Another oil pan question

[Greg0197]

2012 5.4 Limited 4wd.
Doing the phazers, tensioners, etc. anyway I dropped the oil pickup tube bolt in the pan so I’m pulling the pan.

I’ve got the cross member out, the right side and lower left side diff bolts out but I still don’t have enough room to get the pan out. Do I need to pull the last diff bolt and drop it completely? Really hope I’m overlooking something. Don’t want to drop the front diff. It looks kind of heavy .
Any advice, tips or past experiences would be greatly appreciated.


Greg G

 

[JExpedition07]

Did you try one of those extended bendy magnet ends to retrieve without pulling the pan?

 

[Greg0197]

Did you try one of those extended bendy magnet ends to retrieve without pulling the pan?

Yes. There’s a baffle just a few inches behind the front the pan and couldn’t get anything past it. Now that the pan is down I don’t think there is any kind of magnet that could get past it.
I’ll post some pics tomorrow when I get it out, one way or the other.
Greg

 

[07navi]

Lots of people drop those, just leave it in there it won't hurt anything. Bolt that pan back up and forget it.

 

[Greg0197]

Lots of people drop those, just leave it in there it won't hurt anything. Bolt that pan back up and forget it.

I thought about leaving it in there but I’m way to **** about “extra or missing” nuts, bolts and washers. I’ve seen the damage that lost washer can do.

Greg

 

[07navi]

I thought about leaving it in there but I’m way to **** about “extra or missing” nuts, bolts and washers. I’ve seen the damage that lost washer can do.

Greg

Not there though, it's not like it's going to fly up and break a piston or jump up into the timing chain cover, or block the pick-up screen, just button it up and move on. It will sit on the bottom of the pan until the day it sees the crusher.

 

[mjp2]

When I replaced the oil pan on my truck I removed the cross member but don't think I had to drop the front differential. I did remove the pickup as part of the process. Ignorance of the proper procedure made me figure out what worked.

Once the pan bolts were all out, I was able to fit a wrench between the pan and the block to loosen/remove the oil pickup bolt. With that out of the way, the pan came out without much issue. Reinstallation required reattaching the pickup, obviously. Not ideal but it worked.

If you do drop the front diff, it doesn't look bad. Check around the 9:00 mark in this video:

 

[Greg0197]

When I replaced the oil pan on my truck I removed the cross member but don't think I had to drop the front differential. I did remove the pickup as part of the process. Ignorance of the proper procedure made me figure out what worked.

Once the pan bolts were all out, I was able to fit a wrench between the pan and the block to loosen/remove the oil pickup bolt. With that out of the way, the pan came out without much issue. Reinstallation required reattaching the pickup, obviously. Not ideal but it worked.

If you do drop the front diff, it doesn't look bad. Check around the 9:00 mark in this video:

I’m following this but the thing with this video is it’s done on an F150 and there are some differences. Main one I saw was the lower control arms. Will that make a difference as far as letting the diff drop? Don’t know but mine won’t come down enough for me to get the pan dropped in rear enough to clear the pick up tube.
I’m going to mess with it again this afternoon. Maybe a new day and a fresh start will I’ll see what I’m doing wrong.
Once I figure it out I’ll post up the problem/solution I find.

I SERIOUSLY considered just leaving it there and getting another bolt from FoMoCo.


Greg

 

[Greg0197]

I’m this far in and it’s fighting me so challenge accepted. I’ll get it one way or the other