Hey everyone,
Just got out from under my truck and found oil residue all over the front of the transmission, looks like its been runnin down the oil pan and its wantin to start dribblin off by the pan drain. I got oil sittin on the heads of the pan bolts like it wants to start off them too. Looks like the oil is coming mostly down the right hand side of the pan and maybe is gettin blown all over the front of the transmission goin down the road. I think its the gasket, would I be safe to say this? Im sittin here starin at my Chilton right now, and it looks like its gonna be a pain to do this job. How long does it take for this job normally and is there any tips anyone might have to help keep my stress level down? Any help would be greatly appreciated...
Chris

91 F150 XLT Lariat
302

 

Pan gasket failures were common on these engines so there's a pretty good chance that's what your looking at. I did mine a while back, and you have to unbolt the two motor mount bolts from the perches and jack up the engine. My intake hit the firewall, and the pan would still not come off but I had enough room to remove the old gasket and replace with a new one without taking the pan completely off. I think some manuals may tell you to remove the upper manifold, but I don't think it's worth the trouble. Good luck and go with a good brand like Fel-Pro.

 

If possible with the pan only partway off check that the oil pickup screen is not half clogged as mine was at 60,000 miles (perhaps due to previous owner's assumed poor maintenance).

INLINE SIX POWER! '95 F150 XL
300 Cubic Inches of Low RPM Truck Torque! And twin-I-beams too!
"Drive a stick young man! There'll be time for automatics when you're old and unable."

 

Recently did mine. You can do it without removing the pan from the vehicle. Does help if you remove the pickup tube to snake the gasket around. I used dental floss to hold the gasket in place while repositioning pan. I replaced the oil pump just because I was there.
(Look for posts about gaskets that come with clips to hold the gasket in place - these would be a time saver if they work)

The pan would have come out if I wanted to diconnect my exhaust. My truck is an F250 and there was room to lift the motor with the intake still in place. Jacked the motor(off of oil pan - put a wood block between floor jack and pan) enough to put 2x4 blocks between each motor mount and engine(after removing tranny x-member bolts).
The trick was while working blind snaking the gasket into place then putting the pan back on with gravity working against me. This for me was by far the most tedious part. Whole job a little over three hours. (I dropped the pickup tube into the pan a couple of times as well as the distibutor/oil pump shaft...keep a magnet handy)


Ray

 

Thanks a lot yall! I think Ill give that advice a try. Yall given me a good bit of knowledge to bring to this job. I appreciate it. Hopefully I can help you guys out one of these days...

Chris

91 XLT Lariat
302

 

buy the ford gasket as i beleive there was an unofficial recall, it has metal in the holes that must keep it from moving loose again. I had to replace the pan as it rusted through, and I ordered it all from ford, this was on an I6, is that the motor u have? We jacked the crap out of it and barely slipped the pan out after removing the oil pickup thingy. We held the gasket in place with some small copper wire we unwound from a piece of 12 guage.