JamesN

iTrader: (5)

My car is leaking oil and i'm resealing the oil pan. I remove the bolt and everything already, but the darn oil pan seem to be stuck between the suspension frame. I can't slide it out like the way I did with other cars. I did some search but no luck. So can anyone give me some idea how to take out the oil pan?? Thank you in advance.

bicol-ini

hi your transmission pan probably havent been opened or dropped so you still have the FPIG still in so get a piano wire or any other type maybe a strand wire but thin enough, slide it in between the pan and the transmission casing and start a push pull tug on the wire until you get a bite out of the FPIG (formed in place gasket this is what fpig means), and then your home free pan will drop and you can clean out the old fpig then replace the filter new pan gasket viola

LexAnt

iTrader: (2)

i think he means the oil pan that's located between the suspension and subframe members, not the transmission fluid pan. I had mines done and I think the only way to do it is to loosen the subframe or crossmember slightly so that the oil pan can slide out. I know it was a pita because it's the little tabs on the top of the oil pan that prevents it from dropping down. Hope this helps, just loosen enough to get it out angled. Don't forget to let the sealant dry too overnight otherwise you risk it not settling and causing leakage again.

JamesN

iTrader: (5)

thanks for the reply bicol-ini. But I think you are refering to removing the tranny oil pan right?? I'm current stuck on the Engine Pan. I got the pan loose already but it got stuck between the side frame.

JamesN

iTrader: (5)

Thanks LexAnt. I was thinking of doing the same thing but hoping to find an easier way. But I guess not .

bicol-ini

hi, sorry for the misunderstanding, yea thats the only way to do it loosen the crossmember a bit just to clear out, and replace the gasket with the one made by felpro,instead of the fpig/permatex thing, thats what i did on my LS

sky jumper

is this for the 650e transmission? where/how do you get the felpro trans pan gasket? what's the part#? everywere I look says to use the sealant.

LexAnt

iTrader: (2)

to reseal the oil pan, i just used the oem stuff that lexus sells.

salimshah

I intend to replace the oil pan on my son's Sc400. I have some what clear access to bolts, but I doubt that the pan can come out due to two cross members. One of the members has to be removed/loosened and when I looked up from below the front is a cast aluminum member that supports the engine and the front suspension. The rear one is steel member that ties into the frame (3 bolts on each side) and has a pair of diagonal brace 2 bolts each) and the lower control arms tie into it.

Q: Is this the member that I need to loosen and push aside? The diagonal braces have to be detached to push it back? Can I do this with front on ramps? Would I need to detach the LCAs? Am I over thinking it and just go with the flow and keep removing stuff till the pan can come out?

Thanks

Salim

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

At least on mine, it was just a small amount of casting slop that kept the lower oil pan from having enough room to drop down. My mechanic smoothed out that tiny lip and was able to wiggle it free.

salimshah

Finally filled her up with oil and now watching for oil drips.

Ordered the pan gasket from Rock auto a few weeks back. I found out later that the gasket will not fit 95 sc400. AutoZone cross references to the same part by felpro, OS 30654 but it is the wrong part. 95 c400 has the two long sides parallel to each other, while the felpro gasket has a hump. So please make sure you get the right part.

The steel cross member was too close to the pan and I could not get socket to undo the pan bolts. Since I rely on the Torque wrench, and not by the feel, so the steel member had to be moved out.

Remove the 2 + 2 bolts on the diagonal braces tying to on steel cross member. I had to remove the nut on the control arm side, of the driver side, to make the pan assembly easier.

Mark the trailing arm alignment settings. Put the vehicle on jack stands. Undo the nuts and pull out the eccentric bolts. Don't mix them .. you don't want to set the marked cam of one side to the other side on assembly. Remove gussets, 2 14mm bolts one each side. These gussets tie the steel member to the body. [Another member 'clear' had better luck by removing the 2 nuts on the other side of the gusset as well]. Undo the 3 bolts on each end that attach the steel cross member to the body. After the steel cross member came loose, I used a bungee cord to push it away from the pan.

Once you take all the bolts and 2 nuts of the pan, the pan does not drop down. FIPG had to be broken. I used a flat screw drive to crack it open. Being right handed, back driver side corner gave me the best place. I did have to use emery paper to smoothen out the edge before assembly.

Then came cleanup. There was caked on dirt as the pan has been leaking for a while. A nice cleanup took care of that. Remove all the old FIPG from both surfaces and a blade was pretty handy. Remember to empty out the troughs on the pan lip, if you plan to use FIPG.

For assembly, I had the setback due to felpro gasket. Plan B time. I had FIPG set aside from a previous project in the refrigerator. It was flowing nicely. Now I did couple of dry runs as I just wanted to raise the pan up without struggling ... any thing to prevent messing up my nice bead. Used a cleaner to remove all oil from both surfaces and laid out my bead on the pan and installed it without fuss.

As noted there are not too many nuts and bolts that needed to be removed. But on putting every thing back, I was missing a 14mm bolt. I spent almost an hour ... going through my rags and almost went for a dive in the old drained out oil. Tired and defeated decided to call it a night and picked up my light bar to charge it. Low and behold! the missing bolt was stuck to the magnet at the end of the light. Elated I went to bed, knowing the FIPG is firming up all night.

Put everything together. You can torque everything except the trailing arm alignment setting .. match up the marks. Suspension must be in normal position before the bushings are locked in place. Lower the car and then torque the trailing arm eccentric bolt.

Parts/prep:
Eye protection.
Marker
Degreaser
Cleaner
Lots of rags
Flat head ~12 inch in length
Breaker bar
assorted sockets 10, 14, 17, 19, 22 mm
Scraper (blade)
Emery paper (yes you will need it to buff out the place you start to separate the pan)
Bungee cord or thin rope to act as your helper.
Gasket (if you can find one for your car) or FIPG (plan-b)
oil (you need additional 1/3 qt) + crush washer + filter

Torques: You will need low, med and high range
Pan nuts and bolts: 69 in-lbs
Cam: (eccentric): 166 ft-lb
diagonal brace: Nut 43 lb-ft, bolts 32 ft-lb
Gusset bolts (and nuts if you remove them) 32 ft-lb {My guess}
Steel cross member bolts: 148 ft-lb {Based of the toque for the front cross member}

Salim

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

Now that you mention it, I had the exact same problem. That's the nice thing about getting stuff like that at AutoZone, returning it is as painless as can be.

Heck of a write-up.