Hi guys,
I'm working on my 1989 Raider with the 3.0L Engine. I recently overhauled it but seems like I developed a severe oil pan gasket leak. I found it and confirmed that's where it was coming from.

I've removed all my skid plates, the DS Exhaust pipe, the starter and transmission stays, structural cross member and loosened up the transmission cooler lines as well. I even blind unbolted the oil pick up tube in an attempt to make enough room to wiggle that thing out. But it hasn't worked yet. I seem to be hung up on the front side of the engine and differential. The oil pan gets pinned in between the gap of the bearing cap and the front Four Wheel Drive shaft.

Are there any tricks that I'm missing here? I just need like one more inch of room there to get it to squeeze through. I would hate to have to pull the engine out entirely just for the oil pan. Would it be worth it to do that or to simply pull the passenger side drive shaft and axle?

What would you guys do?

I pulled the engine to do my pan gasket. Not proud to admit it, but during my build i pulled my engine so many times that it was easier than disassembling everything below the rig. The pan issue was the final time and start to finish was around 4.5 hours.

Good luck. I'm waiting to see another Ayala write up when you figure it out.
:kewl

What did you use for a gasket? I used red rtv on mine and no leaks yet. I wouldn't suggest anything other then silicone e.g. cork or rubber gaskets. Make sure surfaces are clean.

I haven't done it personally but the fsm says
you have to carefully lift the motor up some to remove the oil pan.

Lower the diff. If you take out 2 or 4 bolts, it will pivot down out of the way. That war you don't have to remove axles...

I like the gasket in a tube. I'm a convert after years of believing in cork...

Thanks fasteddy, the bolts you mentioned, can you see then in the picture? Are you talking about the bolts that connect to the PS drive shaft?

If it was me I would unbolt motor and lift it few inches with a hoist.
I think fasteddy was talking about [color:"red"]these [/color].

Jay, my memory of exactly how I did it are iffy. I looked at the fsm at front suspension, pages 51 and 53. On page 51, I think I removed nuts 6 and 10, and the associated bolts/spacers/washers/rubber cushions. You already have the front crossmember and diff mount out, right? I'd support the diff with a jack. It should pivot on the mounts for the bolts/nuts above, down and forward. The axles and dshaft stay attached.

I don't remember on the v6, but the i4 diff is very close to the pan, and there's no way to pull the pan with it there. In fact, on the 2.6, the pan has a dent in it to clear the diff. When doing my 2.6t conversion, I had to hammer adjust a new dent into the starquest pan.

WWFF and I pulled his v6 pan using this method. It's still tight, but can be done, even with the pan dosed with gasket maker. We did not remove the pickup tube on the oil pump, which may explain some of our tightness...

Hey Guys, thanks. I got it out. I wound up doing as danz91crx and fasteddy suggested earlier today by coincidence. I just now saw both your replies replies. Thanks for that image by the way. fasteddy, you were right about nut 6 & 10. That was exactly what I did to get this to pivot out of the way.

I'll have a full write up later tonight or tomorrow but I think I'll wrap this up and have the Raider back up and running on the streets free of oil leaks after dinner tonight.

It was fasteddy alone that suggested doing it by moving the diff. I was just trying to add to what I thought he was telling you to unbolt. Glad you got it taken care of. I know I was nervous about putting my oil pan on with the engine upside down on a stand. Mostly because of what you just went through. Hopefully you have no more leaks.

I see nuts 6 & 10 are listed as not reusable. I'm kind of curious of what kind of lock nut it is.

Here's the part number for the two nuts MF445283

Its good there are guys like you that take the time to do these kind of write ups.

Ordinary plastic insert locknuts. I just used threadlocker on mine. This is a case of engineering by liability lawyers...