Well, looks like i'm gonna have to break down and change the oil pan and gasket myself (happy happy joy... :shoothead ) and i'm looking to find out exactly what i'm getting into. So between looking at my haynes manual (pos thing) and what i've heard from mechanics and read here this is what i've come up with as the minimum to sucessfully complete this bs project.
1) Drain the oil
2) Unbolt the trans from the mount (i'm guess just undoing the 2 bolts on the crossmember)
3) The haynes book said to unbolt the cat's from the manifolds, but I believe simply unbolting the front cats from the rear cat (y-pipe cat setup) will suffice. I say this based on the fact that it should still give me enough room the play with without pulling the entire exhaust apart. And seeing that I just put new bolts in to seal that back up like a week ago it'll be a lot easier to pull back apart.
4) Unbolt the engine mounts
5) Put a jack under the engine (beats me where) and slowly jack the engine up.
6) Put wood blocks/2x's under the engine mounts to hold it up during the process.
7) Unbolt the pan drop it down, do something regarding the sump like unscrewing it some how
8) Pull out the pan (carefully of course) clean up the bottom of the block and what not. Put the gasket on the pan. (I've got the FRPP one piece on order and a dual sump chrome pan with provisions for the oil level sensor on order).
9) Put everything back together. Torque stuff up fill up with oil, good to go...???
So after all that, i'm basically looking for verification of this process. If anyone has advice, extra info, pics of the process,since none are on the coolcats site (hmmmmm idea for erics' revision???!!!) I would be eternally greatful!!!
TIA
Oh, here's a pic o the pan and gasket, ignore the oil pickup, unless it would help as a reference point for something :dunno: .
I can't help you, but I do feel your pain.
Looks like I'm going to be doing the same thing very shortly.
I know you'll have enough to worry about, but if you have a digital camera, and you can, take a lot of pics. A write up would be helpful since so many of us with these cars will face this sooner or later.
Good luck.
As to where to jack up the engine, I think you're safe in doing so under the crank pulley/harmonic balancer. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Here's what 1986 TBird previously typed out from the shop manual:
1. Raise hood and cover fenders. Disconnect battery ground cable.
2. Remove oil level indicator from left side of rear oil sump.
3. Remove air cleaner tube.
4. Remove fan shroud retaining bolts and position shroud over fan.
5. Raise vehicle on hoist.
6. Drain crankcase and transmission.
7. Remove driveshaft assembly.
8. Disconnect speedometer cable from transmission.
9. Remove gearshift bell crank level from transmission.
10. Remove flywheel housing cover retaining bolts and remove cover.
11. Remove flywheel-to-converter attaching bolts.
12. Remove transmission control shaft.
13. Remove gear selector valve rod.
14. Remove starter motor retaining bolts and electrical connections and remove starter motor from vehicle.
15. Remove exhaust catalyst converter and ler inlet pipes.
16. Support transmission with suitable transmission jack and remove converter housing to cylinder block attacking bolts.
17. Remove engine mount-to-No. 2 cross member attaching bolts or nuts.
18. Remove No. 3 cross member and rear insulator support assemblies.
19. Remove neutral start switch electrical connection at transmission and disconnect transmission oil cooler lines.
20. Remove transmission and converter as an assembly.
21. Remove flywheel attacking bolts.
22. Remove engine rear cover plate.
23. Remove steering gear attaching bolts and position steering gear forward out of the way.
24. Raise and support engine in a position that allows for clearance of oil pan removal.
25. Remove oil pan attaching blots and lower oil pan to No. 2 cross member.
26. Remove oil pump and pickup tube attacking bolts. Allow oil pump and pickup tube assembly to drop into oil pan.
27. Remove oil pan from vehicle.
I think you can get by without doing all of this, but just to give you an idea.
