The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop questions about dropping oil pan

Today I can either fix a rocking toilet in my house or take my truck for its first drive on a public road in 6 years, and enjoy the fruits of an engine tune-up and new rear shocks. It’s my last chance to do either of these (the toilet or the truck), for the next few weeks, because I’m having shoulder surgery next week. Obviously, today the truck wins out.

While she’s warmed up, I’ll put in new motor oil. While doing that, I’d like to drop the oil pan, which I’ve never done before, partly for curiosity and partly to remove the sludge that I imagine is in there.
My question is, is dropping the pan a simple and speedy operation, or might it lead to other things that prevent me from reassembling the truck for several weeks?

And while I’m in there, should I be doing anything other than inspection and sludge cleanout? I think Hotrod Lincoln once warned about removing certain shims and changing some clearance, so I ain’t touchin’ any shims.

Lastly, I do not have a new set of gaskets and seals for the oil pan. Is it a huge no-no to try to reuse the old oil-pan gaskets and seals? Will I have massive leaks?

Thanks. Have a great Sunday.

Unless the pan has been off in the past few days and you did a perfect job of attaching the gasket to the block (not the pan) on reassembly, the job is neither speedy nor simple. No, re-using the pan gasket isn't possible- - - -it will come off in a bunch of little chunks unless you have enough luck to win the Powerball lottery by buying a single ticket.

I'd suggest adding 2-3 quarts of kerosene or Diesel fuel to the oil that's in the truck now, and running the engine at a fast idle for 15-20 minutes before draining it. DO NOT DRIVE IT, OR LOAD THE ENGINE! Thinning the oil with solvent makes it a pretty poor lubricant under load. Drain the oil while it's hot and you'll get rid of much more sludge than dropping the pan will accomplish. The crankshaft splashing the oil/solvent mix around inside the engine acts just like a washing machine.
Jerry

First, GO FOR A DRIVE, while your out get couple of quarts of Diesel. Second when you get home, do as Jerry suggested. Drain the pan, go inside and have a cup of coffee. Come back out and PUT THE PLUG BACK IN. Fill with your choice of motor oil and call it good. DO NOT PULL THE PAN without new gaskets on hand.
Now go inside and fix the rocking toilet.
Fun day for sure!👍🏻

Thank you both for the advice. You've saved me a lot of grief, I'm sure. I'm definitely going for a drive before changing the oil. I may also flush the radiator. I'm using the Tech Tips article Winterizing Your Truck as my guide, somewhat. I don't intend to fill the gas tank, as the article suggests, because I don't think I could use it up before it goes bad.

Maybe I'll still have time to fix the toilet.

++++ times 10 to the above. Only time I've pulled a Stovebolt oil pan was while chasing and repairing leaks. This experience indicated that for me, it's a day job. First scraping and cleaning the block and pan particularly the flange area of the block and then the pan. Then once the pan's off the cleaning and prepping/painting prior to replacing takes longer than you'll expect. I used a lot of Purple Power cleaner (full strength) and a stiff brush to remove all the old gunk. Also used high pressure water to flush the oil tubes. You'll see what I mean when the pan is on the workbench.

I do like Jerry's trick on adding diesel or kerosene to start and speed the sludge removal process, I'll use that trick somewhere down the road. And as Martin suggested, go for a drive, then get on with the day.

Good Luck, Ron

Of course, if one drives it and uses it, no short trips, gets it up to full temperature(no 160 degree or missing thermostats) for at least 15 miles, like it was designed, you should not have sludge in the pan to start with.


Ed

What about engines designed/destined for use of non-detergent oil? Would there be no "sludge" in the pan, even if the engine is run as you described?

I'm just being a jerk, Ed. Very few stovebolts are run with non-detergent oil these days.

I wonder how much of the "sludge" in the oil pan is from induction of airborne dust/pollen/dirt being sucked in through the the slots in valve cover. The down draft tube is the source of the suction of filth into the engine through the valve cover.

