The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop dropping the oil pan

Need to drop the oil pan on my rebuilt 235. I have some oil leaks that I suspect are coming from the rear pan gasket and I want to put new gaskets on. Looks like the front motor mount (it's in a 54 1/2 ton) will be in the way. Do I have to jack the engine up a little and pull the motor mount out to get the pan to drop? Yuk.

I don't think you need to touch the motor mount. You may find that the oil shield on top of the front motor mount gets in the way when putting the pan back on.

I just had the pleasure of doing this job three times until one of the bolters pointed out there is a tech tip for this. I followed it to a t and have no more leaks. You do not have to mess with the motor mount.

Bump.
I get how to seal an oil pan gasket (tech tip) but I would like to know how people get it out of there without pulling the engine.
So far I've got it unbolted and removed the fly wheel cover but it still doesn't have enough clearance to drop out since the tie rod is in the way. My question is what would be a good way of getting that tie rod out of there without screwing up the alignment too much. I was thinking pulling the two carter pinned nuts that connect what I believe to be the idler arm to the back of the "wheel" (for a lack of better term, it's evading me at the moment).
Suggestions/comments?

On my 38 the cross member has to be moved out of the way. Just remove the bolt on one side and swing it away.

On my 58' I jack the truck up a little bit so when the suspension drops, so does the tie rod. That has always given me enough clearance to pull the pan.

I like where your head is at.

I did not have any issues with the tie rod getting in the way with the truck (54) up on jack stands and blocks at the frame.It turns out all my oil leak problems were not the result of too high oil pressure or rear main seal leak. The problem was when I put the pan on initially I guess I used too much #2 permatex in the corners where the cork side rails meet the rubber ends. This prevented full pressure on the rear gasket allowing it to leak. When I put the new gasket on I glued it to the block with a very thin bead of Masters high temp red silicne gasket maker and just a small sab at the 4 corners. Now I have put over 100 miles on it and have not seen a single drop of oil. My truck no longer marks it's territory like a dog (although now in the Florida heat my steering box is leaking slightly). good luck

I don't know if this will help or not, but I remember dropping the pan on a different vehicle and I had to turn the engine over because the crankshaft counter weights were positioned in the down position. When I turned the engine was turned so the counter weights were in the up position there was just enough room to slide the pan out.

One of the mid-60's Pontiac V-8's had to have the front main bearing cap removed and laid down inside the pan before there was enough room to slide the pan out. That was AFTER jacking the engine up and supporting it on blocks of wood! I only did that once! It was simpler to just pull the engine. The 4.6 liter Ford V-8 in the Crown Vic had special camshaft timing fixtures that wouldn't clear the firewall with the engine in the car, so it was necessary to pull the engine to do a valve job.
Jerry

I realize it's been over 10 years for this, but I have so far been unable to stop a leak from the front of my oil pan on my 54 1/2. I am hoping that the tech tip on installing oil pans that Brian and Nick referred to above still exists somewhere, does anyone know where to point me? Thanks for any advice, I don't want to work with that oil pan any more than I have to, it's not hard, I'm just getting sick of failure.

Here's the Tech Tip.

That tech tip is a recipe for disaster. Arranging the gaskets the way it recommends is a surefire way to create leaks at all four corners, as the overlap of the side gaskets and end pieces is all wrong. The side gaskets need to be stuck to the block, not the pan, and the end gaskets need to sandwich the ends of the side pieces between the block and the pan. I use 3M trim cement, the stuff the NASCAR guys call "gorilla snot" to stick the side gaskets to the block, and do the same thing with the end pieces, applying them to the grooves in the front and rear main bearing caps so the ends of the end gaskets are on top of the side pieces. Then apply a small bead of RTV rubber sealer at all four corners and install the oil pan.

