lex4me Posted May 31, 2004 Share Posted May 31, 2004 I remain in the middle of replacing my front end components, et al on my 91LS and noticed an oil leak coming from the union of the #1 oil pan and the engine block. Given that everything is apart anyway (even the rack is out), I thought that I would go ahead and drop the pan to reseal everything. Does anyone know if dropping this pan requires the removal of the subframe? It certainly would make for easy access to all the bolts, etc., but I don't have a cherry picker and am not sure how I could support the engine with the subframe off. The only idea that comes to mind (but it scares me) is that I could support the engine by placing a jack under the crankshaft pulley (using a wooden block to prevent damage). The concern with this method is that I might damage a bearing or something. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lex4me Posted June 14, 2004 Author Share Posted June 14, 2004 In case anyone is curious, I went ahead and R&R'ed the #1 oil pan on my 91LS with everything else that I am doing (I will one day have a working car again). I ended up supporting the drivetrain from the top instead of by the crankshaft, since that thought scared me. Basically, I placed clean shop rags on top of the fenders (to avoid scratching), placed two 2x4's running parallel with the car on top of the rags (to distribute the load), ran two 4x4's the width of the car that were spaced about a foot apart (more load distribution) that ended up just past the 2x4's, removed the nuts holding the motor mounts to the subframe, jacked up the motor using a 2x10x12 (again to distribute load) on top of my floor jack (using the oil pan for support) until it just barely hit the firewall, attached a chain at the two engine lift hooks and draped it over the 4x4's (connecting it as tightly as possible) and very, very slowly lowered the engine such that the weight was being supported by the 4x4's. I then proceeded to remove the subframe, which I have now determined you would almost certainly have to do unless you wanted to remove the oil pump pickup screen. An idea that a friend had that would have likely made a lot more sense would have been to place 2x2's the length of the underhood area, just inside the fenders so as not place load on an exposed part of the car that is very thin to begin with and not intended to hold much of a load. No damage done, though, and the oil pans are re-sealed and looking good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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