does anyone know an ancient jedi mind trick for getting a 3ft long oil pan out of my 90 xj limited? i dont quite have enough clearance to pull it out. its stuck between the front axle and the trans. i tried to remove the exhaust pipe coming from the exhaust manifold but the nuts are rounded off on the top side, im not sure how ill get those off. do i have to undo some of the motor mounts and jack up the motor to tilt it just to get the oil pan out?


thanks for the help folks,
travis

 

Put jackstands on the frame behind the front wheels. Let the front suspension droop as far as it will. Remove bottom shock mounts if you need to for more droop. Remove track bar from upper mount and drop it down if you need to. Remove draglink from pitman arm if you need to. Here is real ancient Chinese secret part. break the seal between the oil pan and the block gives. Go inside the oil pan on the passenger side and remove the 2 bolts out of the oil pump and carefully drop it inside the pan. With that darn oil pick up tube out of the way, your pan will slide right out through the front.

 

Here's some info.

 

i have a 4.5" lift on mine but all i had to do was take the starter loose, put my floor jack and a 4x4 block under the harmonic balancer and jack the engine up about 2"....mine came right out

 

It sounded like the PO was at their wits end, so when all else fails, for some it's easier to "read the book".

 

reading shmeading. i guess when all else fails, read the directions.
thanks for the replies guys or girls(dont want to offend the ladies)

 

Now here's somebody that knows what their talking about.

 

as to the rounded bolts one way is to just cut the bolts and then knock them out and hammer new studs in. of course ya will have to take the exhaust manifold off which is a pain cuz ya have to take the intake off too just givin ya some ideas.

and yea oil pans without a lift suck

 

I posted this in another forum and it was highly controversial. This is a little counterintuitive, but it is much easier than the other proposed solutions.

1. Place jackstands under the front rail and allow the axle to fully droop. My guess is that you are already here.

2. Make a note of this. When the axle droops -- it also moves toward the BACK of the heep. It may seem like you want the axle to droop lower -- but no!! It is much easier to get the axle to move FORWARD.

3. Here is how to do it -- place the floor jack under the front diff and jack the axle just a little. It should still be drooping, but drooping less. The important thing is that the axle will move up and that does not seem like what you want. However, it will also move FORWARD and this is what you do want and is the key to success.

I was having the same kind of experience and even jacked around with the exhaust a little before finding this advice in a short thread that was very old in another forum. After several hours of twisting and cussing -- I tried this and my pan fell on the floor in no time. I am not exaggerating. My disclaimer is that my heep is a 1997. So -- I don't know how this will work in earlier versions.

 

x2, I did the same thing, this does work. Read it on a forum and didn't believe it. Finally got my pan off the engine and pan wouldnt slide out, looked like I just needed a little more clearance. Decided before I try to disconnect half the front suspension I figured I'd give it a shot, couldn't hurt and if it didn't work, guess I would start unbolting suspension parts. Sure enough raised the front axle an inch or so and pan slid out no problem. This is on a 91 XJ, still had exhaust connected to headers, starter still bolted in and flywheel cover on.

 

Might just pay off one day when you're waist deep in mud out on the trail in the pouring rain to have torn apart that front suspension previously and know how to put it back together again, yourself..... Just sayin......

 

Point well taken Buck. I'm sure my front suspension will be apart in the very near future when I do my lift. Trying to get the XJ on the road quicker was more important. Can't be waist deep in the mud if you can't get your rig out to the trail

 

Well, the good news is that you do have a 91 XJ and they ROCK!!!!

 

My first XJ, wish I would've gotten one years ago.

 

sorry to hijack your thread TSned, hopefully what helped javajeep and I out helps you get your oilpan out.