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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Dropping oil pan

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Posted By Discussion Topic: Dropping oil pan     joe b 08-16-2011 @ 7:26 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 389 Joined: Oct 2010 An old Ford mechanic told me that the oil pan on a flathead can be dropped with the engine in the car.The rear main seal can be replaced like this. I always was told that the engine or trans had to be removed to do this. True? ford38v8 08-16-2011 @ 7:55 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2735 Joined: Oct 2009 Joe, it can be done, but nobody that has done it that way will ever do it again. The discomfort of working on your back withjunk falling in your face is only part of the story. Alan supereal 08-16-2011 @ 8:24 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Amen, Alan! The usual reason for wanting to replace the rear main crank seal is overfilling the oil pan. While many books say five quarts, without a filter, four is correct. Often, an oil leak at the rear of an engine is from a place other than the main seal, such as the oil pressure sender or the cover of the oil pump gears. We recommend a thorough cleaning of the engine to confirm where the leak originates. Pulling an engine is always the best way to replace the real seal, in any case. If the leak is from the hole in the bottom of the clutch housing, be sure it isn't gear oil instead of motor oil. 37RAGTOPMAN 08-17-2011 @ 5:16 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1940 Joined: Oct 2009 You did not say,how much oil is leaking ? a little is normal, what year is engine,some might have a rope seal and some do not, before you do anything,like super said make sure were oil leak is coming from, is it parked on a incline , steep drive way ? this also will cause it to leak, overfull on oil ? a clogged breather can cause pressure in the crankcase causing oil to come out,in the easiest place which is the rear main bearing, my 3 cents of advice 37RAGTOPMAN I would pull the pan in my 37 verus pulling the grill out and the radiator,and taking the chance of scratching the fenders,by pulling the engine out, it all depends if the car is restored or not, and at what stage if it already apart and you are just running in the drive way. the engine and it is leaking, TomO 08-17-2011 @ 6:47 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7243 Joined: Oct 2009 Some years are easier than others to remove the pan with the engine in the car, but all of the 32-48 vehicles are difficult and I would not recommend that it be done. Removing the pan is the easy part, trying to install the pan and not have the rear pan seal fall into the pan is a real challenge. Most engines built before 1946 did not have a rear main seal that was replaceable. They used an oil slinger on the crankshaft to control the oil that was fed to the rear main. Tom tbirdhandyman 08-30-2011 @ 7:03 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 51 Joined: Oct 2009 I just finished replaceing the front and rear seals on my 59AB engine with a 4" Mercury crank in my '41 Mercury. All I had to do to remove the engine pan while motor was in the car was to remove the exhaust crossover pipe, starter, and dip stick tube. There was no problem with the rear cork seal, as it was a press fit and could not fall out. I used a B-6700-R one piece seal on front, so I had to remove the fan, pulley, dist., and timing cover. The old pan had been bent during its lifetime, so I replaced it with a NOS '41 Mercury pan that I found. I had to remove the baffle, as this engine uses the short oil pump with the long pick up tube. This was my second pan replace ment on '41 cars, and I would never even think of pulling the engine out of the car. I must admit that I have a two-post lift in my hobby shop. The photo shows the front seal, and you can see the assembly grease that I used so it would go into the grove easily. It is so nice to park the car now and not leave oil on the ground. Robert E. Tbirdhandyman joe b 08-31-2011 @ 6:33 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 389 Joined: Oct 2010 Thanks Tbirdhandyman. I have a friend with a lift and we will use it to drop the pan. Plan to do this in November when the show/touring season is over.

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