1975mg850t

First post here. Thanks for reading and posting if you can....

I have my trans off right now to do a clutch overhaul. While in there I am going to do some common things like rear main seal, trans front and rear seals, etc.

I can't tell if it is my rear main seal that is leaking or if it is the pan gasket. Doing the seal either way. I thought I would also replace the pan & gasket now. The problem is that the instructions say to unbolt the engine mounts and jack up the engine to pull the pan. The problem is that without the trans installed, this would be hard to do without a hoist/cherry picker...

Is there enough clearance without the trans mounted to remove the pan to the rear without lifting the motor? How much more would it help to lift the engine with a hoist?

Thanks again

VickMacky

Do you have a 4x4? You might have enough room if so. If not you likely have to lift the motor a little.

rcb21995

On my 4X2 4.9l I did the oil pan with the trans still in (manual 5 speed) without lifting the motor. You can drop the pan onto the crossmember below the pan and will have a couple inches of clearance between the pan and the block to slip the new gasket in around the oil pickup.
You may be able to slide the pan out the back with the transmission removed but it may hit the crank.

1975mg850t

I should have said, my truck is 2wd straight 6. Guess I typoed the subject name 4.6l, not 4.9. The parts are on order, and I'll report how it goes.

1975mg850t

Yes, with trans removed you have to remove oil pump an oil pickup to remove pan to the rear. You could possibly lift the engine instead. Not what I chose to do.

1975mg850t

Dorman oil pan 264011 sucks. Mounting holes into the front cover do not line up. Had to file two of them out. Its pretty ridiculous to dry fit this item with it being so difficult to install anyway. Didn't know until I had remounted the oil pump and suction line, and had almost all the bolts in. Now I'm not confident the repair will be effective. May re-do it as my trans is still off.

One piece Fel-pro pan gasket OS34601R kicks *** by the way. The clips "snap-ups" that come with it are a great idea, but they didn't work out so great in practice. Too flimsy under the weight of the pan. Maybe I didn't use the as that were intended... One of them was a great help in re-installing the oil pump though. Perfect size for that. You can really only get one hand in there to align the pump, but then how do you get the screws in? One of the Snapups held the pump in place perfectly while I could get the other screw in.