So, I'm calling bs on anyone that says it can be done with the engine in the car. I'm kicking myself for not grabbing my engine puller out of storage right now.
I have dropped the trans crossmember, completely removed both motor mounts, starter, bunch of lines hoses and brackets, pulled my fan off, loosened the steering each and I am probably farther sway from finishing then when I started the job at noon. Is there some secret to this? Can the pan come out? I haven't removed the pickup bolts yet, but I can barely wiggle the pan around and doubt it will go.
For the record, I've pulled an entire engine and had it stripped down to a long block in 2 hours before. I've spent about 8 hours straight on this piece of , 12 hour total if you count the few breaks I've taken so I don't pull all my hair out. The pan needs replaced. I tried a few different drain plugs and gaskets and it still leaks like a siv. I had a oil pan laying around so I figured I'd clean it up and swap it in and have it done in a few hours. So far, I'd rather marathon 4 heater cores in a row then deal with this.
I've had to lift the engine to get the pan off. Didn't really take very long. Love that double sump.
Yeah, I'm throwing in the towel. Gonna see if I can borrow a buddies truck and I am gonna haul my puller and motor home. With 336k miles and probably a bad lifter/cam lobe, I am not sure I wanna go through all that effort only to have it fail. Checking Craigslist and junkyards for gt-40 heads. If I can get a decent set for less then $200, I'll get a set of springs and throw an h.o. in instead.
If you pull the engine, install new bearings, timing chain and seals.
Honestly if you were tryin to do the pan without pulling the motor you would have been better to drop the k-member.
Lay some square tubing across engine bay to strap motor to,unbolt the steering shaft,motor mounts,and k-member then carefully lower it down.
I've never done it in a T-Bird, but I did it to a straight 6 in a Fairmont back when I was in trade school. The fact that that job was ~25 years ago and I still remember it vividly should be an indicator of how much fun I had. The motor stayed in the car though, but I did have to undo the pickup bolts and let it drop into the pan
I did it successfully on a 3.8. I did not remove the pickup and pump, I rember something about the oil pimp shaft coming loose though, so maybe I did remove them.
Either way, if I had just brought my engine puller home and went with my gut, I'm pretty sure I would of had it done in a few hours. Gonna try to make the best of it and take my time. My sister is leaving for a week, so I'll have an extra car for almost two weeks, and I am not gonna rush it. Once I have my new engine on the stand, I'll decide 100% if I will swap the motor or just replace it.
I feel your pain. Back when I converted my car to HO, I pulled the motor. After getting the motor buttoned up and back in the car I decided to change the oil after driving it for a day or two. In putting the drain plug back in, the threads broke. So yeah I wasn't really feeling like pulling the motor after just having taken it out! Ended up getting a new pan and letting a local trustworthy shop replace it, pretty sure they did it with the motor still in the car...
I did it on a '88 base Bird... With engine lifted as high as possible, the pickup had to be dropped into pan & then it was very tight.. I found metal shavings in the pan so pulled engine, wound up selling car and parting out engine.. After the fight to get pan out I'd already decided to pull engine to reinstall it... I believe most instructions say to remove transmission, that way pan doesn't have to be tilted greatly just slide back.. Hell if I gotta pull trans I'd just as soon pull the engine...
New engine, engine stand and engine puller are sitting in the back of a truck I borrowed and are now home. I will remove the old motor and pull valve covers to check if I have a wiped lifter or cam, if it checks out, it will go back in. If it doesn't, I will be getting the new engine ready to drop in. Debating on grabbing my h.o. parts tomorrow night.
Dropped transmission crossmember and removed it, unbolted exhaust after cat, pulled battery and electric fan, loosened belt so that the upper rad hose had more room, loosened and moved transmission cooler lines on radiator, removed hood for the engine puller, completely removed both motor mounts, removed oil pickup screen and I'm sure a bunch more I am forgetting.
Had to set up the engine puller in addition to placing a jack on the transmission to help level things out a bit and get more room. The engine is 3/4 of the way out of the car, pretty much maxed out all wires and vaccum lines. It was a pain in the butt to remove the old pan after it was loose. I will probably drop the sway bar, as it was just enough in the way to prevent it from coming out without banging on the radiator. No way in hell will it come out the rear without removing the trans all together.
Overall, if I had a coolant drain pan when I started on this last night, I would have just removed everything, done it outside the car, probably made a lot less mess and taken half the time, but what's done is done. Gonna pick up some kitty litter to try to stop my overflowing trans drain pan. An old ypke or trans plug would have done wonders.
Finally got it all buttoned up. Still got a few little things, but the new gasket and oil pan does not seem to be leaking at all. I am really impressed with it. Seems like every time I've tried to do an oil pan I've made the leak worse. It feels good to actually "win" one.
I must have a broken vacuum line or forgot to put one back on. Got a slight rolling idle and gas mileage is down a hair, but not a bit deal. I also removed the trans shift linkage and need to adjust it a bit. I got PRNOD and D but no 1st right now, but it is defineatly drivable and that was my main goal. I will check oil and drips pretty close for the next couple of days and tinker with the little things this weekend.
Putting the oil pan back in was terrible. I had my engine puller to the side supporting the engine and had to lay on the support legs while I redid the oil pickup gasket and oil pan. It killed my back and took forever. Once it was lined up and in place with a few bolts, it went super easy and was just bolting everything back up. If it wouldn't have been so greasy from the leaky oil pan and the trans blood bath, it would have been quite enjoyable.
Good to hear you got it done. The other issues should be an easy fix. I'm very lucky that after almost a year, no leaks from the Sport's engine. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Get that shifter fix asap. If its not lined up correct you can hurt the trans in a hurry. Always adjust the cable with trans and shifter in neutral.
Its only the column shifter linkage that needs adjusted, I removed it to allow movement of the engine. Not the TV cable.
I understand that but my post still applies. If the linkage is not adjusted right you can be directing fluid in the valvebody to multiple circuits at the same time. It would be like hitting a transbrake button while driving down the road.