oil pan removal
 

In a 94z with an m6, what is the best way to get the oil pan off? Jack up the motor, drop the k-member, or pull the motor out?

Just pull up the motor, and you'll have plenty of clearance to remove the pan. At least on an A4.

Why are you yanking your oil pan?

If you've got a lift, drop the subframe. I did at my work when my oil pump pick-up fell off in the pan. I liked the fact that I didn't have to drain coolant, and un-plug a bunch of my wiring harness. I just suspended the motor from above (laid a cradle across the strut towers).

You can remove the oil pan on a M6 car by lifting the engine and dropping the K-member down a little bit. I think I have read of some people pulling their oil pan without dropping the k-member, but it sure made it easier on mine and it only takes a minute to drop it down a little.

No need to drop the K member. Good luck! Its not fun

I need to do this as well next oil change. The front of my oil pan gasket is ripped and leaking. How can I lift up on the motor? I could probably borrow a hydraulic engine lift(cherry picker) but what could I attach it to?

I've done a little searching on this subject because I need to do this soon...on hard braking my oil pressure goes to zero. I think the baffle is loose.

Some people say that you need to remove the transmission on 6-spd cars in order to pull the pan completely off and some say you don't.

Does anyone have a definitive answer on this?

Thanks,

Jerry

Well, I was going to post the same thread, but I will just add to this one. I need to put in a new oil pan gasket. I have the blu fel-pro one (it's nice) but I swear to christ I'd rather install long tubes on an f-body than try to drop the oil pan. I have a 6-speed, and I don't know if that makes a difference, but I currently have EVERY bolt out of the pan, and it will NOT come out because the tranny is sooo close to the rear of the pan. Anyone with any more info, please reply. I can drop the K member if neccessary, but I would like to avoid it if possible. By the way, is it bad for my motor if I get blood in the oil pan? (just kidding, I just got many cuts from trying to shimmy the gasket around the innards of the pan) :mad:

I can speak from experience on this one since I just did this last week..You guys with the stock oil pan is very, very easy than my Canton..

There is nothing pulling the pan aslong as you have a little patience..

1) Suspend Car in air by putting jack stands under the front frame of the car..

2)Go ahead and drain your oil and take filter off...Also, undo the battery and take the started off the car.

3)Some people dont like this but I put a jack w/ blocks under my balancer and jacked it up just a lil so I could take the motor mount bolts out..

4)Loosen all K-Member bolts and also loosen the strut bolts in the engine bay. I had my k-member where I could lower it around 4-5 inches easily by just pulling down on it but I had the bolts tight enough to hold it up w/o falling.

5) If you have Hooker LT's your prolly going to have to remove the steering linkage so you can jack the motor up high enough to remove the pan especially if you have the massive Canton pan.

6) I jacked the motor up by the balancer via the blocks/floor jack as high as possible..Prolly around 5-6 inches in the air and then I inserted the motor mount bolts into their brackets on the kmember to act as a support just in case the engine wanted to fall.

7)Take all oil pan bolts out (4 corners have 13MM studs/nuts & the other bolts are 3/8". You also need to remove the black shield from the tranny(M6) and get that out of your way.

8)After you take all the bolts out and the pan comes loose you may have trouble pulling it out between kmember and tranny..You have to position the #1 and #6 rods out of the way so you may have to turn the crank a tad.
My Canton pan barely clears between the kmember/tranny and I actually had to grind down the bottem of the tranny to make it a little easier to wiggle it out. My pan likes to get stuck on the front mains since I have the splayed 4-bolt caps.

The installation of the new gasket/pan is prolly the hardest part. Get the blue FelProl gasket. The kit comes with studs that hold your gasket up to make the install alot easier..

I applied a thin layer of Black RTV around the front seal area all along the timing chain cover. I also added RTV around the Rear Main and the Dipstick Tube.

Not sure if this is everything but hopefully it helps..If I can do this by myself in 8hrs w/ only jackstands you guys can do it. The Canton pan is 10X heavier than the stock pan also :o

I just finished up retorqueing the oil pan bolts since it has been heat-cycled a few times..

Please make sure you go back and tighten them after a day or so..I was able to get a good full turn on every bolt even after I had tightened them all the way last week.

NO leaks for me and Im confident it will stay that way.

If you have any questions let me know and Ill do my best to help!

Cody

Yes, please drop your kmember 30thann!

You will be surprised how easy it is and how much that 3-4 inches helps out..

Cody

I got alot of blood in my pan as well. Reason i started this thread is because i did something bad.

I got all of the bolts out and i started putting the new gasket in when the dipstick part got stuck on the crank. I pulled on it and dropped a 4 inch part of the gasket in the pan.

I dont have the tools in my garage to pull the motor and i do not know how to drop the k-member. so i used AAA to tow it to a shop and the guy told me he would have to pull the motor. I got very angry when told me that it would be very expensive.

I was just looking for a better way to pull the pan to tell him to avoid him from pulling the motor and charging me an arm and a leg.

There is no way that I would pay someone to do this job. Pulling the oil pan and putting it back on is a 2-3 hour job at most. You just have to have some patience to do jobs like these. One of the posts above gives a great step by step explanation on how to do the job. Dropping the K-member is easy, there are only 6 bolts that you need to loosen. Do not drop it totally, just loosen the bolts and let it come down a few inches. Also, you do not have to pull the tranmission to get the pan out, trust me it will come out. You might remove the dust cover to gain a little extra room however. Just take your time, lift the engine as high as you can and get that pan out. Good luck.

That's good to hear about not having to pull the transmission. I'm going to do this in the next week or two and will let ya'll know how it turns out :)

See ya,

Jerry

Just a few questions. I will not be using the crank as a jacking point.

#1) What happens to the brake lines and ABS wiring when you drop the K-member?

#2) Can I jack up the motor/tranny by the tranny with some wood? To take the weight off the motor mount bolts?

#3) IF, the tranny is able to jack the motor up with the K-member dropped, can one then take the motor mount bolts and place them back in place and rest the motor ontop of those bolts to take the stress off the tranny case for the time being?