Spent today working on the 1981 F150 with 302 and stick shift. It started raining so we quit since there is no garage to speak of. To speak of. In attempting to remove the oil pan for the purpose of replacing the rear oil seal there is a catch. Literally. The blasted pan won't clear the oil pump and only a toddler could get their hands inside oil pan area to remove oil pump. Not sure that would work either even if they could.

In searching the forum I've found a related post indicating the transmission mount must be disconnected also. I didn't recall seeing that in the Chiltons instruction book. Is that the case? We were able to jack the motor up about 5 inches. The book says it only needs to come up about ½ inch. Book waaay wrong. Has anyone ever replaced the rear seal in this vehicle without removing the entire engine? I must have done something bad because I seem to be stuck in "Engine Repair Hell".

I do have another question if I may. Book says- Drop crankshaft 1/32 inch to remove upper portion of spit seal. But make sure you don't drop crank more then 1/32. Why? What could possibly happen if it comes down far enough to actually get to the seal I'm trying to remove? That seems like a very small amount of space to assist in upper half removal for one. Secondly my recollection is, the crankshaft is connected to the transmission so how is it going to drop at all unless, (please no), unless I remove the transmission too?

Thank you for any help getting me out of engine repair hell, again.


Fusionstate.

 

Are you talking about replacing the rear main seal? If so then you have to pull the trans , remove the clutch and flywheel . Then it's the round seal right wear your pilot bearing is. Use a flat head agenst the motor and remove it. How many miles on the motor? If a lot I would look into a crank sleeve and then put a new seal in.

 

If it's the pan gasket just unbolt the oil pickup tube. And use a one peice felpro rubber gasket with th snapup things, it's a pain but it's doable

 

It is almost easier and quicker to pull the motor. B the time you get to where you can change it the motor is almost ready to come out.

 

A 2 piece seal is used , not a one piece .
Lower the pan and unbolt the pic up tube . A tight fit for sure .
Removing the trans does give a bit more room .

 

He is saying rear main oil seal ? Or oil pan gasket? If rear main seal is what he means then he has to remove the trans

 

Thanks for the answers all.

replacing the rear oil seal. Maybe I wasn't clear on that. This is the seal that is round, split in two pieces and seals the crankshaft. Not the oil pan.

Anyway, I was able to get a confirmation from those that replied and perhaps I will unbolt the transmission too. Why not. Then I can check the clutch while I'm at it. This is becoming the scenic route as I figured I'd replace the front seal at the same time and of course if I'm going to do that I might as well change the timing chain and water pump.

The truck has about 130k miles on it and I suspect it sat for quite a while before being run again. I should have known when I bought it that major work was due since the chassis was so clean and it looked like it had been painted black to give it a spotless appearance. Pure speculation but if anyone was going to have a repair shop do this work it would cost something like $1200. in labour.

How long does a clutch last under normal usage?

fusionstate.

 

I have seen almost 300K from a clutch . 150 or a bit less is ok .I have seen 60k ( from my brother ) Many factors to consider .

 

I'm out. Couple days ago we finished up the job. In the process found the crankshaft bearings were worn so we replaced them without pulling the engine.

Here is a tip- If you do the same as far as replacing the crankshaft bearings in place and the upper bearings stick in place while trying to slide them out, If you can get the bearing started, use a punch tangentially with a small hammer to get a bite on the bearing and tap it out. The top half of the center bearing on the block won't come out so that just has to stay. Obviously this kind of solution is a balance against pulling the engine and putting it on a stand. Since the other top halves looked okay we left the center bearing in.

When inserting the new bearing half in between the block and the crankshaft, once it is started if it sticks, use a block of wood and a small hammer and tap on the end of the crankshaft as someone else slowly advances the top bearing half into place. The tapping causes the crankshaft to move just a few thousands but enough to allow the bearing to slide into place.

Thanks for all the help. The truck runs much better due to the fact the timing gear was worn and cracked and the bearings were scored on the lower half I'm actually looking forward to doing some more work in the near future.

Regards,

FS.

 

Glad you got it sorted out! Quick question, did you use the rope seal or the neoprene seal?

 

It had a rope style material in the seal when it was removed but replaced with the neoprene. The seal puller tool did not work and required pushing on one end of the seal, with a piece of brazing rod, while pulling on the little bit of free end on the other side. Came out pretty easily though.

FS.