Good morning,

I have a very leaky oil pan (confirmed by cleaning it thoroughly, then ran it, then inspected with shop light). The Chiltons manual says I've got to remove the radiator, among other things. Anyone here done this job? I'll have the van on a lift (at Marine base auto hobby shop) - so I'll have room to move. I realize I'll need to disconnect the exhaust bolts (to pipes) and loosen the motor mounts, but is the radiator really going to be in the way?

Thanks in advance !

PS - planning on replacing the oil pump . shaft / screen while I'm in there too.

 

OK - Short story is this - Yes - you can replace the oil pan gasket with the engine still in the van.

That being said - it was the HARDEST job I've ever done. I am not a professional mechanic (I'm a telecom engineer). Took me a total of 13 hours, using air tools, a transmission jack (telecsoping type that can reach the bottom of the van while it is on the lift) and a lift. I could NOT imagine doing this work on my back in a driveway. If you do not have access to a lift, I would recommend paying someone to do it.

The local reapir shop I use said 6.5 hours to do the gasket replacment - $700 + parts.

Briefly here is the proceedure and some tricks;

1) Remove air intake plenum (all the black plastic on top of engine).
2) Remove fan - let it stay in the cowling, no need to remove the radiator or the fan shroud). You'll have to loosen the serpentine belt to get the fan off.
3) Lift van to comfortable working height. Remove dog house cover inside van (helps to be able to see from this side while you are working).
4) Unbolt both sides of the exhaust system from the exhaust manifolds. Air impact needed. Be careful - those bolts will be hot. Watch that you do not snap anything off.
5) Unbolt transmission from frame support (2 bolts)
6) Remove both transmission cooler lines, plug the tranny and the cooler holes. These need to come out completely so you have unrestricted access to the oil pan bolts on the passenger side of the van.
7) Disconnect starter wiring (it gets in the way). Oh yeah - make sure you FIRST disconnect the NEGATIVE battery cable.
8) Remove the 4 engine to motor-mount bolts.
9) Jack engine up about 3 inches (that's all you're going to get on a van). You can lift the engine by the oil pan - it'll hold all day long.
10) Unbolt and remove both the motor mounts. This is a bear to do, but necessary. The motor mounts REALLY get in the way of the oil pan. You will NOT get it out with the motor mounts installed.
11) Lift the engine as far as it will go. Be careful and look for stuff on the top that might get in the way.
12) Cut two pieces of 4X4 lumber to the correct length to wedge inbetween the engine mount and the frame. The driver side will be about 7 or 8 inches long (square on both ends). The passanger side is shorter (about 4-5 inches with an angled side). You'll understand when you look at it. After you have the proper wedges cut and in place, slowly lower the engine onto the wood.

Now the work begins.

13) Remove all the oil pan bolts. There should be 18 of the small ones on the sides, and 4 of the big ones (two on the front, two back by the transmission).
14) Rap on the oil pan with a mallet, it will fall off.
15) The ONLY way you'll get the oil pan off is to reach in with an open ended wrench and unbolt the oil pump (two bolts) and the sump (one bolt). Let them fall into the pan.
16) Have a buddy pull down on the exhaust cross pipe while you push the oil pan rearwards over the cross pipe - this takes alot of effort, but it will make it thru.
17) Scrape off and clean everything. I replaced the oil pump, drive shaft and sump/screen since I already had it all apart. While the pan is out of the way - make a note of where the oil pump drive shaft connects to inside the engine - this will be very helpfull later when you reinstall the pump.
18) My advice - wait to put RTV on the oilpan till after you get it re-inserted under the engine. I didn't do this - got ALL the RTV on my arms (I'm not kidding, all of it wiped off on my arms while I struggled to get the oil pump installed).
19) Place the oil pump assemble in the oil pan - prime the pump as best you can. Install pan in revers (need your buddy again).
20) The oil pump has to be installed first, with the oil pan in place. This is going to be very hard, you will need a friend to go around the front of the engine to screw in the front oil pump bolt. Don't forget to install the oil punp drive shaft - it slides into the bottom of the distributer shaft - remmeber I told you to look for that. You'll have a hard time seeing this with everything in place, but it can be done - use a flashlight).
21) The only way to torque these oil pump bolts is with a crowsfoot wrench and a torque wrench. I was only able to make it work with the rear bolt, couldn't fit it all together the front bolt. I just tightened it all down as tight as possiable.
22) The rest is cake. The oil pan gasket can be snaked into place and you can work in the RTV right before you bolt into place. You'll just need to put all the oilpan bolts back in, reassemble all the junk you took off.

Remember - the oil pump and oilpan are assembled with the enginer out of the van, on a stand, upside down. I did it under my van, and is sucked.

Good luck !

 

Yes you can, I just did it on a 1994 e150 4.9l straight 6.
1 Remove air cleaner box
2 Remove "dog house" (to make it easier to see what is going on while lifting)
3 Remove motor mount bolts
4 Remove radiator bolts ( only leave 1 of the drivers side bolts in for ease of reassembly)
5 Undo "plug" on top of engine that mounts to sheet metal
6 Pull transmission dipstick out slightly ( not the tube!!!)
7 Loosen/ remove transmission mounting bolts to the crossmember.
8 Remove oil pan bolts
9 Place jack under harmonic balancer with wood between jack and balancer.( make sure you have enough "jack" to get proper lift. I stroked out my floor jack several times before getting enough lift.)
10 Lift as high as it will go with out hitting on any thing "important".
11 Place another jack under the transmission tailpiece and lift only enough to slide pan out.
***note... my pan did not come with a "gasket" on the oil plug, so you may want to purchase one prior to the install.

this will not give a ton of clearance but enough to get pan in and out with gasket on the pan...i held gasket in place with zip ties to install, then cut them loose once the pan was in..
I think I remembered everthing i'm doing it off the top of my head from several days ago.

 

There is no need to remove the motor mounts or serpentine belt. This can be done in the driveway. The radiator can stay if you just remove the fan and main hoses. The pick up for the Oil pump does not need to be disconnected from the oil pump, just the nut on the back of the crank and the two bolts towards the front of the crank. New gaskets don’t take RTV sealant so that makes it way easier. Still took 8.5 hours as a moderate home mechanic who owns an impact driver.-1994 econoline 150 with 5.0 liter V8