87 4runner 22re. I'm trying to get my timing chain cover off and was originally planning to pull the oil pan while i was at it. My 4 runner has stock suspension and it looks like i can slip the oil pan out without moving the differential, can this be done?

 

that would be rough getting it back in and sealed properly -- you might have to disconnect the pitman arm and lift it up and let the diff fall a little bit lower but i would say it can be done -i am just weary of how positively you could seal the pan back up...

 

yeah, i'm not sure how confident i am re-installing the pan either, which is why i'm asking thanks man

 

Thats a big negatory. Cannot remove oil pan without dropping front diff; which is alot more work. Ive heard that a 4" suspension lift is just barly enough room to sneak the oil pan out.

 

thanks man, i apreciate it

 

I have a 4" supension lift and like said above I was barely able to get the pan out. I had to take all the bolts out so it would drop down, and then loosen the oil pickup so that the pan wouldn't catch on it when I pulled it out towards the back of the truck.

Rob

 

undo the motor mounts and jack up trans 1 inch

 

You will have to drop a few items to get the pan off. You can remove the timing chain cover and leave both head and pan behind. But dont foget that hidden bolt which resides under a puddle of oil under the distributor drive gear. If you pull the cover off and leave the pan behind, just bend the lip of the pan down a little and the cover will slide right back in and when you tighten the bolts down, it will straighten it back up.

 

If your rails came apart or if your chain broke, you need to drop the pan and get the trash out of it.

I have a 3" body lift on my truck and was able to unbolt both motor mounts and jack the engine up far enough to get the pan out to the back. I had to go up probably 4 inches to get it out though. It was very nerve racking to jack it up that high...

Also, people do the timing job everyday with the pan and head still on the engine but we couldn't get mine to go back on with the head on. It kept grabbing the head gasket and wrinkling it up and we couldn't get the upper dowel to drop in either. Finally we gave up and unbolted the head and got it on right.

Turns out I had bent valves anyway so I would have had to pull the head no matter what.

 

juust replaced the rails on my 22r-- the pan was full of crap, was amazed at how much of guide was in pan, glad i did it -would definelty recomend anyone who is replacin timing guides to clean out oil pan!!