Having a probelm with my '92 XLT 351W. According to all the manuals I've seen, you can pull the oil pan by jacking the engine up, dropping the pan, dropping the pickup screen, and pulling the pan the rest of the way off.
My problem is that I had to remove the oil pump itself before I could get the pan out, which was just a matter of unbolting it and letting it fall out. Now I have a BIG problem- there's no way to get the oil pump on after the pan is in position on the crossmember (you gotta get 2 hands on it to bolt it up, and no way to do that with the pan in the way), and there's no way to get the pan on after the oil pump is installed. If the engine can raise another inch, the pan will clear the oil pump. But now I need a cherry picker (which I don't have) 'cuz I can't jack the engine up without the pan on.
The engine is resting on 2X4's wedged in between the mounts and the frame. I'm not sure if it will go any higher. The upper intake is off, and the tranny crossmember is off, as is the exhaust.
Sorry about the ramble, but I need ideas and/or suggestions. I don't want to pull the engine!
Thanx!

 

How did you get it up in the first place?A floor jack?Is the lift of the floor jack the stopping point on the height?Is the bellhousing of the tranny up against the hump yet?Sounds like a real pain in the neck spot.You can use a floor jack with a piece of 2x4 as a soft spacer of the end of the crank,just don't force it if the motors stuck.Maybe you can get the motor to slide foreward a little to give you some extra lifting space...There has to be a way without yanking it out.Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

 

Yeah, I put a scrap piece of 4x4 on the jack for a pad, and jacked it up by the pan. The jack has plenty of travel, and I can always add more.
I could try to put the jack under the bellhousing, but that seems like way too much weight for that aluminum to handle.
There is a useless little tab, or flange, that sticks out of the front of the bellhousing on the driver's side. It seems to be the first point of contact against the underbody. It has a hole in it, but there's nothing attached to it.

 

When I replaced my oil pump last winter I ran into the same issue. I ended up getting the pump bolted up by reaching in with one hand and starting the threads on the bolts of the oil pump. Then I reached in, with one hand, and used a flew ratchet to tighten them on. I had a little trouble but it went in. I struggled more with getting the oil pan out than anything. I used an engine hoist and lift the engine as high as I could get it. It was barely high enough to massage the pan out and before that remove the oil pump. Good luck, oil pumps on some of these broncos are a b*tch. Hope it works out for you.

KJ

 

Might I ask why you pulled the pan? If it was to change the gasket, you really didn't have to do that. But, now that it's done 90EB is right. You almost have to be a contorsionist to get the pump rebolted, but it can be done. Enlist some help with someone with small hands and make it a two woman/man job...makes it a lot easier.

Next time, go down and buy a FelPro gasket that has threads built into the corners of the gasket itself. You can fish the gasket under the pick-up (I used 14 guage wire) and attach it to the pan with the threaded corners. This will keep it from slipping around when you go to bolt it up. I didn't even have to jack my motor up to do it. Yes, it was tight but not as much of a problem as you describe.

Good Luck..

 

Unfortunately, it wasn't to replace the gasket. That would be too easy.
I had an intermittent oil pressure problem. I figured plugged screen, or stuck bypass valve.
The screen was partially plugged, but not as bad as I'd hoped.
I replaced the screen and the pump.
There was also a nasty buildup of what looks like carbon in the pan and all over the front part of the crankcase, so I took the opportunity to clean the pan. Lots of black crusty crap.

 

That black crusty crap was probably oil additives like STP, block sealer, or any of the other useless things we all tend to buy on occasion. I changed out the motor in my 69 Chevelle, and scraped a shoebox of crap out of the valley pan. Nothing goes into my Bronco motor but MotorCraft oil and Lucas stabilizer....period.

Might still want to look into the FelPro gasket I described.

 

It had 50K miles on it when I bought it, so maybe the previous owner used an additive. I don't- period. Lucas is about the only one I'd consider.
Kinda weird how it was all built up around the oil pump area, almost like the pump got hot and baked the oil.

 

It can be done..I have done it...same problem with oil presure...replaced pump..and pickup tube...
and problem fixed ..just remember to put pump drive rod back in.. that was the hard part on mine...and yes it does take 2 hands..and yes it causes cramping of hands...just make sure it is blocked secure...pull pan as far forward as it will go...stick you hands up in there and get the bolts started..once started you can finish with wrench...
Search for my thread on same problem as you have....
My pump would work for a min then drop..then work then drop....
screen was dirty but not plugged...I guess the pressure valve was stucks...
Mine also had a bunch of cruddy black goop....Oil pressure, Now I don't, Now I do

 

Boy I don't envy you one bit. I just finished the same basic repair on my Bronco a couple weeks ago. That oil pan gasket was easily the worst job I could have asked for. The hardest part for me was getting the oil pump hex shaft back into the engine where it belonged. You can't see the hole where it goes, because the pan needs to be in the way first. So you have to feel it out. That alone took me two hours. Then I had to get the pickup tube holding bracket bolted back onto the middle main cap, and then get the oil pump bolted back into position. The day after the job, my hands looked like I was taming scorpions! Rest assured, it can be done.

By the way, I never took my pan down all the way. I left it in position, unbolted the oil pump and the single nut holding the pickup tube, and fished the whole assembly out of the pan. I maybe had 2-3" between the pan and the block to do this. I installed one of the fancy new Fel-Pro pan gaskets (rubber with steel inserts), but mine had small plastic tools that you threaded into the 4 bolts holes nearest the front and rear main caps. Then the pan gasket snapped onto the little plastic holders, then the oil pan snapped onto them, then the bolt girdles. Once you have a few bolts snugged up, you remove the plastic holders and replace the bolts. That part worked good.

 

OK I am not Ford bashing here, just fore engineer bashing. with a truck as big as a Bronco there is no excuse for having so much trouble when dropping an oil pan. I had to drop a pan on a 1984 Chevy C10 and I just unbolted it and dropped it down. And to add insult to the Ford engineer's injury, I did it to replace the two piece rear main seal.

Ford truck, replace rear main seal and oil pan gasket - 2 days, an engine hoist, a floor jack, a lot of cursing. Pray that you did it right and it doesn't leak afterwards.

Chevy truck, replace rear main seal and oil pan gasket - a couple of hours, a ratchet and socket and an open end wrench, clean the pan while you are in there, do the pump if you want, bolt it back up and go out to eat. If it leaks afterwards you curse, but you don't have to pull the engine back out...

 

At any rate, if my rear main goes, that's when the engine is getting rebuilt. No way that i am going through all of that time and expense to replace one seal on a 113K motor. But, knock on wood, both my rear main and oil pan are good, and I have clean oil and good pressure.

 

Ya got that right. Not to mention having to pull the upper intake off just to raise the engine a few inches.
When I was in diesel school (many moons ago) a lot of older heavy-duty engines had inspection plates in the pans you could pop off. You could get your whole arm in there if you needed to.

 

I hear ya...that was the hard part on mine...
and yes you would think that..being 4x4 truck that the pan would have all kinda room....NOT....
I dont know how many times I dropped the hex rod and had to fish it back out of pan...