Oil Pan Leak

[Aberner101]

Just put a new IP in my 93 F250 4x4 after it sat all winter long, only to find the oil pan gasket is rotted away. Has anyone ever changed the pan gasket without pulling the motor? Looks like it would be pretty simple just looking for anyone with helpfull advice. Thanks

 

[hesutton]

I know folks have had various success removing the oil pan with the motor in the truck. It apparently involves loosening motor mounts, jacking up the rear of the motor, unbolting the oil pickup, and so on. I guess you could sneak the old gasket out and a new gasket in, but it could be a huge PITA.

Heath

 

[pafixitman]

I pulled the pan twice in frame. First time to pull a rod out. Second time to "repair" the leaking pan. The third time will be to fix a (still) leaking pan and will be done outside the frame.

Yes, it can be done, especially if you are NA. Lift the motor until the bellhousing hits the firewall, remove the pan. It is VERY tight. The second time i dropped the pan and never removed the turbo so it was even tighter. She has a real nice leak at the front of the pan. My thought is to pull the whole motor, clean everything, paint everything and reinstall.

 

[icanfixall]

However you fix it don't use a gasket. Everybody now just use a good grade RTV. I use permatex copper plus. It has never leaked in years of use on many differant motors.

 

[Knuckledragger]

However you fix it don't use a gasket. Everybody now just use a good grade RTV. I use permatex copper plus. It has never leaked in years of use on many differant motors.

I concur. There is no gasket shown in the Ford engine manual, and it specifically calls for RTV silcone sealer. The front timing gear cover plate gaskets came up short on my recent rebuild, so I shot a little more goo into those gaps to make sure.

The old silicone can also be a problem if you miss a spot when resealing, as can motor oil dripping down onto the sealing surface. Give the truck 2 days before running it to let the silicone set completely. If you start too soon, it will blow out.

 

[Fozz]

Unless your engine has been rebuilt, you don't have a gasket there. They don't come with one (as previously stated). But, you can unbolt the pan and slide a gasket (Napa has them) in there without lifting the engine, etc. You have to cut the gasket and slide it in. Use some good rtv at the gasket cut area. This works, I had to do it (long story).