Possible to pull oil pan without lifting engine? (352)

[MeZapU]

My oil pan gasket is leaking pretty good. Is it possible to pull the oil pan without lifting the engine?

[brute66]

Hey Mike,
I hear the crossmember tends to be an issue, i've got a rear main leak so i'm pulling mine.

[lineman1984]

I wouldn't try it, again. I tried to drop the pan on my 352 and made the leak worse. The oil pump gets in the way when you try to move the pan to install the gasket. Ended up rigging it back together with Silicone and it was worse than before.
Justin

[ezernut9mm]

i did it, but you have to jack up the engine and put a 2x4 between the mount a perch on the passenger side. then there is just barely enough room to do it. you also have to drop the oil pump into the pan and remove them both at the same time. but you can just drop the pan and try to clean everything up without removing the pump. it is a pain in the ass though.

[banjopicker66]

I have been able to do it successfully, but I used 2 2x4s, one under each motor mount.
You won't have enough room other wise.

As for the "rear main seal leak" make sure it is the rear main, and not the rear of the intake.

Hey Mike,
I hear the crossmember tends to be an issue, i've got a rear main leak so i'm pulling mine.

When the rear intake gasket starts leaking, it looks so much like a rear main seal leak that it isn't funny.
The oil gets into the bellhousing and clutch, drips off the inspection cover for the transmission (manual or automatic), and looks everywhere like the rear main seal is gone.

In all the FEs I had over the years, every one of the rear main oil seal leaks turned out to be an intake gasket problem.
To me, the work and cleaning needed to eliminate the intake gasket is well worth the effort prior to starting work on the rear main.

The best way to check is to get the rear of the heads, the rear of the intake, the top of the bellhousing and the backside of the upper block squeaky clean with engine cleaner and a pressure washer.

Drive it around a bit after cleaning it, and there should be no oil, none at all. If there is any fresh, liquid oil on the backside of the engine, especially along the seam of the block and intake, and at the corner of the head, block and intake, then the intake gasket is at fault.

Hope this helps.

[brute66]

hey banjo, i'll have to try your suggestion, could save a lot of time, effort and $ - thanks

[lineman1984]

Listen to banjo, he is the smartest guy on here! Hahaha, would have saved me a lot of headache to ask first! Please let us know how it turns out, I am really interested.
Justin

[MeZapU]

Pretty sure the rear main seal is good. It's just the oil pan gasket is past its prime. Not just at the back but the sides as well. I have not touched it since I owned the truck and the bolts are torqued up tight. Should have replaced it when the truck was just an engine and frame when I was restoring it, but it wasn't leaking back then.

[banjopicker66]

Pretty sure the rear main seal is good. It's just the oil pan gasket is past its prime. Not just at the back but the sides as well. I have not touched it since I owned the truck and the bolts are torqued up tight. Should have replaced it when the truck was just an engine and frame when I was restoring it, but it wasn't leaking back then.

If you decide to lift the engine, here are the notes I remember to help make it successful.

Use 2, 2x4s under the motor mounts. You still have to R&R the oil pump with the pan sitting on the crossmember, but that is usually enough room.

When jacking the engine up, remove the accelerator cable from the firewall. Otherwise the valve cover can bend and crack it right at that point.
You probably won't need to remove the radiator hoses, but just in case, keep an eye on them as you jack the engine up.

One thing that will really really help is those new plastic "hooks" or retainers you can insert through the pan bolt holes to hold the pan up in place.

I used a very thin bit of RTV sealant to set the side pieces in place on the pan, and left them there over night.

My finished product had extra globs of blue goo all over, but it never leaked or oozed again. I would use black if I had to do it over again.

Hope this helps.

PS: Thanks for the compliments, but there are many more guys here that know a lot more than I do. It's the work together that makes it what it is, not me.
But I am grateful for the comments.