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Topic: 5.0 oil pan removal (Read 1211 times) previous topic - next topic

5.0 oil pan removal

Ok, I give up trying to figure it out on my own...  I fought with my '88 for 5 hours last night, removed the motor mount on one side (It was loose anyway, the bolt hada backed out), removed the stabilizer bar on one side, jacked up the motor at the bell housing, to the point that the top pf the block is alamost level with the top of the nose.  I still can't get the pan out. 
The whole point was to clean/replace the pickup tube, but it looks like the parts cleaner I ran through the engine did a great job, but I am replacing it anyway.  I want to clean out the pan and pound it out where it's crushed a bit before re-installing it, but can't get it out.
I'm trying to pull it out through the front, the back isn't an option until I find a safer way to jack the engine up by the front.  I've got the pan about halfway forward, but it keeps catching on something.
Is it possible to get it out at all, or am i going to have to pull the engine?:punchballs:

5.0 oil pan removal

Reply #1 –
Well,I personally would just lift the engine out halfway.It really isn't that big of a deal,and it doesn't take any more time than what you've already invested.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

5.0 oil pan removal

Reply #2 –
K, here's what I recommend:

- Remove the radiator, fan shroud, fan, fan clutch. Leave the a/c condenser in
- Remove the bolts from the steering rack; let it drop down (don't remove the tie rods from the spindles)
- Pull the pins from both motor mounts
- Put a jack under the transmission and keep it under tension.
- Jack up the motor with an engine hoist (or tree branch and chain...whichever LOL) as high as it will go.
- Remove the transmission crossmember, then slowly lower the jack under the trans. This tips the engine/trans combo. Expect fluids
- If you still need clearance, jack up the motor a little more
- Remove oil pan bolts and loosen pan
- Remove oil pump and pickup, drop them in the pan
- Remove oil pan from the FRONT

It is tricky but this method does work very well. I actually can't tell you how many times this has saved my bacon. Can probably do this in my sleep by now.

5.0 oil pan removal

Reply #3 –
Thanks for the tips!  I didn't try removing the steering rack, just everything else, seems like...
The fan/radiator are already out, AC condensor has been gone for at least 8 years, the top half of the motor is gone, all that's left is the block.  The fan shroud was demolished when I jumped the car and bent the front frame 5 years ago, and never replaced it,  now i'm tempted to remove the front clip to get at everything better.  The pickup tube is out and suprisingly clean... not at all what I was expecting, considering the condition of the rest of the engine.
I can't lift the motor, I tried that first by hooking a come-along cable to the crank pulley, and the other end hooked to a chain around a timber in my mother's carport, where the car's been sitting for 2 years.
The result: lifted the block 3 inches before I collapsed the carport, and buried the car under wood and termites. Great, eh?
the only things I haven't tried was the moving the steering rack and pulling the other mount pin.  The mounts are shot so this would be a good time to replace them anyway.  The engine is tilted a bit to the right (looking at it from the front) and I've jacked it so high the car is lifting off the jack stands a little.  At this point, would removing the tranny corssmember give me that much clearance?
My worst fear so far was that I'd ask that and someone would tell me it has to come out from the BACK, which would mean me moving the jack. 
Now that the car is sitting in a partially collapsed carport, the only thing above it is open air, so lifting the block isn't an option anymore.  And I have to help pay for the carport, so renting an engine hoist isn't an option either.  Good thing I already have the gaskets and parts.

On a side note:  Any suggestions for removing an exhaust-side head bolt?  It's been broken off and sitting just slightly below the surface of the block for at least 10 years.

5.0 oil pan removal

Reply #4 –
Why don't you just get another engine.After 10 years of sitting,it wouldn't be a bad idea.Another 5.0 can be had for cheap.Cheaper sometimes than the money spent by people trying to get a non H.O engine to just acceptable condition.By the sound of it,your car isn't in a place where you need to be working on it.You can get another engine for a couple of hundred dollars.Non H.O. If you can't afford it,just save up for a while.If the engine has been sitting for 10 years,what's a little longer going to hurt?
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

5.0 oil pan removal

Reply #5 –
Actually, it's only been sitting about 3 years, two of them under cover.  Water got into the engine, and I wrote it off then.  I eventually tore the old heads off and stuck in a battery, the engine turns very freely, little drag on the starter.  The car isn't in great shape at all, and where I live, the city has all kinds of ordinances against having a vehicle sitting, even if it's under cover.  I got a fine for having my shop vac sitting next to my roomate's car for a day and a half, if that's any indication.  THen they wanted proof that the other car was my roomate's, and not mine.  A week later, there was a notice in my mailbox that my roomate had paraked a few inches over the sidewalk, which was against ordinance so and so... The towing company I worked for had the bird sittting in their yard for a while, and for a couple months after i quit there, and my mom's was the only place I could put it.
As it sits, the engine compartment is exposed, and if i can get it all back together, theoretically i can just drive it out. 
i'm putting up a webpage (that i started in '02) that details all the stuff i put the car through.  It really is a miracle that the block and tranny are in one piece. 
I do have several other engines I could put in, a  non-roller 302, a 390 .30 over, and a stock '73 429.  They are all buried though, and I have to get the car out before I'm able to get to them anyway.  Might as well give it a shot.  I do have time.  If/when i get it running again, and do a compression check and like what i see, I'll just sell the other engines. 
As for time, I've pulled the top end apart and swapped heads  on it so much, I can have it done and running in a night.  After that it's just the fine tuning.

