Oil pan removal on M20

[ThomasE30]

So from the videos I have seen it looks as if to remove the oil pan, i will have to either unbolt the engine from the mounts and raise it with a jack at the ac compressor area, or undo the subframe and oil pump which I have heard is hard to put back on ( correct if my wrong at all because I want the easiest way to do this project). I am also going to be doing a e36 rack upgrade at the same time so would this make it any easier since the rack looks like it is right below the pan? Haven’t been able to find someone doing both of these together so any info would help! Thank you guys!

[mikey.antonakakis]

Depending on the conditions of your engine mounts you may not need to lift the engine at all. It's not super fun to do, but it is possible (I just did it a couple weeks ago; I have solid aluminum engine mounts and had pulled the trans, fwiw). The hardest part probably is getting the oil pump drive back in place. Gotta dangle the pan at the ideal angle to get space to get it lined up, and have to kind of hold the pump up once you get the shaft engaged and get the first bolt started. Once you get a bolt started with the shaft in place, you're home free.

Steering rack out will make the job a bit easier I imagine, you'll have a little extra room to maneuver the pan. The oil pressure limiter thingy had to come out in my case, which was not a huge deal. For me the hardest thing overall was just getting my body in a comfortable position during the reinstall of the pump, and getting the new gasket lined up was harder than it should have been.

[McGyver]

Easiest thing is to buy an engine support bar, which is $80 at Harbor Freight:


Loosen your engine mounts, slightly lift the engine, drop the subframe (leave control arms attached), remove and replace the oil pan. I've done it by jacking up the AC compressor; it was janky and unsafe. Using the engine support bar was easier, safer, and faster.

[mikey.antonakakis]

Easiest thing is to buy an engine support bar, which is $80 at Harbor Freight:


Loosen your engine mounts, slightly lift the engine, drop the subframe (leave control arms attached), remove and replace the oil pan. I've done it by jacking up the AC compressor; it was janky and unsafe. Using the engine support bar was easier, safer, and faster.

Where are you mounting and lifting from? Shock towers and engine mount arms?

[McGyver]

The support bar should rest in the channels on wither side of the engine bay. Use the hook on the support arm to grab the engine lift point on the front of the m20. Don't forget to grease the threads to prevent them from galling. Once you have the engine supported, I highly suggest folding a towel many times and using it to pad the top of the threaded rod, then lean the hood onto the padding. This will prevent the hood falling onto the rod while you work, keeping you from seriously damaging the hood. I would lean the hood down even if your hood shock is in good shape (its less than $10 to replace).

[Vincenze]

If you replace the front crankshaft seal and take out the lower cover, I would just use a sealant to reseal the surface between the oil pan and the cover.

Like Reinzosil.

[ThomasE30]

Depending on the conditions of your engine mounts you may not need to lift the engine at all. It's not super fun to do, but it is possible (I just did it a couple weeks ago; I have solid aluminum engine mounts and had pulled the trans, fwiw). The hardest part probably is getting the oil pump drive back in place. Gotta dangle the pan at the ideal angle to get space to get it lined up, and have to kind of hold the pump up once you get the shaft engaged and get the first bolt started. Once you get a bolt started with the shaft in place, you're home free.

Steering rack out will make the job a bit easier I imagine, you'll have a little extra room to maneuver the pan. The oil pressure limiter thingy had to come out in my case, which was not a huge deal. For me the hardest thing overall was just getting my body in a comfortable position during the reinstall of the pump, and getting the new gasket lined up was harder than it should have been.

Thank you for the help I’ve been putting this off because of weather and work so I’ll try and get to it soon.

[ThomasE30]

Easiest thing is to buy an engine support bar, which is $80 at Harbor Freight:


Loosen your engine mounts, slightly lift the engine, drop the subframe (leave control arms attached), remove and replace the oil pan. I've done it by jacking up the AC compressor; it was janky and unsafe. Using the engine support bar was easier, safer, and faster.

I’ll look into getting one of those. I knew the jack solution wouldn’t be that safe so this would probably be better just in case.