getting the oil pan off is a pia.

some people drop the diff entirely...others unbolt the engine mounts and jack up the engine adn tranny as high as it will go before hitting the firewall. if you do a search for +22RE +front +diff +drop, you'll get the details.

here is what i did:

1. drain oil from diff.

2. put a floor jack under it.

3. unbolt the nuts that hold the diff to the cv axles. the bolts are pressed in and difficult to remove. i did not remove them

4. remove the three differential bolts and nuts (one horizontally mounted at the front to the diff and two vertically mounted on either side of the diff).

5. lower the floor jack to lower the diff. it will not come all the way out because of the pressed in bolts holding it to the CVs. just lower it as low as it will go.

6. unbolt one end of the steering damper and let it hang down.

7. separate the steering relay rod from the idler arm and let the steering linkage hang down.

8. undo the oil pan bolts and let it drop as far as it will.

9. snake your arm up in there and unbolt the oil strainer from the block. (two bolts near the front where the tube feeds into the oil pump and two bolts back by the strainer itself, iirc.)

10. let the strainer drop down into the pan and then pull the pan out through the front (where the steering linkage would normally be).

i tried to get the pan to go out backwards so i would not have to undo the steering linkage, but i could not get it to squeeze past the tranny bell housing.

putting it back in is a little tricky as you have to put the FIPG/RTV on the oil pan, then put the strainer in the pan, then slide the pan back in and under the block, then bolt the oil strainer in place without messing up the FIPG bead.

there is a gasket on the end of the oil strainer tube where it mates with the block. may want to have a new one on hand in case you mess up the old one.

i also needed to replace the three diff mounting bolts as they were pretty rusted.