ok, so last week i was going to to an oil change on my aging baby.

it had been about 8-9k miles since the last change. bad idea i know, but since i was going through about a 2.5-3 quarts of oil in a month, i was getting lazy.

this is the fist time that i had changed the oil since my accident about a year ago (pics in gallery). i haven't put many miles on the truck since i had my license suspended for 6 months. Anyway, i could berely get the filter off of the truck because it was againts the frame, and putting a new filter on was impossible. so i did some checking and sure enough, both motor mounts and the transmission mount were broken.

took the nuts of the motor mounts and jacked up the engine. they haynes manual said to put a bock of wood under the pan, so i did this and caused my pan minimal damage. what was really interesting was that the pan started leaking through in 3 places. i was actaully happy about it because this would solve my oil leaking problem.

today i picked up my parts and started working, put on the new motor mounts and tried to get the pan off... no luck, i've got the engine as high as it can go without taking off the intake manifold and the pan isn't even close to comming out. i don't know if i trust myself to take off the manifold. stricken with panick i'm considering getting a friend to trailor me to a mechanic.

if anyone else has done this, how hard was it and is there another way?!!
i'm so scared!!!

 

You are forgetting the oil pump and pickup extend down to the bottom of the oil pan, so they have to be unbolted and removed as well. It's a bast&^#$ of a job but doable.

 

plus the trans mount needs to be undone.

do a search on oil pan replacement in the oil section or in this forum for tips.

 

Might be too late but disconnecting the exhaust helps. I cracked my exhaust manfolds doing this. Its a pain, but can be done.

 

ok, trans mount is broken and replacement is sitting in box, exhaust should be easy disconnect since i have put on headers and six bolts will disconnet headers...

i assume i have to get the pan part way off before disconnecting the oil pump and pickup...

so there is no way around taking of the manifold then?

 

Taking the upper plenum off is not too bad. The only bear is getting out that T-40 hex headed bolt hiddin in the middle of the plenum. You have to either modify an already extremely short socket or you have to buy a special one which I believe Mac sells. Might not be a bad time to clean everything up while you have it apart. Thats just my suggestion....

 

Yea, I heard it is definatly possible to switch that pan around without pulling the motor.

A few posts in here about how to do it from about 2 years ago. hahaha.

 

You basically need to find out what size the bolts are that hold the pump in, take a wrench and get the pump and pickup tube out before the pan will budge. It's a LOT easier to unplug the engine harness and pull the motor.

 

You can find torx bits that are the 1/4" hex style. You can put it in a 1/4" drive socket, extension, and ratchet...to get that torx bolt out of the intake.

I have a set from Sears that gives me all the torx bits w/ little holders in 1/4" and 3/8" sizes.

 

I had no idea they made 1/4" T-40 sockets. The only ones I've ever seen were 3/8 past a T25 or 27. Might have to slide by Sears and pick up a set, that'd definately be handy.

 

LOOK for set of 1/4 bits for drills (they are not socket type) insert in 1/4 socket and extention.(tape it in) you got it. Every time this post comes up to remove top pleneum . The "special tool is quoted $$$. They do make 1/4 socet type but can Get whole assortment of 1/4 bits for like $12.00. I have a $35.00 set of 12 assorted Torx sockets but still ues the 1/4 bits . Not as bulky in the wrecking yard. Good luck
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94 F150 XLT 4x4 SC LB Maf 302 E4od

 

Yeah, all the T-40 sockets are 3/8" but there are T-40 bits that have the 1/4" shank.

1/4" is a little light for those bolts but I've used my 1/4" ratchet to take them off a bunch of times, not much tq because of the aluminum.

 

well, it was a terrible mess... but i did get it done, the problem i wasn't expecting is that i had to pull of the right long tube header... every once in awhile i wish i had stuck with OEM. just glad it's over with

 

I had to do this to a 92 and that was a joy. The guy that owned it was helping. He put the chain of my engine hoist around the front pulley(seemed safe enough, it was not riding on any grooves or anything. Then we had to call the parts store. Well, all of a sudden I was tossed from the bed of the truck when the motor slammed back into the hole... would've been nice if he would have mentioned that he removed the bolts that hold the front pulley to the balancer. We got it fixed.