M30 Oil Pan Removal

[Hector]

Despite following the instructions in Bently and some comments from this board, I was unable to remove the oil pan no matter how high I safely raised the engine. This brings me to my last alternative of dropping the suspension.

Questions
(1) To lower the suspension, I need to remove 3 bolts from each side of the subframe crossmember, remove the stabilizer-to-crossmember mounting bracket bolts (2 of them,) and do I disconnect the steering gearbox at the universal joint?

(2) As I was turning, twisting... trying to get the oil pan out, I heard something fall out from the rear of the pan and noticed it was a plastic sealing cap about 1.5" in dia. Is this cap supposed to be plastic and prevent oil from leaking out? This is kinda absurd!!! This might explain some of the oil I see at the bellhousing from time to time.

[mholbrook]

My technician has a homemade engine lift that he uses to lift the engine up about 5 inches after disconnecting the engine mounts. Then it all slides out without too much drama. Maybe you could rent a cherry picker for a day and get it done. You don't have to remove anything when you lift it.

Mike

[Hector]

Thanks but that ain't gonna do it for me. Like I said, the engine was raised pretty high (w/ tranny mounts loose,) to the point where the top of the bellhousing touched the firewall. I believe George had suggested to lower the suspension and I guess I'll do just that. I started doing this yesterday but needed some sockets. Just wanted to know of any issues like difficulty of getting suspension bolted back on...

[winfred]

i put 4"x4" wood blocks under the motor mounts, but you still need to unbolt the oil pump and drop it in the pan to get the pan out, red locktight the nut on the sprocket for the oil pump drive, it can come off

[Jr ///M5]

Just to add to what Winfred said, I believe the #6 piston has to be at TDC also or else you'll be hitting the crank and it won't slide out the back.

Jr

[Hector]

Thanks guys. Interesting Winfred, I did exactly what you suggested man, taking the oil pump out before the pan. The pan gets stuck at #3 piston rod bracket bolts when I try to pull it out. I got nothing to hold on to turn the crankshaft, that is, vibration damper/harmonic balancer and hub are off. I think with a little jiggle here and there and some cursing I can get the bitch off. From what I can see, the main thing is placing the oil pan back underneath the block without disturbing the gasket and messing up the sealant. That's why I wanna have enough clearance to cradle that baby back in there.

[Hector]

Any ideas?

"(2) As I was turning, twisting... trying to get the oil pan out, I heard something fall out from the rear of the pan and noticed it was a plastic sealing cap about 1.5" in dia. Is this cap supposed to be plastic and prevent oil from leaking out? This is kinda absurd!!! This might explain some of the oil I see at the bellhousing from time to time."

[Karl]

Did a similar job on my old e12 car -- supported the engine and lowered the front crossmember enough to slip the oil pan out. If you're careful with lowering the crossmember it's not necessary to remove it completely. On my car there were also a couple alignment pins on the frame to locate the crossmember when I put it back up. Its position does not depend on the bolts.

It takes a little fiddling around, but does not require a lot of disassembly.