5.0 oil pan removal

Reply #6 –
The head bolt put some juice on it. drill it and easyout it it won't be tight it's not holding anything.The oil pan get the other mount off .It will come out.
Old Grey Cat to this.88 Cat, 5.0 HO, CW mounts, mass air, CI custom cam, afr165's, Tmoss worked cobra intake, BBK shorty's,off road h pipe, magnaflow ex. T-5,spec stage 2 clutch, 8.8 373 TC trac loc, che ajustables with bullits on the rear. 11" brakes up front. +
 

5.0 oil pan removal

Reply #7 –
The head bolt was under tension when it came off... It snapped, I found the bolt head on hte crossmember a while back, I dunno if it makes any difference.  Would WD-40 work?  I ran out of PB Blaster last trip to the salvage yard.
Thanks for all the help guys, I'll give it all a try tonight, and see how it works out.  Thanks again!:bowdown:

Oh yeah, I found my Canon T-50 that I thought was stolen, fully loaded with 800 speed film, I'm taking pics of all this.  They'll all be developed, scanned, and posted.

5.0 oil pan removal

Reply #8 –
Well, that was the esingle most painful thing I've done to that car... And I didn't even get the pan out.  Didi get the other motor mount off, and got the oil pump changed.  My home-made parts cleaner did unbelieveably well, the pickup tube screen was completely clear, just a little bit of stuff inside the screen, but not much.  Accidentally loosened a main bearing bolt trying to unbolt the pickup tube, working blindly, but that's nothing major.  Going to try to extract the head bolt tonight, and put the pickup tube in and shove the pan back on.

5.0 oil pan removal

Reply #9 –
Good luck.About all of the ordinances.....time to move.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

5.0 oil pan removal

Reply #10 –
Holy  about those ordinances! A fine for having a Shop Vac in the yard! Cripes, that's one nice thing about living in the country - I think it's a law that you have to have at least four dead cars in your yard around here (I only have one, so I'm probably breaking it) :hick: People here don't believe in parting out or sending old cars to the crusher. Once they won't pass inspection anymore they just drive 'em out as far as they'll go into the field, and that's where they spend the next 50 or so years. With s prices as they ar right now a fellah could make a mint with a flatbed truck and a few acres of land to store the heaps on. Just drive around, stopping at every house you see a junk car (you'd be stopping a lot) and offer a pittance for the s - most people would probably give it away.
2015 Mustang GT Premium - 5.0, 6-speed, Guard Green - too much awesome for one car

1988 5.0 Thunderbird :birdsmily: SOLD SEPT 11 2010: TC front clip/hood ♣ Body & paint completed Oct 2007 ♣ 3.55 TC rear end and front brakes ♣ TC interior ♣ CHE rear control arms (adjustable lowers) ♣ 2001 Bullitt springs ♣ Energy suspension poly busings ♣ Kenne Brown subframe connectors ♣ CWE engine mounts ♣ Thundercat sequential turn signals ♣ Explorer overhead console (temp/compass display) ♣ 2.25" off-road dual exhaust ♣ T-5 transmission swap completed Jan 2009 ♣

5.0 oil pan removal

Reply #11 –
'73 429 should be fun!

5.0 oil pan removal

Reply #12 –
Well, I couldn't get the oil pan out, but I did get the new pump in, haven't tried to extract the bolt, it's been raining too ed much.  Just gonna put it all back together this weekend (I hope). 
The city can go fornicate it's self, I used to drive a wrecker, and they pitched a fit about it being parked out by the road.  My next door neighbor (who was under the influences of various substances at the time) ran out of his house at the city inspector, carrying a shotgun and threatened him.  The inspector was writing up a citation for him having his yard maintnance trailer in the middle of his front yard, claiming that the city ordinances considered it an advertisp00get for his business.  Ever since that ordeal, he's left my neighbor alone, but has been having a field day with me and my best friend, who live together.  For 3 months we got notices in the mailbox that threatened us with fines because we didn't have the house numbers on the mailbox... then the whole wrecker ordeal, they claimed that by parking it by the road it blocked the mailbox, and I wasn't allowed to park it there.  I had to park it IN THE ROAD!  So, when I parked it in the road, the city left me alone, but the Florida Highway Patrol pitched a fit, and told me to park it in the driveway.  So I moved one of my '65 Ford Fairlanes out to the road to park my wrecker in the driveway while on call, and when i was on a call, my roomate called me to say that they were towing the fairlane i parked in the road, courtesy of the Florida Highway Patrol.  A rival company impounded the car, and with rent almost due and it being the 'off season' I couldn't afford to get it out, and they wouldn't cut me a deal.  So as far as i know, the car was crushed, since that company also owns a salvage yard, and doesn't keep cars for more than 2 weeks before crushing them. 
I do believe it's time to move.  Been trying to save up for deposits, and getting this ed car running.
The 429 should be VERY fun, stock and all.  I was told that they tend to do better in the heavier cars like T-birds, instead of mustangs.  I have the front springs and cheap headers for it, and motor mounts for the 390.  I have a lot of  to move.

5.0 oil pan removal

Reply #13 –
Forget about working on cars,move to a new place first,then work on cars.If I lived under those cirspoogestances,Every penney I got would go to a getting new place in a hurry.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

5.0 oil pan removal

Reply #14 –
we're working on that.  We've got a few hundred to go before we can afford a deposit on e new place.  As to the cars, I've got everything I need for the 'bird, my remaining Fairlane doesn't need any work, except for paint, same with my truck.  Wherever we end up I'm making sure there's room for all the vehicles.  I'll be glad to get out of the city limits though, I've lived in the county all my life up until 2 years ago, and this was quite a shock.  I couldn't believe anybody would care that when we put in the mailbox, it was a foot too close to the driveway.  It's unreal!