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PostPosted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 11:17 pm 
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Rookie Texas Jim here - today I finished the oil pan job on my '23 Touring. Here's a chronicle of the job, with a few do's & don'ts, and some pure dumb luck.
-Don't rush. There is much to learn, observe.
-Do take time to clean parts, surfaces.
-If you're not sure if you need to drop your pan for cleaning, next time you drain oil, stick your finger in the strainer hole and feel for sludge. Mine was indescribably thick & nasty. DECADES I'm sure! So DO tackle the job.
-A mistake I made early might have been a blessing in disguise. I removed the oil pump plate thinking I might get leverage to pull the stuck pan. When I did the impeller, vanes and key all fell out. But the hidden benefit here was 2 things: first, when the pan was dropping, the pump shaft fell into the pan, which allowed it to get past the starter chain. I didn't realize this stroke of luck until I was trying to re-install. The second benefit was, I discovered the vane spring was broken.
-I discovered my strainer had a hole in it the size of somebody's thumb. But way to go Myers Early Dodge, they have a well made replacement for $25.
-I washed my pan inside and out with gasoline. The baffle riveted in the center makes it near impossible to actually touch much of the pan inside. I could just slip a chip brush thru the slots to help some. Otherwise swirled gas and it cut pretty well. BUT before that, I had scraped the gasket. Its impossible for scrapings not to fall into the pan. So as I washed I was also washing out all this debris.
-I set the pan on end and let air dry. Then I took compressed air and blew it out all under the baffle, there was a lot of debris that had dried and clung in there. I blew air from every possible angle. Then I took light air tool oil and rubbed oil on the baffle surfaces. The pan itself is ? galvanized? And BTW its pretty darn heavy.
-Mechanic's manual and Book o' Info each have very good very detailed narratives and pic's for this job. Both pan and oil pump. And a re-read became essential during re-install attempt - the tie rod instruction below.
-Felts - again from Myers Early Dodge. Rear felt fits into a deep tight groove, it cant fall out. But front felt just perches in its place. Honestly I found it impossible to know for certain that the front felt stayed in place. This because the wrestle to get the pan in place was difficult.
-Now it reveals itself the dumb luck I had coming down, the oil pump shaft falling out. because going in, the oil pump and shaft are installed - and the vertical shaft won't clear the starter chain. And, the tie rod was preventing also. Here's where re-read of manual was crucial- it says to turn the wheels all the way to the right. Doing so moves the tie rod forward barely allowing clearance.
-It also instructs to swing the rear of pan out to the left. This plus a LOT of finesse allowed the pump shaft to clear the starter chain. Did I say, the pan is HEAVY? I used a floor jack and a helper to hold the pan up once it was generally in place. In fact I couldn't have done it without the helper operating the jack.
-Oil pan bobber rod: I took fishing line and threaded it down the bobber hole from the top. Then took painters tape to make a guide line. But the pan on the jack, I was able to reach in and push the rod thru the hole- then with the fishing line I tied it off so the rod couldn't fall back out.
-NOW is time to slip the L and R gaskets into place. I smear a little wheel bearing grease on my gaskets to make them a little sticky.
-Again at this point I'm painfully aware all the finesse made it impossible to know if the front felt was in place. I could glimpse it from R side, but not L.
-The pan is very tight snugging its trans cover into place. DO NOT use the jack to push it in place. stud by stud pulled it up slow and easy, especially the square studs that go thru trans cover.
-When re-assembling oil line on R side of pump, be sure you prime the pump first. I put the oil line onto pump fitting, then squirted about 6-8 oz oil down the line. The manual suggests priming thru the check ball, but the line was open so seemed more sensible.
-I gingerly hand cranked w switch off just to be sure pump shaft hadn't jammed. This too was impossible to know that it had inserted correctly - but the pan wouldn't have seated it it hadn't. Dumb luck again! I kept hand cranking in hopes I was actually pumping a little new oil.
-I have a slightly better ? oil pressure now, 2.5 lbs on gauge at idle, and about 3+ lbs rev'ing. I'm glad this is over with, but was well worth the job. I hope this will encourage others! Texas Jim, happy to answer any Qs.