Getting the pan rails straight and flattening any bulges around the bolt holes is important, as is the proper tightening procedure. Start all the pan bolts before tightening any of them, gently take up all the slack on the bolts, and then tighten 1/4 to 1/2 turn further to compress the gasket slightly. Don't overtorque the bolts!
Jerry

Jerry, thanks for your critique of the Tech Tip. I respectfully disagree with your “recipe for disaster” comment. Where were you many years ago when that tip was written and approved by the powers that be? I’m nowhere in your league mechanic wise but I’ve been using my procedure for 55+ years and I’ve NEVER had one leak on a pan gasket. Let’s just say there’s more than one way to do it. Yours better than mine? Mine better than yours? Don’t really care.🛠

I installed my first oil pan gasket in 1958, at age 12. It didn't leak, because I did it the way my father and grandfather taught me to do it- - - -the way I described in the above post. My son and grandson do it the same way. If 5 generations of automotive professionals with almost 100 years of experience are doing something wrong, I'll let the forum be the judge, not one person. Of course the 3M glue didn't exist then, so I had to use Indian Head gasket shellac to stick the side gaskets to the block. "Your mileage may vary!"
Jerry

I was puzzled by this Tech Tip as well. I could not get past the fact that since the little tab ends of the side gaskets belong in the groove of the front and rear main caps, and then the end gasket ends sit on top of those little tabs, how can this happen if one glues the gasket to the pan? That is the definition of counterintuitive.
Perhaps some detail was left out of the tech tip. I guess you could glue the cork end gaskets into place in the grooves of the main caps, filling the groove all of the way to where the caps meet the block, and then trim off the little tab ends off of the side gaskets so that the now-modified side gaskets will then butt up against the sides of the end gaskets, and glue them to the pan, and then install the pan. You would still need to put a dab of RTV at all four corners, of course.
If your gasket set comes with the preformed rubber gaskets, then following this Tech Tip will absolutely fail.
Carl

The method I have been following is as described in the Tech Tip, which is not working for me. Jerry, just so I am absolutely certain, when you say that "the ends of the end gaskets are on top of the side pieces," you're saying that the side gasket is between the block on one side and the ends of the end gaskets on the other, the sandwich is the side gasket between the block and the end gasket? This sentence is not unclear, but the earlier reference that "the end gaskets need to sandwich the ends of the side pieces between the block and the pan" could go either way. Thanks for the instruction.

OK- - - -think of the engine being on a stand, with the pan rails pointing up, instead of being installed in the vehicle. The side gaskets need to lie flat on the block, with the ends fitting into the grooves for the end pieces. Then, the end pieces will be applied, overlapping the ends of the side rail gaskets. Trying to stick the side gaskets to the pan makes it impossible to get the ends of those side gaskets under the end pieces. There is no way to achieve the proper overlap of all the pieces if the side gaskets are on the pan instead of the block. It's still a good idea to use a small bead of RTV at all four corners, but if the gasket pieces are overlapped correctly, they will still seal, even if no sealer at all is used. Glue or sealer just makes things simpler when you're working upside down and fighting gravity.
Jerry

I just completed installing the oil pan on my 235 with the engine in the truck. The neighbor kids within a three block radius are now fluent in all cuss words, and all of the combinations of said cuss words, and how they are to be arranged in order to create grammatically correct sentences. I believe that I let the adhesive "skin up" too long and had difficulties keeping the end seals from peeling off at the ends. The pan does not have much wiggle room front to back due to the front motor mount , adding to all of the fun.
HRL is exactly correct about the arrangement of the gaskets and in what order they need to be installed, whether on a stand or on your back under the truck.

If you can cuss for at least 15 minutes, in at least three languages, without repeating yourself, you get to be called a Master Mechanic!
LOL!
Jerry

Notice: Since some have expressed concern over the procedure outlined in the referenced Tech Tip I have asked the Administration to allow it to be edited. Unlike some, I am open to folks doing things a different way and if allowed I will modify the Tech Tip to include Jerry’s method. Y’all stand by.

Thank you Martin! We need to think about the children.