Removing Oil pan

[Morph]

You guys im removing the oil pan to get at the bolts for the front cover but the ****in pan wont come off. Last time i removed the pan i think i might have cracked it but im not sure ( not sure if it was me of if the pan came cracked on the pallet ) and my funds are getting low so buying one is not an option.

I asked a few guys at autozone if they had a tool like in the fsm or something similar but the dumb *** just said hit it with a flathead but thats what i did last time which might have cracked the pan.

Please guys any tips b/c the last thing i need is to borrow money to get another ****in pan.

Thanks in advance.

[xero1]

use a dead blow or rubber hammer and tap the oil pan, it should fall off after a couple of hits.

[oki_bum]

i took a paint scraper and a hammer and tapped it in and all the way around.

[Slipstream]

Are you talking about the lower or upper oil pan? I had to pry the lower one a bit and use a large flat-head working it along the edges. The upper pan just took some leverage.

[xero1]

if its the lower oil pan, you need to hit it harder, but not to hard. What kind of sealer did you use?

[VitaminT]

Yeah the lower pan is a pain. I would just get a metal putty knife and hammer it inbetween the upper and lower pan all the way around. That should loosen it enough so you can pry it off.

[Morph]

if its the lower oil pan, you need to hit it harder, but not to hard. What kind of sealer did you use?

Not sure PSI in New Orleans put it on. Im using utility knife blades and vicegrip plyers already broke 1 blade today and im shooting for 5 more tommorow.

[574-240sx]

Get a putty knife/wide screw driver and clear as much of the sealer as you can. Then pry it off working around the pan. Don't pry to hard though. If that doesn't work tap it with a rubber hammer/mallet.

[AmoebAssassin]

DO NOT PRY BETWEEN THE LOWER AND UPPER PANS!

The upper pan is aluminum, and WILL deflect if you hammer in a screwdriver or something, this could cause sealing problems, leading to a huge headache for you down the road. The way I did it when I dropped my SR's pan was to take a large flathead, place the edge on the rim of the lower pan, and hammer downwards on the steel lower pan. If this doesnt work right away, take a razor and slide it between the upper and lower pans and CAREFULLY run it around the pan to weaken/cut the RTV holding it on. Make sure the razor doesnt dig into the upper pan because again, this will damage the mating surface and cause sealing problems.

[ILikeMy240sx]

yeah what everyone said. I usually jab a tiny flathead in there and try to pry it. It is a biotch go get off.

Anyways, are you trying to remove the front cover? This would require you to remove the upper oil pan as well which is... well......... not fun in my book. I actually think this is worse than putting valve collars on...

Anyways, good luck

[Morph]

yeah what everyone said. I usually jab a tiny flathead in there and try to pry it. It is a biotch go get off.

Anyways, are you trying to remove the front cover? This would require you to remove the upper oil pan as well which is... well......... not fun in my book. I actually think this is worse than putting valve collars on...

Anyways, good luck

Woah holfd on here man i though that i just droped the lower pan and removed the pick up tube and the 2 bolts for the front cover are right there.
Modified by Morph at 1:28 PM 8/8/2006

[Slipstream]

I think you have to remove both pans. Funky design, really should've been made as a one piece.

[ILikeMy240sx]

Woah holfd on here man i though that i just droped the lower pan and removed the pick up tube and the 2 bolts for the front cover are right there.

Man... I hate to always be the one to bring you the bad news....

The front cover will not come off unless you remove the upper oil pan... Im sorry that you are going to have to do this. At first, I thought that too but nope my front cover wouldnt come off with the damn upper oil pan still attached to the engine.

Why are you trying to remove the front cover anyways?

Be prepared to use all profanity known to man kind.

[180fan]

use a rubber mallet on the lower pan. You can use a gasket scraper and tap that in slightly all the way around till you hear the suction sound of the RTV giving away

[Morph]

Man... I hate to always be the one to bring you the bad news....

The front cover will not come off unless you remove the upper oil pan... Im sorry that you are going to have to do this. At first, I thought that too but nope my front cover wouldnt come off with the damn upper oil pan still attached to the engine.

Why are you trying to remove the front cover anyways?

Be prepared to use all profanity known to man kind.

Ya you really need to change your name to the grimreaper of nico. LOL

I called Xat today and one of the guys helped to unconufse me. He told me to get to the HG i didnt have to remove the front cover just set the engine to top dead center and let the chain hang till i put it back together. I though that i had to remove the front cover then the chain and finally remove the head. Im glad thats not the case.

[ILikeMy240sx]

yeah... I thought you were replacing the front cover or something..

No need to do that for HG install.

[Slipstream]

Aw hell, just remove it anyways. It'll be a learning experince.

Just make sure you don't drop the chain so it stays in the same position.

[Morph]

Aw hell, just remove it anyways. It'll be a learning experince.

Just make sure you don't drop the chain so it stays in the same position.

Little late for that. But if worse comes to worse then i'll have it towed to xat for them to reset the chain. How would i reset the chain w/out taking the cover off????

Couldn't i just put the gold link up top and count the links as i rotate the crank shaft to put it back on the bottom????

[ILikeMy240sx]

There is a little peg right beneath the crank sprrocket that prevents the timing chain from skipping but that doesnt work all the time. You can not reset the timing chain on the crank sprocket unless you take the front cover off.

Just install everything and with the engine at TDC your cam sprockets should be lined up with the chain. If they are all lined up correctly the chain probably did not skip a tooth at the bottom.

At this point, its really luck.

But from my experience, Ive dropped the chain many times and it has not moved. The peg on the front cover works fairly well most of the time.

[Morph]

Well in that case lets hope so. Any damage if it is off by a tooth or 2?

[ILikeMy240sx]

if its off by enough tooth... your valves will hit the pistons.

If its off by even one tooth your car will run like poo

[Morph]

I look forward to it.