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 08, 2017 4:36 am 
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Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2016 6:57 am
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This would make a great article for the Magazine,you should send it to the Editor


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 11, 2017 10:33 pm 
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Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2016 6:00 pm
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Jim, thanks for posting this!!! I'm about to tackle mine, just got the gasket kit last week.
It looks like a chore, and this will definitely help.
-Rob


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PostPosted: Sun May 23, 2021 2:22 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jan 12, 2021 4:20 pm
Posts: 41
JimLowery wrote:
Rookie Texas Jim here - today I finished the oil pan job on my '23 Touring. Here's a chronicle of the job, with a few do's & don'ts, and some pure dumb luck.
-Don't rush. There is much to learn, observe.
-Do take time to clean parts, surfaces.
-If you're not sure if you need to drop your pan for cleaning, next time you drain oil, stick your finger in the strainer hole and feel for sludge. Mine was indescribably thick & nasty. DECADES I'm sure! So DO tackle the job.
-A mistake I made early might have been a blessing in disguise. I removed the oil pump plate thinking I might get leverage to pull the stuck pan. When I did the impeller, vanes and key all fell out. But the hidden benefit here was 2 things: first, when the pan was dropping, the pump shaft fell into the pan, which allowed it to get past the starter chain. I didn't realize this stroke of luck until I was trying to re-install. The second benefit was, I discovered the vane spring was broken.
-I discovered my strainer had a hole in it the size of somebody's thumb. But way to go Myers Early Dodge, they have a well made replacement for $25.
-I washed my pan inside and out with gasoline. The baffle riveted in the center makes it near impossible to actually touch much of the pan inside. I could just slip a chip brush thru the slots to help some. Otherwise swirled gas and it cut pretty well. BUT before that, I had scraped the gasket. Its impossible for scrapings not to fall into the pan. So as I washed I was also washing out all this debris.
-I set the pan on end and let air dry. Then I took compressed air and blew it out all under the baffle, there was a lot of debris that had dried and clung in there. I blew air from every possible angle. Then I took light air tool oil and rubbed oil on the baffle surfaces. The pan itself is ? galvanized? And BTW its pretty darn heavy.
-Mechanic's manual and Book o' Info each have very good very detailed narratives and pic's for this job. Both pan and oil pump. And a re-read became essential during re-install attempt - the tie rod instruction below.
-Felts - again from Myers Early Dodge. Rear felt fits into a deep tight groove, it cant fall out. But front felt just perches in its place. Honestly I found it impossible to know for certain that the front felt stayed in place. This because the wrestle to get the pan in place was difficult.
-Now it reveals itself the dumb luck I had coming down, the oil pump shaft falling out. because going in, the oil pump and shaft are installed - and the vertical shaft won't clear the starter chain. And, the tie rod was preventing also. Here's where re-read of manual was crucial- it says to turn the wheels all the way to the right. Doing so moves the tie rod forward barely allowing clearance.
-It also instructs to swing the rear of pan out to the left. This plus a LOT of finesse allowed the pump shaft to clear the starter chain. Did I say, the pan is HEAVY? I used a floor jack and a helper to hold the pan up once it was generally in place. In fact I couldn't have done it without the helper operating the jack.
-Oil pan bobber rod: I took fishing line and threaded it down the bobber hole from the top. Then took painters tape to make a guide line. But the pan on the jack, I was able to reach in and push the rod thru the hole- then with the fishing line I tied it off so the rod couldn't fall back out.
-NOW is time to slip the L and R gaskets into place. I smear a little wheel bearing grease on my gaskets to make them a little sticky.
-Again at this point I'm painfully aware all the finesse made it impossible to know if the front felt was in place. I could glimpse it from R side, but not L.
-The pan is very tight snugging its trans cover into place. DO NOT use the jack to push it in place. stud by stud pulled it up slow and easy, especially the square studs that go thru trans cover.
-When re-assembling oil line on R side of pump, be sure you prime the pump first. I put the oil line onto pump fitting, then squirted about 6-8 oz oil down the line. The manual suggests priming thru the check ball, but the line was open so seemed more sensible.
-I gingerly hand cranked w switch off just to be sure pump shaft hadn't jammed. This too was impossible to know that it had inserted correctly - but the pan wouldn't have seated it it hadn't. Dumb luck again! I kept hand cranking in hopes I was actually pumping a little new oil.
-I have a slightly better ? oil pressure now, 2.5 lbs on gauge at idle, and about 3+ lbs rev'ing. I'm glad this is over with, but was well worth the job. I hope this will encourage others! Texas Jim, happy to answer any Qs.



