Dropping oil pan-dipstick came off

M

mbiver

Member
I’m dropping the oil pan to change the leaking gasket and was wondering about the dipstick. Is it supposed to come out of the side? When I was putting the pan back on it came out of the hole on the side of the pan. It looks like it just sticks into the side...or did I break it off? Thanks.
 
I raised the Sxout by the frame so the front axle would lower, but putting the oil pan back on is a pretty tight fit. Any tips for keeping bits of dust and dirt out of the pan when getting it back on? Thanks.
 
Aside from a through scrubbing of the under carriage beforehand, you might use saran wrap until you've gotten the pan directly under the engine block again. I've never tried it, but that's an idea that comes to mind.
 
Thanks again. Turns out I just had to figure out the order of operations. Once I did, I had plenty of room that I wasn’t hitting anything and getting dirt in the pan. The following is what I would recommend based on what I learned. First, chock the tires and jack up the vehicle. You’ll want to safely support the frame with jack stands. You want the tires to hang so you’ll have more room between the axle and the bottom of the engine/pan. Next, drain the pan. Then unbolt the oil dipstick from the exhaust manifold. Then detach the drivers side exhaust pipe from the manifold to free up some more room. You’ll probably just need to cut the bolts with a dremel tool or grinder, I did. Remove the small shield from the bottom of the bell housing, since that is blocking the oil pan from dropping, and blocking a couple of bolts/screws. I unbolted all the oil pan bolts but left one in each corner. slowly unbolt the four corners evenly and kind of rock the pan a little to break the old gasket seal. I did put a 5 gallon bucket under it to support it a little so I didn’t have to hold it constantly. When you drop the pan straight down you can then easily remove the dipstick from the side. The pan has to be lowered or the angle is wrong and the dipstick won’t come out easily. Once the pan has been lowered to hit the axle and the oil dipstick is removed, from the front of the vehicle move the pan straight to the drivers side as far as you can. Then move it straight back lowering the back of the pan as you go, eventually lowering the front of the pan to clear the axle. I cleaned up the pan and engine mating surface, used some fuel resistant gasket dressing (make sure your gasket dressing is rated for exposure to oil) on the gasket to help seal it, and also helps to hold it in place on the pan when I put it back together. That way you don’t have to use string or something in the holes to hold the gasket in place. To put it back, simply reverse the process. Quite an education! Good luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top