Uh.... yeah, way to much going on there, and i'm not up for draining my tranny and such. I may include the fan shroud into my list, but the rest of that is way too much effort and unknown to me. With my luck i'd break something taking it off and end up costing myself more. I think i'll take my chances with my list! Again i'm simply looking for as many shortcuts as I can to end up with a reasonably professional result. As an added bonus I just found out my lower radiator hose is leaking nicely too, so i'll be doing that as well. Who knows it may help :dunno: .
Let me know how it goes. I'm dreading the hell out of doing it myself, but it's starting to leak at a pretty excessive rate so I'm out of options.
Heh, something tells me i'll need all the well-wishing and prayers i can get :giggle: . I suck when it comes to gaskets so this should be a fun little ordeal, most likely ending up with me kicking the s*** outta my car, then breaking down and having it towed to a mechanic to fix/finish what i started. But I do intend to take pictures of the process as I trudge kicking and screaming through it. Afterwards, i'll prolly post them in this thread (along with the process) and also send them off to Eric (would that be cool Eric?) so he can add a tech section for this on the coolcats site.
Sure, send away. As a veteran of several oil pan/pump change incidents, I can tell you it's about the worst job you'll ever do on these cars, short of tearing apart an AOD. But really it's not excruciatingly painful either. Just be patient. At least getting to it and taking it out is cut and dried. BTW, if you're totally removing the pan then take out the radiator first. Once the engine is cranked all the way up, the pan needs to come out the front, over the K-member, if you have an AOD (it comes out the back with a T-5). You'll have just enough clearance to get the pan out with the radiator removed (you don't have to worry about the a/c condenser).
AWWWWW :shoothead !! Didn't need to hear that one! Well luckily I have to drain it anyway. Tho I am hoping that i can get enough clearance to unbolt the pump and angle it out the back. It seems more logical to do it that way, but since the radiator is going to be drained anyway, it'll be easy to pop it out quick when i've been proven wrong for sure! Guess we'll see soon. Ugh...
So tonight's the night *whimpers*. I'm gonna be getting started and hopefully finishing this thing. I've got all the parts and what not. Oh for any one interested in putting one of these (chrome stye) pans on I found out something interesting. Upon opening the box I found that it's a kit setup, the only thing missing is the gasket for the oil pick-up (only a buck at advance). So I was quite happy to see this, tho a bit fustrated, since I had bought the gasket as a standalone piece. But I can at least take it back and get my money back no-prob (save's me a bit too!). But anywho I was looking to see if anyone has a picture of "where" the engine mounts are in the engine compartment. It's the only thing i'm foggy on right now. I'm just hoping I can pull this off without any major hitches, and yes I am taking pics and writing out the process! Other than that, i'm just asking for prayers and well wishing!!.
*more whimpering*
Well it starts, it's 7'oclock ish and i'm getting ready to start this thing, if y'all don't hear from me again i'm prolly dead! :shoothead !!! I'll get back on when i finish and report my victory or defeat!
Most important thing - be careful.
Good luck.
Well 11 hours down over 2 days so far... I hate my life somedays. It's day 2 I've got the pan out, the pick-up and pump stuff actually out (god knows how i managed that :dunno: ) And everything is prepped for the new pan to go in. I've prolly got another 7 hours in front of me but I am officially humbled by this situation. To anyone who has ever done this before, I'm sorry you had to live that miserable experience. If ever end up meeting god and he decides not to let you into heaven, tell him about your experience. If he still doesn't let you in..... b****slap him.
Ugh, I feel better now, so I think i'll rest for a while and prepare to finish this war off once and for all. Btw, if you're thinking about doing this yourself... don't. Just take the gun and :shoothead.
hehehe, I am so glad I converted to a carburated setup with a manual. I changed my oil pan gasket, in order to do so, I pulled the motor and tranny, put the motor on its stand, remounted the flywheel, clutch and tranny and put it back in the car all in 5 hours! Not so bad when you have all the right equipment. I do feel your pain though. Without an engine hoist and a lot less wires, I could imagine that job being a nightmare! :shoothead BTW, I just did a body lift on my bronco that took 14 straight hours, try fabicating plates and welding them on to your rusted frame at 3 in the morning!