I realize this post is in response to a 2017 post regarding the oil pan removal on a 1923 DB car. I’m supposing the engine he speaking of is a non-fast DB four-cylinder. Having just finished up A rebuild on the four-cylinder engine in my 1923 DB roadster, I now feel a little more comfortable commenting on that engine. But, before I get into the work I’ve done I want to give credit to Roger for all the excellent advice he gave me during the rebuild process. The crux of this post is regarding removal and reinstallation of the oil pan on this engine for cleaning and maintenance purposes. I found this is no easy task regardless of your level of skills. In my case the oil pan was resistant to any attempt I made to pull it loose. As my attempts got more aggressive common sense prevailed and I envision what the lip of a broken 98 year old oil pan would look like. So, with a comfortable creeper, A small hammer, and a huge butcher knife, wearing goggles and heavy leather gloves, using the blade of the butcher knife as a shear, and a hammer to tap it into the groove between the block and oil pan, I gingerly went around the oil pan carefully cutting the gasket, but not damaging the metal contact surfaces. After some really tedious work, a sore arm, and a aching neck the oil pan dropped out by itself. And a tad of warning here, unless you are an excellent physical condition, position something in a place reachable to allow the pan to be dropped down without you supporting its entire weight. That booger is heavy, and trying to tilt and rotate it around the tie rod is extremely awkward, if not dangerous at its best. No damage to either the lip of the oil pan or the service Block. Everyone knows to turn the wheels fully to the right to allow the oil pan to clear the tire rods, but it seems like the propensity to pull the bottom plate off of the oil pump rather than leave the oil pump installed and remove it after the pan has been removed is just overwhelming. Undo the oil lines do the oil pump, and drop the pump right with the pan. The oil pump driveshaft and gear should just drop directly into the oil pan, or if they don’t be prepared to reach up and cushion the fall. Three important factors I found helpful in regards to reinstallation of a now cleaned and properly inspected pump are: When replacing the bottom gasket, between the impeller housing and bottom plate of the pump use only a paper thin gasket. A gasket any thicker will move the plate downward and allow too much clearance between the bottom of the impeller and the plate at the bottom of the housing. This can result in reduced, or loss of oil pressure. I continually hear that I’m supposed to remove the check ball in the oil pressure check valve, and pump oil down into the outlet line between the oil pump and check valve. I suggest, that upon reassembly of the pump, the impeller cavity be packed with Vaseline. That eliminates the possibility of a air block in the oil line resulting in the oil never even reaching the cavity, and starting the engine with no oil pressure. I love white grease. It is indispensable and I would recommend that it be used to pack the cavity in lieu of Vaseline but Vaseline is more commonly recommended so I will hang with that. However I do find that the use of white grease in reinstallation of the drive gear and pump drive shaft as indispensable. Trying to fit the tip of that shaft into the little hole in the block, beside the crankshaft drive gear, while laying on tour back, peering through the mounting hole on the oil pan, and then trying to hold the shaft in place while fitting the pump to it is a real headache. And, if the shaft drops a fraction of a inch when you remove your finger from holding it in place while looking for the location of the key slot in the pump impeller can be disastrous. The tiny nipple above the drive gear can fall back out of its little hole in the tiny distance you created when you removed your finger to allow movement of the pump on to its mount, and insertion of the pump drive shaft into the pump impeller.....breathe...... and, turning the pump casing in order to align the key slot in the impeller, and the key in the shaft is a real pain. So, I turn the key slot in the impeller to align it with the rearward bolt hole in the pump housing. I coat the entire area above the pump drive shaft shaft gear, from the top of the gear to the tip of the little projection which fits into the hole in the block with white grease, , and carefully insert the projection into the hole, with the teeth of the drive shaft gear engaged with the teeth of the crankshaft gear and the key in the shaft aligned with the rearward bolt hole in the oil pan mount. The grease holds the shaft in the proper position while I move the impeller housing upward to mate the two. I may have to rotate the pump a smidgen to the left or right to pair the key in the shaft to the slot in the impeller, but it sure beats rotating the pump 364 degrees, while holding the shaft up with your nose, and trying to use chameleon like eye movements to see when the key and the slot is aligned. I have more on the front felt seal, and such, but I’ll save it for later.


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 01, 2021 12:30 am 
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Location: Portland Oregon
Personally I would never put something in the pump that has to potential to plug the lines including the oil pressure gauge even for a little while, such as white grease or Vaseline. As a pre-lube for bushings and gears the white grease would be ok if the engine is going to be run right away, but not for packing. White grease does tend to cake if has been sitting for a spell.


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 24, 2021 2:03 am 
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Location: Portland Oregon
Another thing to consider, using grease of any kind in the pump; when it pushes through the line, it could plug up the line to the gauge or even the internal line that carries the oil to the rear of the engine.


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