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help w/ oil pan removal

36K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  chem_man 
#1 ·
can i or do i need to take this off to drop the oil pan, i really need to get it completely off the car.
 

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#2 ·
I think no.7 says so...

1. Remove the A/C compressor bottom bolts and loosen the top bolts.
2. Remove the oil level indicator and tube.
3. Raise the vehicle. Refer to Vehicle Lifting.
4. Remove left and right front tire and wheel assemblies.
5. Remove the engine protection shield mounting bolts.
6. Remove the engine protection shield.
7. Remove the steering gear crossmember, front.
8. Remove the left and right wheel drive shaft.
9. Remove the front drive axle clutch fork assembly.
10. Disconnect the prop shaft from the front axle pinion yoke.
11. Remove the oil pan drain plug and drain the oil.
12. Unclip the transmission cooler lines from the engine block.
13. Remove the front differential bolts and set aside the front differential.
14. Remove 4 transmission bell housing bolts that are attached to the oil pan.
15. Remove the remaining oil pan bolts.
16. Place 2 oil pan bolts in the jack screws on the oil pan and tighten evenly to release the oil pan from the engine.
17. Clean and inspect the oil pan.
 
#3 ·
i was hoping i wouldn't have to, i took all the bolts out, but it looks like pressure from the frame is on the car...didn't want to removed something that might make the car loose its structure and fall...on me!!! lol. thanks for the tips and guide.
 
#5 ·
Crossmembers like these usually just stiffen the frame up while others do hold things up, like the transmission crossmember. In this case, I wouldn't worry about it, especially since the manual says to remove it.
 
#9 ·
Oil Pan

No you do not need to take the rack and pinion out to get the oil pan out.
In actuality, the rack doesn't have to come all of the way out, but it does need to be unbolted, as it has to drop down considerably to get the oil pan out. . . Remove the 2 (one on either side) large thru-bolts and nuts holding the rack onto the on frame. . . They are a bear to break loose, with very limited space to try to get much travel from your breaker bar or ratchet (if you position things just right, you can just get 1/16 of a turn at a time). . . Until you get these bolts backed off far enough to move from a breaker bar over to a ratchet, you'll need to reposition your socket on your breaker bar, for each 1/16 of a turn (turn the bolt as far as you can until your breaker bar hits the frame. . . pop the socket off of the breaker bar's square drive head, rotate the socket 1/4 turn, and then reattach it back onto the square drive head, now back to the bolt, turn until the bar hits the frame, repeat process) . . . To get mine broken loose, I ended up having to break out my mac-daddy 30" breaker bar, and I still had to put a piece of pipe on the end of it for additional leverage. . . It was probably a full turn of the bolt later before I could change over to a rather long-handled ratchet to finish unbolting those 2 bolts. . . I pre-soaked the exposed threads on the nut end of those 2 bolts before I started (might be a good idea, especially if yours are showing any age/rust/dirt/etc.). . . Once those 2 large nuts and bolts are out, you'll need to disconnect the Knuckle joint (at the bottom of the rod coming down from the steering column) from the rack. . . There's a fat and slightly curved rubber boot covering this connection, and that boot will have to be slid upward a bit, so you can get to the 15mm bolt that clamps the knuckle joint to the rack. . . A flat blade screwdriver slid under the bottom edge of the boot, and a little wiggling will get the boot to dislodge and slide up. . . Mark the clamp and the shaft below the clamp before you remove the 15mm bolt and separate the knuckle joint from the shaft on the rack. . . There is a bracket mounted to the inside (engine compartment side) of the driver's side shock tower, which holds down the power steering lines. . . This bracket will need to be unbolted (10mm bolt head, kind of hidden by 2 wiring harnesses . . best to pop the harness hold-down clips loose, to make it easier to get to that bolt, and to be able to lower the power steering lines, once you start lowering the rack itself . . trust me, you'll see what I'm talking about soon enough). . . The passenger side of the rack will pull down fairly easily. . . The driver's side of the rack will require a little coxing, as you'll be tugging on the steel lines, to the point of slightly bending them, but not enough to damage or kink them. . . Having that bracket out will allow you to move the lines inward towards the engine, and that will allow the lines to clear the top of the shock tower (where they are resting on top of) and drop down far enough for the rack to also drop down. . . Re-assembly will require a little re-coxing the power steering lines back into their original positions, and back up to where you can re-attach the hold-down clamp on the shock tower, but hey, the only other option would be to disconnect the lines at the rack, making a big fluid mess, and then you'll have to bleed out the power steering system once you've put everything back together. . . This way is still a bit of a pain in the butt, but it's better than the alternative, in my book anyway. . . Well, that's the "rack" portion of the "how do get the oil pan off" question. . . The rest of it is a much more drawn-out story. . . One thing that I don't see mentioned in any of the step-by-step instructions is the sway bar, which is in the way of being able to access and remove the 3 front bolts on the oil pan. . . Mine is a RWD, but I'm pretty sure that a 4WD is the same issue. . . I took off both of the bar's end links, unbolted both of the bar's frame bushings, and took the driver's side bushing off of the bar. . . This allowed me to rotate the sway bar up and forward, which dropped the middle section of the bar down and away from the front of the pan, enough for me to get to the front pan bolts, using a 3/8 drive 10mm shallow socket and a swivel on a 10 or 12 inch long extension. . . Hope that little note will prove helpful for you. . . Happy Trails! . . One last word: . . Trailvoys are, all-in-all, actually some of the better designed and better built mid-sized SUVs ever built, if you compare them to everything else that was produced during their same production years. . . As for me, I'm too old to be screwing around with fighting every last little thing that has to be removed in order to work on ANY late model (about 1990-something and up) vehicle, and so I'm currently in the process of trying to find a solid 1960-65 Falcon or Comet for my daily driver, and a 1965-66 F-100 for a back-up/work vehicle. . . I can fix just about anything that could possibly go wrong with either one of those vehicles, with a 1/2" / 9/16" combo wrench, a pair of pliers, a straight-slot and a phillip's head screwdriver, and maybe (if you really want to go all-out with your onboard tool kit) a pair of wire cutters and a roll of electrical tape, and that's about it! . . Certainly born too late ... Probably die too soon ... Just trying to enjoy whatever's in between.
 
