I'm about to change the oil pan gasket on my 1993 4.9 six. After reading a few posts, I have question. Jacking the engine using wood blocks under the oil pan? Good or bad idea? I've purchased the felpro one piece, pull the entire pan or just drop and replace. Thought about a new oil pump while I'm at it. Engine has 162,000 miles on it. Any ideas or thoughts will be much appreciated. John... A big thanks in advance.

 

Well if it's the oil pan gasket your changing then it probably wouldn't be a real good idea to have the motor supported by it. Maybe use the wood blocks under the crank pulley instead. Or use a engine hoist instead if you have one. And yes, I would replace the oil pump/pickup while I was there to.

 

I was just going to raise the engine and place blocks under the engine mounts. Worried that the sump would not take the weight of the engine and collapse. Thanks, John...

 

After doing the oil pan gasket on my '92 f150, if I ever have to do one again, I am pulling the motor.


It wasnt hard, just time consuming and not nearly enough room between that big crossmember, the transmission, and the bottom of the motor.

I had the engine supported with an engine lift, and 4x6's under the motor mounts. the valve cover was hitting the firewall I had it lifted so much.

 

Place a block of wood under the harmonic balancer and raise the engine. after it is up out of the mounts place safety blocks in between the mounts. drop the pan and remove the old gasket. If you did not get the gasket holders with the new gasket. Go to the auto parts and buy a set to hold the new gasket in place while re-installing thee pan.
MOST IMPORTANT: use a torque wrench to tighten the pan bolts and you will not have leaks from crushed or a split gasket.
Over the last several years I has had several people call and help them replace a leaking pan gasket that was replaced incorrectly.

Rod

 

I just changed mine last night. I didn’t need to lift the motor. (95 f150 4x4 with 170k) just let the pan rest on the cross member and remove the old gasket. I raised front with ramps to give more room to work. if there’s lots of RVT still stuck to pan and block, it will take more time to clean but mine was a one piece rubber with only a little on the 4 corners. installing was simple. just around the pan on the outside (between cross member and pan) sure you have to maneuver it alot, but it beats the heck out lifting the motor and what ever else required. took me 3 hrs (taking my time with a few 10 min breaks). total time was 4hrs including oil draining/new oil fill and area clean up.
I'm not going to lie, it was a tedious job and by far the most time consuming oil pan gasket change I've ever done. especially removing and torquing back those 6 bolts behind the cross member (requires extension with universal). My trusty mechanic quoted $650. I spent $56 in parts and oil (will spend another $20 to change oil and filter again). plus a 12 pack of beer and a couple buddies to provide moral support. it goes a long way!

p.s. I highly recommend using the Felpro one piece gasket because it comes with 4 plastic holder screw/guides that are invaluable when lining up the gasket holes and holding the pan in place. what a ingenious invention!

good luck with yours!

 

You can get a lot better lift on the engine if you remove the transmission hold down bolts as well. I also recommend disconnecting the exhaust pipe from the manifolds, since it keeps the engine from tilting to one side while jacking it up.

If you do, though, DON'T put wooden blocks under the crank pulley. If it loses it's balance, the engine'll slide backwards towards the rear of the truck, compress the rear drive shaft, and you'll have a grand old time trying to figure out how to move your engine and transmission back forward. Been there.

I've done an oil pan gasket four times on a 300. Three times in the truck and one time while the engine was out. While it's definitely (and obviously) easier when the engine's out, it's definitely doable with it still in.


Check out this thread:



Oil pan gasket replacement - FSB Forums