Re: Broke down.

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2008/9/29 13:53:56

Dropping the oil pan is straight forward and simple, just follow the instructions in the shop manual. You won't need to do anything with the suspension/steering except to drop the steering idler from the frame, remove the starter motor, and if you have dual exhaust, drop one header pipe.

When you've got the pan down, it would be wise to remove the floating intake screen on the pump and also clean it thoroughly. I'd also suggest dropping one or more of the main bearing caps (#s 2,3,or 4 best candidates) for examination and checking clearance with Plastigage or similar. Ditto for the rods; give them all a quick check for obvious looseness and if nothing obvious appears, remove and check a few of them; if everything here checks out OK it's worth the little extra work just in peace-of-mind.