lgbnaf7

I have 1971 Cutlass with a leaky oil pan gasket. Can some one explain to me a quick and easy way to change it with out pulling the engine? Thank you.

dan2286

I am pretty sure the engine can be raised up slightly, but not sure how high and if you need to disconnect the transmission or not. I dont think their really is a quick and easy way of doing it.

lgbnaf7

I really just need to know where i can jack the motor up to get to the pan.

mjc79

all you need is a floor jack that will go high enough and a 2x4 or 4x4 piece of wood and jack it up on the harmonic balancer. i've done this quite a few times with no problems. you will probly have to take off the crank pully to get enough clearance. other than that, take the 2 motor mount bolts out, unbolt the fan shroud from the radiator and let it hang on the fan so its away from the radiator, and take your distributor cap off so it dont get broken. jack it up about 2-3" and you should be able to pull the pan out. i havent looked at my car yet, but if the olds trannys and chevy trannys are about the same you should have a dust cover right behind the oil pan for the tranny. taking that off will get you more clearance as well. i think there is 4 bolts that hold that cover on. hope you get that thing fixed and goin

lgbnaf7

Should i disconnect the motor from the motor mounts are should i disconnect the motor mounts from body?

joe_padavano

Step 1. Get a chassis service manual...

Pulling the oil pan with the engine in the car is a PITA at best. There is no easy way to do it. You need to drop the starter, disconnect the exhaust, disconnect the fuel lines, remove the fan and/or shroud, disconnect the radiator hoses, disconnect the shift linkage to the column, and remove the two bolts that hold the motor mounts to the frame brackets. You also need to rotate the crank to exactly the right position so the counterweights clear. Since you can't just jack up on the oil pan, you need to use a hoist to lift the motor. Alternatively, Olds had a special Kent-Moore tool that bolted to the front cover that you could lift from. All that remains to just completely pull the engine are three torque converter bolts and six bellhousing bolts.