i have an 89 f150 with a 5.0 4 speed....4x4 oil pan seems to be leaking pretty bad bout a quart every 2 days. and its leaking on the exhaust which smells bad when i drive. i keep all the fluids topped off so i dont blow the motor but how do i change the pan/gasket???? it looks like a huge job to me, any help ideas or experience is appreciated!!! thanks



-rusty with 135000 on the clock-

 

Best way IMO is pulling the motor out.

 

Remove pan bolts. Drop pan and clean off old gasket. Install new 1 piece gasket. Re-install pan and torque bolts. No big deal.

 

A quart in 2 days seems like a lot to me and makes me suspect something more is involved, possibly a rear main seal. I agree the best way is to remove the engine and put it on a stand, you can do a MUCH better job that way. Trying to do everything from underneath the truck will pretty much suck... you'll have to find some way to raise the engine, be it with a floor jack or engine hoist... which of course requires removing the attaching bolts, the exhaust, the transmission mounts, whatever else is holding it up.

Even with that, you'll never be able to get it up high enough to actually remove the oil pan unless you can wiggle your hands & tools in between the pan & engine to remove the oil pump as that's gonna keep you from being able to actually remove the pan.

If you do it this way, there's invariably gonna be small bits of old gasket material that fall into the oil pan which you'll want to clean out before reassembly.

If the rear main seal needs to be replaced, now you need to disconnect some bearing caps and maybe some connecting rod caps and lower the crankshaft so you can get the old seal out and get everything cleaned up before a new one can be installed. Cleanliness is key here, too.

Overall, I consider it a fairly big deal and I'd be surprised if the average weekend/backyard mechanic could get it all done in a weekend.

 

Is it actually that simple on a Ford? I did a pan gasket on my brother in laws Chevy 4x4 and by the time I got done I was ready to murder whoever designed that truck.

Even with the engine mounts unbolted and the engine jacked up it was almost impossible to get the pan in and out.

 

Get some engine cleaner/solvent and clean off the front and sides of the engine so that you can see exactly where it's leaking.Pulling the pan is like ctubutis said.I had a bad leak on a '88 302 and it was the oil pressure sending unit on the drivers side.To lose as much oil as you claim it is not likely the pan gasket.Losing that much oil tells you it's leaving the engine under pressure.Once everything is clean you'll be able to see where it's coming from.Let us know.

 

^^ What he says ^^

Verify the source of the problem before doing anything, a quart in two days is an awful lot IMHO.

You can get some fluorescent dye at NAPA that you add to your oil, it glows under a black light and can help in determining the source of a leak after you've first cleaned stuff up as well as you can.

 

ABSOLUTELY clean the motor at the local car wash with a few cans of degreaser and be sure. The oil pan can be done underneath but as said made alot easier with the motor on a stand. I jumped all over my 94 4.9L oil pan gasket just to find out later it was the side cover gasket that was leaking (just an example of what assumptions can do). The most important thing is to BE SURE before you start.

 

im going to clean it and inspect a little better......if it consists of removing the motor...i will have a truck for sale. if for instance it is the oil sending unit thing, will i have to remove the motor for that?

 

no big deal?? HA lol obviously youve never changed one....the last f150 i did a rear main seal on was a one piece seal i had to pull the tranny for

 

its amazing how many people are asking this lately, yes as someone said the absolute best way is to pull the motor.. or you do it by removing the tranny from its mount.. (cross member).. the two bolts are pretty tight you're going to need some power to get those off.. break loose the motor mounts.. and take apart the intake.. using an engine crane jack it up and you should have enough room to get the pan completely out.. atleast in my 4.9 i was able to.. the pump is so in the way its not even funny.. if you do it the other way which is just dropping the pan and removing the gasket without taking the pan off, i'd recommend some way of catching the debris that WILL fall in your pan.. (this is why i just fought with it and removed my pan) idk what to suggest.. maybe some towels and one wrapped around the oil pump.. the shop manual lists this as a 6 hour job and they pull the tranny.. which is bass akwards to me but whatever..

 

OK copy that. But here is my experience on the F150 in my sig. This was about 10 years ago so I will try to remember correctly. Spray down with engine degreaser/cleaner and psi washer or wipe clean with rags and verify leak is from pan. Buy a Felpro 1-piece pan gasket. Drain oil. Remove pan bolts. (I used an air ratchet). Drop pan as far as it will go. Clean off old gasket. ( Mine came off in one piece if I remember right). Clean pan rails and block with brake cleaner or solvent and scraper and let drain out of oil drain plug hole. 2 ways to install gasket I used the 1st but will try the 2nd next time. 1st way - Tie 4 lengths of wire in 4 corners of gasket and use it to fish the gasket under oil pump pickup and get gasket up on pan rails. 2nd way - Put gasket around pan slide up and carefully stretch gasket on to pan rail in one corner and then work the rest on carefully. Now re-install pan and bolts and don't forget those long steel things like I did. (I forgot one but it's still dry). Torque to spec. I don't remember the tq spec but it's probably around 110 in. lbs. I might of forgot something. Like I said it was about 10 years ago. It is still bone dry today. I think it took me about 2 hrs. This is just my experience. Your experience may vary. Have a nice day.

 

OK SO I FOUND THE LEAK!!!! upon further inspection someone atempted to install the oil pan gasket. they did a terrible job as 1/2 inch of it is hanging out of the pan on the one side.....i can even see the bolt holes in the gasket ...so anyway its done all wrong. i dont have time or patience to do it right, as im going to sell it soon. HOWEVER is there a way i can clean the pan, cut the overhanging gasket flush with the pan. and use some of that rtv high temp stuff???? will it hold temporary? any help is appreciated

 

If that's what you plan on doing, are you going to disclose this problem to the potential buyers?

 

ya, im not a shister.......ill let em know, if i sell it.......if its gonna work i might just drive it a lil longer