Oil pan leak

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lenky1

lenky1

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Is it possible to pull oil pan on a71 duster 340 without pulling motor. My oil pan has a slight leak. Its a milodon oil pan 7qt. Thanks for any advice.
 
short answer -yes. But as you will probably SOON hear from others - it depends on what else you have in there. I will say this, I have the same pan on a 360 with TTi headers - I did it, but ended up redoing by pulling the motor... which was considerably easier in the long run. Live-n-learn...
 
If that Milodon is the roadrace pan(like I have) then yes is will come off.
I have TTIs, '73 steering,P/S, a "70 Duster K, and a 4-spd.
My K was notched a bit at the front corners to facilitate this. I have an index finger's worth of clearance at those corners. If yours is not notched, I don't think it will work.
The steering center-link has to come down, with the two arms.
I seem to remember having to undo the motor mounts and raise the engine some( take the distributor cap off). I put a wooden block under the ballancer IIRC.The fan may have to come off so the shroud lives. I'm pretty sure the headers and stuff stayed on, but I mighta pulled the T-bars.
It sounds like a lotta work.
It is.
The engine can be out/in, in only a little more time,and it's a whole bunch easier to get the pan sealed, when the engine is on the stand, and upside-down.
 
if you drop the drag link...remove the headers...and then raise the engine....yes.
 
i have stock manifolds no fan shroud and yes my k member is notched.
 
that'll make it easier for sure.. but still, doing an oil pan gasket from under the car is a pain in the ***... not saying it can't be done, just for warning you.. :D also, the oil pick up will be in the way to some degree (you discover this while removing the pan) and it's a **** to get around when reinstalling the pan.. again, not saying it can't be done... good luck mate!
lenky1 said:
i have stock manifolds no fan shroud and yes my k member is notched.
Click to expand...
 
First be sure it is the pan. There are several other places for oil to leak, and migrate with the help of the fan and gravity, causing all oil to end up at the bottom rear of the pan. Some notable ones would be the valve covers, oil sender, oil filter adaptor and the fuel pump. All can possibly leak and show up at the pan.

I'd clean the begeebeez outta it with brakeclean to be sure the source..

Nothing worse than spending hours repairing the wrong thing, only to have the leak remain..

This link may help you ..

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=329003

cheers..
 
I did mine with an 8 qt moroso deep pan, removed center link and raised motor.
 
Two front crank journals down counter weights up.

drop idler arm and pitman arm and let the center link hang.

Remove starter and trans shield and braces.

Lift motor slightly in the front either with a hoist or carfully with a jack and wood under damper.

Important. Do NOT use any sealer on the end pan rubbers. This may cause them to pop out due to them being very slippey.

I may have missed some things but this will give you at least some info to follow. Did many but its been awhile
 
I just re-did my pan gasket on the 5.9 Magnum with an LA 360 Milidon pan. This swap requires you use the LA 4-piece gasket, as the one piece Magnum gasket will leak if you have the magnum timing chain cover. I have headers, small starter and an automatic.

I bought the Cometic gasket and glued the front seal and side rail gaskets to the pan being sure to use the bolts to align the rail gaskets until the Permatex Ultra Seal dried. I glued the rear seal to the motor's rear main seal. Make sure the pan and block surfaces are super clean and free of all old gasket material. I always massage the Permatex into each surface to ensure that it sticks to it well. I also used a generous dollop of Permatex on the 4 corners of the pan where the seals and rail gaskets touch.

I did have to unbolt the passenger side header, both engine mounts, drop the steering link and lift the motor up using my cherry picker. It was not difficult, but I was fortunate not to have knocked the gaskets out of place as I re-installed the pan. It sealed very well, and was sure a lot easier than pulling the motor or unnecessarily removing the K-member.
 

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I dropped my K-member with the engine hooked to my engine crane.
 
lenky1 said:
Is it possible to pull oil pan on a71 duster 340 without pulling motor. Thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...


Possible - Yes...

