them out of the way and you should be golden

jneary · Mar 20, 2009

thats a lot of work when all you have to do is raise the back of the trans up

sjx40250 · Mar 21, 2009

I have found that the lower the axle, the worse it is. The reason is the control arms cause the axle to actually move toward the center of the vehicle as it drops. This reduces the clearence for the pan to come out. I ended up jacking the axle up to increase the distance between the axle and the bell housing.
I think every vehicle is different and may depend on the lift kit. If the stock LCA are not used then it might acutally be easier.
This is just my experience on my 90 and 92 XJ's

MattyO · Mar 22, 2009

i jacked mine up and put jackstands under the "framerails" and let the axle drop down as far as it could.then once i took out all the oil pan bolts i let the pan rest on the axle while i took out the 2 bolts that hold the oil pick-up in place.once those were out i let the oil pick-up lay in the pan and the pan then had enough room to slide out.the oil pick-up gets hung up on the plate thats in the bottom of your oil pan which won't let the pan angle out.just my experience . . .

Help with stupid oil pan.

97VAXJ

NAXJA Forum User

Otter

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joe_peters

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jneary

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Terrific

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sjkimmel99

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stephenspann27

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dave92cherokee

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wishbone

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tomcat

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jneary

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sjx40250

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MattyO

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