Carl,

You are probably correct regarding junk/debris (airborne dust/pollen/dirt) getting sucked into 1955st and earlier valve covers. It would get suspended in detergent oil

If detergent oil is used, and the engine has an oil filter (by-pass or full-flow), that "debris" would stay in suspension (and, get filtered out, if a filter is used). Change the oil every 3000 miles and nothing should drop out into the pan?

You really want the oil hot, not just the water, so don't call it a day when you have the thermostat open. Oil temp tracks load, not water temp.

I took her for a spin, about 4-5 miles. She did really well and sounded really fine. I was beaming from ear to ear. All the tips from you guys over the summer, when I was dealing with vacuum, timing, and idling questions, are much appreciated. I also noticed a difference having new rear shocks, versus the 40-50 year-old shocks I removed; those had zero cushion. Front shocks are next.

After the 15-20 minute drive, I did as HRL suggested and drained a couple quarts of oil and replaced them with diesel, let her idle under no load for 20 minutes, and drained the oil. Took my time, as Justhorsenround suggested. Took the cover off the bypass oil filter canister to release the air lock so it could drain, but it still held a pint of oil, so I sacrificed a turkey baster (another tip from HRL), and emptied the canister. Then replaced with 6 quarts of NAPA SAE 30. Thanks to Moparguy and others for confirming that removing the oil pan is a mini-project unto itself. May do that in the spring.

Did not get the radiator flushed. Super tickled to drive her down the road again.

All this, just in time to put her to bed very shortly.

Panic, it's interesting you mention that. After a 15-minute drive, I had to drain 2 quarts of oil to add 2 quarts of diesel to the crankcase, and I expected the oil to be really hot and almost burn my hands, but it wasn't that hot. And after adding the diesel and letting the engine idle for 20 more minutes, the oil still wasn't hand-burning hot. I guess your comment explains why that is. Hopefully I still got a decent clean-out before adding the new oil.

More important, did you get the loose toilet fixed? lol

No, haven't fixed the toilet yet. Somehow I couldn't find time yesterday. I may tackle it this evening, while the wife is away.

Keep me in the loop! I also might drop the pan trying to tackle some leaks at the front of our engine. I'm going to do more research into this timing cover bolt mod.....

Awesome, that one is worth printing right away. Thanks,

draining some oil before adding the Diesel sort of defeats the purpose. The idea is to get the crankcase full enough that the crankshaft and rods dip down into the liquid and splash it around like dust in a tornado. That does a better job of scrubbing than any parts washing brush can. The thinned-out oil might find its way past a few oil seals and gaskets, but unless the built-up crud is all that's preventing a leak, there shouldn't be any long term ill effects.
Jerry

I'll be darned. I would've thought that I'd be exceeding the capacity of the crankcase. Maybe it's like mixing marbles and sand: it doesn't take more volume, it just changes the (viscosity or solubility in this case). That's what I get for thinking about it too much. Like elevating the front end of the truck so more fluid will drain from the crankcase, which drain plug is at the rear. Although that really seems like a logical approach. In any case, thanks for the tip, and I'll get it right next time.

I've seen stovebolt oil pans so full of gasoline from a leaky fuel pump that the gas/oil mixture was running out of the road draft tube, and the engine was still running. That's somewhat of an explosive situation- - - -the whole under hood area full of hot gasoline vapors!
Jerry

KIDS DO NOT TRY THIS!!!!

Never done the following and have never advised others too due to the terrible consequences if proper precautions aren't taken. I've often thought that an effective way to clean a older low rpm engine would be after draining the oil and replacing the drain plug to fill the engine to the top with a 50/50 mix of gasoline and diesel. After letting it set for a couple days, drain and fill with diesel and drain to complete the flush and make sure no explosive vapors were present.

Of course you'd have to leave the spark plugs out while turning the engine over a few times to purge the cylinders. A hydrolocked engine would not be good.

Fortunately Diesel fuel has a high enough flash point that it can be mixed about 30/70 with engine oil and run at a moderate no load speed to splash it around inside the engine pretty safely. Kerosene is approaching the limits of safety, flashpoint-wise. I'd definitely avoid putting gas into a crankcase on purpose, whether or not the engine is actually started.
Jerry