As per the subject. Don't have a hoist...yet. I hope my oil pressure issue is simply the pickup plugged or fell off into the pan. Would like to check it before pulling the motor out of the car.

 

Hate to have to break it to you, but...

By totally removing the motor.

Nothing else even comes close. Everybody seems to think they're gonna get out of doing some work that way, then finds out it takes twice as much work to get out of doing the work as the work they were trying to get out of doing. And then to top it all off, they find out what a WITCH with a capital B it is to get the pan back on leak-free while laying up under it unable to reach most of the parts they have to clean up and seal, and then get to do it all AGAIN.

Don't be like THOSE people.

Go rent a cherry picker at yer local yard.

 

That's what I was afraid of...Thanks for the reality check Sofa...

 

Been there, done that. Exactly what sofa kingdom said. I say go ahead and spend the couple hundred for a good cherry picker. You'll be surprised at what you can use it for.

 

Exactly what he said, unfortunately there is no way around it. That's why I've been putting off my leaking pan gasket lol

 

You can do with out a engine hoist place a jack under the oil pan with a block of wood between the pan and jack lift the motor up til the trans touching the top of the trans tunnel once its lifted as high as u can go place blocks of wood between motor mounts and the brackets once thats set drain the oil and start to undo the oil pan bolts the starter will need to be removed to get the 3 bolts in the back right corner once all the bolts are removed slide the oil pan back u will have to turn the crank 180 for it clear the oil pan when sliding it back

 

Textbook

 

Yep, I replaced the pan gasket this way. Raised the engine until the trans hit the tunnel. There was enough room to slide the pan out. Took the better part of a Saturday.

 

Let's consider that list, one step at a time.

See this link for a bit of related humour. IMO step 16 in that list is equivalent to step 2 here, in that the list, proper, fails to mention the best way to accomplish itself. http://star.psy.ohio-state.edu/coglab/Miracle.html

 

Sofa and I will respectfully disagree on this, we have before.
You can pull the pan without pulling the engine. I've pulled the pan off without pulling the engine, though you'll need something to hold the engine up after you've raised it enough to pull the pan and in your situation, you'll still have to have a hoist or pulley system to do that with. Pulling the pan with engine in the car is how GM tells you to do it. With the Fel-Pro one piece gasket, you won't have to worry about pan leaks afterward either. The gasket even goes on dry so no worries about smearing the sealer off. Remove the exhaust y-pipe, starter, distributor cap, torque converter dust shield, two motor mount bolts, lift the front of the engine until the pan comes out the back of the motor. While it says rotate the crank, I either was lucky with its position or it doesn't have to be rotated. I will say that disconnecting the items in the procedure posted above takes a lot less time than continuing to remove and disconnect everything else related to pulling the motor completely out of the car (harness, hoses, p/s pump, sensors, etc.).

 

If you've got flexible arms you can check it by just dropping the pan down enough to reach in (by raising the engine a few inches). Then its a matter of feeling around to see what happened. Obviously the pickup should still be attached and the screen should be clear. If otherwise then the motor needs to come out. Id recommend getting a hoist regardless so you don't stress anything, and the distributor and exhaust need to come off in addition to the mounts and such. I've been able to change oil pan gaskets without issue this way without a full motor pull.

 

The name for that magical "something", is "cherry picker".

Having LOTS of BTDT over the years, I can assure you that the wood block idea is one of those things that everybody will tell you all about "oh yeah I did it that way and look at me now"; but what they WON'T tell you about is how much longer it took than pulling the motor from above. Or, how much time effort and frustration they spent fighting everything laying UP UNDER the car with stuff in the way at every turn.

You don't have to pull the motor "out", like, laying it on the ground upside down, or mounting it on a stand, or whatever; but what WON'T save you any time, but will instead COST you time, is the notion you can prop it up from below. Like I said, the people that think they found some kind of shortcut by trying to get out of the work, haven't experienced how much work they actually CREATED for themselves by trying to get out of doing the work. It's always AHELLUVALOT more work than the work they thought they were going to save. They just haven't been honest with themselves and tried it both ways with a stopwatch or something. [/voice of experience]

 

If it was just a gasket replacement, that's one thing.

But with the possibility of needing bearings............well, Id pull the motor. Id hate to go through all the work, just to find out the pump is intact and then have to start pulling the motor. We just went through this with a buddy's mustang. Had the motor out on the stand in less than an hour. Much better then laying underneath fighting an oil pan. And turns out he needed bearings.

 

Guys, if a tubular style K-member was installed as an upgrade to the original front member, would this help at all in this situation of oil pan removal? It would help for sure with R&R spark plugs though, right?