Trouble removing oil pan - clearance?
Posted by 19482255 On 2015/1/26 1:26:34
Working on the 356. Attempting the drop the oil pan.
At first the pan seemed glued to the block with the old cork gasket (who knows when or if that was ever removed). Then the front of the pan dropped and I thought all was good. But the back of the pan wouldn't come loose and I realized I had to remove the rear retainer w/seal. Thought that would do the trick. Then there were two internal bolts and one nut that needed to be removed before the pan would come loose completely. Was really concerned that I was removing the rear main seal retaining bolts but couldn't see any other way to drop the pan, so I took them out and the pan dropped to where I could see it was free of the block. Thought I was in the clear. NOPE - tried shoving oil pan forward and tilting the rear edge of the pan down so I could slide it out. The front edge of the pan is contacting the back of the damper. The very rear edge of the pan that protrudes into the bellhousing is not clearing the housing lip by millimeters.
What's the issue? I have the car up on ramps. Is the frame literally flexing just enough to cause me to be unable to drop the pan? I've witnessed some body flex before with doors and such when a car is jacked up that causes doors not to close well. Maybe the same thing is happening here? I can't see why in the world I'd have to remove the trans cast iron bellhousing cover just to drop the oil pan. Are people familiar with this clearance issue?
UPDATE:
This just feels like oddness. After posting the above, I lowered the car off ramps. Now the back of the oil pan clears the bellhousing lip opening behind the seal retainer. BUT...the kicker...the pan is so long in the front that it's not tilting down far enough to clear the lowest point of the 'bell' of the cast iron bellhousing. The pan is resting on, and not clearing the center link in the suspension.
Is one supposed to remove that cast iron flywheel housing just to get the pan off? This doesn't feel like typical Packard intuitive engineering. The small format FSM's instructions are a joke. They say "remove the oil pan". Umm...?
At first the pan seemed glued to the block with the old cork gasket (who knows when or if that was ever removed). Then the front of the pan dropped and I thought all was good. But the back of the pan wouldn't come loose and I realized I had to remove the rear retainer w/seal. Thought that would do the trick. Then there were two internal bolts and one nut that needed to be removed before the pan would come loose completely. Was really concerned that I was removing the rear main seal retaining bolts but couldn't see any other way to drop the pan, so I took them out and the pan dropped to where I could see it was free of the block. Thought I was in the clear. NOPE - tried shoving oil pan forward and tilting the rear edge of the pan down so I could slide it out. The front edge of the pan is contacting the back of the damper. The very rear edge of the pan that protrudes into the bellhousing is not clearing the housing lip by millimeters.
What's the issue? I have the car up on ramps. Is the frame literally flexing just enough to cause me to be unable to drop the pan? I've witnessed some body flex before with doors and such when a car is jacked up that causes doors not to close well. Maybe the same thing is happening here? I can't see why in the world I'd have to remove the trans cast iron bellhousing cover just to drop the oil pan. Are people familiar with this clearance issue?
UPDATE:
This just feels like oddness. After posting the above, I lowered the car off ramps. Now the back of the oil pan clears the bellhousing lip opening behind the seal retainer. BUT...the kicker...the pan is so long in the front that it's not tilting down far enough to clear the lowest point of the 'bell' of the cast iron bellhousing. The pan is resting on, and not clearing the center link in the suspension.
Is one supposed to remove that cast iron flywheel housing just to get the pan off? This doesn't feel like typical Packard intuitive engineering. The small format FSM's instructions are a joke. They say "remove the oil pan". Umm...?
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