Leak in my Oil Pan Gasket

[smitty54]

I've a leak in the gasket on my oil pan. It's an 84 302. My mechanic says the engine has to be pulled to replace the gasket. Is this true? It seems a little excessive to me to just replace the gasket.

[Ethyl Cat]

I though it could be done in the car if you jacked the engine up as high as it would go and put some 2x4s under the mounts. Maybe lower the cradle some.

Been a while for me though. It is really not that much more time to pull it. Gives a good reason to reseal the whole thing and clean it up if it is out.

Then future issues are resolved all at once.

[Mgino757]

I've heard you can support the engine from above, then drop the front sub frame. That would give you clear and easy access to the oil pan.

[JACook]

Pan gasket can be replaced without pulling the engine, but it's way more work. I can do the job in
less than half the time by pulling the engine, even with giving the engine bay a good wash down.

Fox engine pulls are really pretty easy.

[Haystack]

X2. I can pull a efi v-8 in just over an hour if the exhaust bolts aren't too bad. Less if they have been cleaned.

[boogiestang]

Pull the engine. I helped a guy do a in car oil pan gasket replacement many years ago and it was a severe pain in the butt. Way easier to pull engine and like the others have said perfect time to clean/paint and replace other lines and what not at the same time.