#10 ·
Hey Chuckles --- I'd like to read that but it ain't gonna happen unless you practice some decent English Composition Rules and break that HUGE MONO-paragraph up into bite-sized pieces.

OK?
 
#11 ·
Hey Chuckles --- I'd like to read that but it ain't gonna happen unless you practice some decent English Composition Rules and break that HUGE MONO-paragraph up into bite-sized pieces.

OK?
Hey, Ravalli Surfer, . . When I wrote that thread, I did realize that not everyone would be able to stay focused enough to digest such a comprehensive piece of reading. . . I was more concerned with making sure that what I was putting out there was a complete explanation of the process being described, than any concern I may have wanted to address for those folks who have become so text-savvy, that they can no longer understand anything that's more than 4 or 5 words long. . . I was raised in an era when complex reading and writing were both considered a skill to be proud of, and one that required a certain level of intelligence. . . I certainly did not intend to offend anyone who is unable to grasp the content of my offering of information, because it isn't written in tiny little mini sentences. . . And so, I do feel bad about not being able to clearly deliver my message to everyone who might want to read my thread, but I won't apologize for their self-developed literary shortcomings. . . I can only imagine that, due to the popular adaptation of communicating only (or at least mostly) by means of tiny texts snippets, and then relying on that weak form of communication to convey a complete meaning of the actual thoughts of all parties involved, the development of society, along with the centuries of improvements in comprehensive communications made by our predecessors, will all be lost within the next few generations, unless people like me insist on using complete sentences with detailed content to get or messages across. . . It may be a little bit of a challenge, reading such literary works, but accepting and conquering challenges is what has allowed the human race to continue to evolve and flourish. . . Giving up, and missing out, simply because something is too hard, will take too long, or doesn't appeal to one's taste, is an attitude which can result in a loss of knowledge and slowed development over a very short period of time. . . Well, enough said. . . Just keep texting and rejecting anything that too complex. . . I wouldn't want anyone to strain themselves, just to learn something that might benefit them. . . Don't take any of this personally, dude. . . I'm just playfully picking here, and I do get how my writing style does not exactly fit into today's modern text standards. . . Everyone should be comfortable in their own little world, and mine just happens to be a world where text message style writing has no influence on my attempts to communicate (I don't text, and I don't like reading texts, because they're generally so vague and too often lead to miscommunication). . . The End.
 
#12 ·
It's not so much that it is one single sentence (... do not count as periods) that then tries to become a paragraph, it's just that many if not most of the people on this forum do follow the use of good writing etiquette and at least attempt to use good grammar. Most of us do remember some of what we learned in grade school which was reinforced in middle and high school with respect to the written word.

Now, some may call those of us who ask others to refrain from multi-line, improperly punctuated and just overall difficult to maintain where one is reading grammar Nazis or curmudgeonly members, but I prefer to think of what someone once told me - good grammar never goes out of style.

So, since the intent of this forum is to assist one another, one of the best ways to do that is by clearly and succinctly communicating. This goes in all ways - people experiencing difficulties with their vehicles, and people with knowledge using the written word in offering guidance in an attempt to assist those asking for assistance.
 
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