I just wanna die right now :brick: . Just got home from "night 4" of this insane ordeal, and i'm not much better off than when i started. Ended up borrowing my friends fathers engine hoist, then found out that the engine is missing one of the lift hook mounts (passenger side rear). decided to just "jerry rig it" through and around the exhaust manifold. Finally got the engine up enough to get the pan in and out with out hitting the rear main bolts And for the record, Eric is right about pulling the pan out the front (no clearance out the back with the tranny in). Cleaned everything up (again) and started putting things back together and got thwarted by the oil pump/rod. I gave up for the evening and hopefully tommorow will be the final day of this wonderfully beutiful mess. if not i feel i'll be forced to breakdown and take it to a "qualified" mechanic. :shoothead
Well 6 nights, god knows how many hours and it ends like this...
Car one, me.... Out about 400 bucks to get it fixed at a mechanic.
that is just a shame man.... sorry it had to be this way, but you have gained experience...any way to get the broken bolt out with an extractor? Sears sells some pretty decent stuff for these problems (ask me how I know)
Yeah after it happened i just went snot filinging crazy :mad: :mad: . I'd basically had enough :shoothead . It's one of the bolts for the oil pan and i wasn't up for dissasembling everything for the umpteenth time. I know about the bolt extractors myself (3 day brake job on my friends civic), but i'm just of the frame of mind right now that if I keep at it i'm just gonna do more damage than good. So i'm calling a couple places tommorow to reconfirm prices, then having it towed to where ever. Tho right now I wouldn't mind pushing it through the back wall of my friends garage and into the lake out back :sawzall: :2gunsfiri :shoothead
I've been missing a oil pan bolt for 5 years, hasn't leaked yet. Actually it was never installed when the engine was rebuilt, I keep saying one of these days....
Hey did you steal that broken bolt out of my garage?
I had one wind up the same way when I "retucked" my oil pan gasket.
The engine still leaks a little, but not from where that bolt is missing.
life would have been a lot easier if you just did not intend on replacing the pan.
sooooooooooooo much easier.
Our cars dont leak oil.... They mark their territory. Makes finding you car in a parking lot alot easier too.
Thanks! Heh, nah I ended up being forced to almost, with the pan rusting out and all. That and I figured all that getting rid of all that sludge at the bottom of the pan was a good thing. Had it not been for the torque wrench failing me and the bolt breaking as a result, I woulda had accomplished this myself. I think i'm more pissed about the fact that I got the entire car back together afterwards for towing without any missing pieces. :slap:
For the record this is how much the mistake of a broken bolt'll cost ya!!
13 days and nearly $800.00 samolians later :flip:, I finally got the bird back. Now it's gotta go back to get the parts that they screwed up (sloppy suspension) fixed. :2gunsfiri
if you all ready have to take the exhaust loose, and pull the radiator then why not just pull the bell housing and converter bolts out (good time to change the filter and trans fluid) and pull the motor, yeah you have to unplug a few connectors and heater hoses and pull off the ac compressor so you dont have to drain the freon but then you could clean up the pan and block and stuff on your feet instead of laying under the car, plus you could slap in some new plugs, wires, thermostat and slap on some shortie headers all without bending over the car and laying on cold concrete, well you might have a creeper, I dont even have a slab. My Bro and I put a clutch in a full size bronco in about an hour by pulling the motor. He got the exhaust and bell housing stuff and I worked the top, radiator and accessories and no shiznit we had it back in in an hour. We had a chain fall in the rafters and took the hood off but it was all hand tools, no compressor.
Yes pulling the engine is the easiest wat to do it. But the idea was originally to show how to do it when one didn't have an engine hoist or other way to pull the engine. I got pretty far with out the hoist and given the planets had been in alignment I more than likely woulda suceeded. I have a significantly better view on this situation and how to do it, and I do still intend to do a write up on how to do it engine in car. Might be a little while till i can get to it right now, but it'll get done.