I did it once.... Just once... Never again.... :banghead:


It's very hard to keep the oil pan gaskets in place while trying to maneuver the pan into place. They are easily knocked off place and then you have to wrestle with it and hope you got it in good enough... :violent1:

I prefer to pull the engine and be able to take my time getting the pan on without all the obstacles in the way.... :D

The oil pan is hard enough to get sealed, don't make it worse on yourself.... :twisted:
 
Much easier to drop the K-member than to pull the engine.
 
Thanks to everyone for the input. I just resealed the intake, valve covers ,sender andoil filter adapter. so im pretty sure this is my culprit.
 
1. Jack the car up.
2. Hook an engine crane to the engine. (you have an engine crane if you are pulling engine)
3. Drop K-member (torsion bars, upper A's, steering knuckle, upper shock mounts, 4 bolts)
4. Fix pan.
 
roccodart440 said:
1. Jack the car up.
2. Hook an engine crane to the engine. (you have an engine crane if you are pulling engine)
3. Drop K-member (torsion bars, upper A's, steering knuckle, upper shock mounts, 4 bolts)
4. Fix pan.
Click to expand...

5. Get alignment...
 
lenky1 said:
Thanks to everyone for the input. I just resealed the intake, valve covers ,sender andoil filter adapter. so im pretty sure this is my culprit.
Click to expand...

You may want to plan on resealing your front timing cover while you are at it, especially if you are unsure of the source of your oil leak.
 
Good luck to you. I just did this not to long ago on my Dart. Its a real pain in the *** and back. I got it in and was a struggle. Ive ran it a few times and so far so good.I knew it was the pan and hopefully it is for you as well. Car on blocks,pass.header out , drivers header loosened, center link out. used my small floor jack with a block of wood to help hold it up after I had it in place, not tight just enough that it wouldn't move around until I got some bolts in.........all the best. BTW..........if it happens again, (hopefully not ) engine will come out.
 
Wow, there's no way I would go through all the extra work of pulling the motor or dropping the K-member to change the pan gaskets. Each car and pan set-up is different, but it wasn't that difficult to accomplish with the motor lifted up a bit. It only took about 4 hours to do, 3 to take it apart, figure out I had the wrong gasket on there(I incorrectly used the one-piece Magnum gasket) and an hour to button everything up. I figure double or triple that time to pull the motor or drop the k-member and realign it.

The trick seams to be gluing the front and sides of the gasket onto the pan and the rear gasket onto the motor with your favorite sealant. that way they stay put when you are reinstalling the pan. Mine took about 30 minutes to tack-up and to stay put enough to keep the in place, while still remaining soft enough to mold properly when tightened.
 
Bud it REALLY depends on your set up! As it sounds like OP car is mostly stock, you are probably right.. but on mine with the TTi's - not a chance in hell. It was so much easier to just pop out the motor that the two methods aren't even related.. so to speak. I had to move both the drivers side and pass. side header out of the way - as in fully disconnect from engine and exhaust system, had to drop the center link (which wasn't easy as the pan was in the way.. I tried to swing it to one side... yeah.. no) had to lift the motor as high as the trans tunnel would allow and the pan was still a f-er to get out because of the pickup... I am talking close tolerance! Then putting the one piece gasket in was SUCH a miserable pain in my f-ing *** - - never EVER EVER again. And of course after putting it all back together (the NEW pan did NOT want to go back in past the pick up) - the GD thing still leaked - albeit in a different place.. anyway, long story shot (well, too late for that now...) the next weekend, out came the motor.. the end.
jbc426 said:
Wow, there's no way I would go through all the extra work of pulling the motor or dropping the K-member to change the pan gaskets. Each car and pan set-up is different, but it wasn't that difficult to accomplish with the motor lifted up a bit. It only took about 4 hours to do, 3 to take it apart, figure out I had the wrong gasket on there(I incorrectly used the one-piece Magnum gasket) and an hour to button everything up. I figure double or triple that time to pull the motor or drop the k-member and realign it.

The trick seams to be gluing the front and sides of the gasket onto the pan and the rear gasket onto the motor with your favorite sealant. that way they stay put when you are reinstalling the pan. Mine took about 30 minutes to tack-up and to stay put enough to keep the in place, while still remaining soft enough to mold properly when tightened.
Click to expand...
 
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