Everyone,

I'm in the process of doing a new head/cam/etc./etc. to my 89 4WD PU. The motor is a rebuilt 22RE that had less than 600 miles on it when the headgasket blew.

One thing led to another, and after I wound up cracking the old head by overtightening some header bolts (part of the reason the gasket blew, I believe) .... :pat:

I decided it was time to put a new head and cam on from engnbldr.com and a host of other mods.

I decided not to pull the engine again, so I was left with getting the oil pan out by hand. I decided I had to remove the oil pan in order to remove some of the gunk (coolant) that got in there when the head gasket blew. I wound up doing a bit of research on the process and determined that it was going to be a bit of a job, as the 'right' way to do the job is to move some of the front end to get the pan out. I went through the process in a day and I wanted to share it w/ everyone in hopes this will help someone else out sometime down the road.

1. Jack up the truck and put it on jack stands and then put the jack under the front diff.

2. Remove the 4 bolts from the swaybar that runs under the transfer case/tranny and front drive shaft and let the sway bar hang down and out of the way. This has to be lowered to give the differential enough room to drop.

3. Remove the front crossmember (5 bolts). 4 of the bolts are facing you laying down in front of the truck and the 5th bolt is in the huge mounting grommet on the front differential.

4. Remove the 2 bolts from each of the remaining 2 front differential mounts and lower the front diff about a good 6-8 inches by lowering the jack. The first 2 bolts are to the right of the front diff (facing it) and are by the driver's side CV boot. The other 2 are 'behind' the face of the differential and mount the top of the diff to a huge mounting braket on the passenger side. You'll get to these by going behind the diff under the truck. They are close to the passenger-side swaybar grommet. Kind of go 'up and over' the back of the front diff and you'll find them.

5. At this point, the front diff is lowered a good bit and, assuming you've unbolted the oil pan, it will move around really well, but still won't come out.

6. Unbolt the steering dampener (1 bolt) and let it drop out of the way. The dampner looks like a small black shock absorber that attaches to the steering relay rod. The relay rod is the rod that is attached to the pittman arm (driver's side) and the idler arm (passenger side).

7. I had to run out to Autozone to get a ball-joint separator so I could pull the relay rod off of the pitman rod end. Get a small screw-type seperator and not a wedge type so you won't tear up the rubber seals. Once I did that, the relay rod would swing down and out of the way, and I was then able to pull the pan out of the front (it won't come out of the rear, as you would think).

8. Oh yeah, I also had to unbolt the oil pump pickup tube (4 bolts) and let it drop into the pan. After that, the pan comes right out.

The installation of the pan, is, as they say, the reverse of removal.

Once the pan is out of the way, you can get a gasket scraper/die grinder/whatever up to the block to do a good cleaning job. Just make sure you torque everything to spec and don't overtighten the oil pan bolts.

Other than that, the whole 'sub-project' went pretty well. I had to use a second scissors jack in order to help jack the differential back up in a few key areas so I could align the bolt holes. Otherwise, it all went right back together as it came apart.

Hope this helps someone else out... I couldn't find anything resembling a write-up on the net and the Chilton/Haynes manuals were less than helpfull when it came to details.

 

THANK YOU!!! I've been trying to get my oil pan off all day today after dropping it last night. In the FSM it says jack up the engine/tranny an INCH! to have clearance. I then took off the damper and got the relay rod bolts off, but dont have the tool to pop off the rod ends, at least I know this is how another person did it successfully. I want the added clearance from removing the relay rod so that I can smoothly replace the pan with gasket sealer.

 

Thanks for the write up. I'm going to try and drop my pan this weekend to change the crank and rod bearings. What is the method to raise the engine an inch? Loosen the motor mounts and jack it up?

 

I just did this a few weeks ago on my 88 4wd. I just removed the engine mounts and jacked the engine/tranny up at the front of the tranny. I had to remove the oil pick up tube and wiggle the pan about to get i out, but it came out the back. I was doing a head swap, so I did it with no head on the block, maybe giving me a little extra head room. I imagine if you take the rocker cover off, it would give enough room.

I just didn't think I wanted to buy the tie rod end puller or tear my whole front end apart on top of my already pulled apart engine. A little stubborness just may be the key.

 

While replacing the pan gasket, does the front part mate with the bottom of the timing cover? Use guys use any silicone upon gasket installation?

 

On mine I changed the rod bearings. I took out the motor mounts, jacked up the motor, then took off the oil pan.

Yes use a good RTV sealant on the oil pan before putting it back on. I used this really expensive Toyota Stuff :/

 

Don't want to pest, but do you have pics??.....I work well with pics......going to be pulling my pan soon enough and want to not struggle trying to figure it out.

thanks.

 

bought a 1990 toyota pickup with a 22re motor this weekend. Timing cover has a hole in it so the oil is like thick chocolate milk. Trying to remove oil pan removed motor mounts and jacked it up int the front of the motor does not seem to be enough room to take out so does it come out the front? Should I be jacking from the trans? Please help don't want to take front suspension out unless I absolutely have to.

 

How much room is needed to drop a pan, I have a 3" rancho lift, (axle dropped 3"). I was just thinking about dropping my pan too, mm i wonder if theres room. (88 IFS - 22re)

 

ok.......can somebody post how to do this please.

 

Pretty Please????????

 

You will not be able to change the crank bearings with the motor/crank still in the truck.

 

Hey gang - I've been off the board for a while (unintentionally) but I thought I would revisit this thread. I'm glad to see it has helped a few people out.

Yeah - the pitman is a PITA for sure, but once you get past it, it is smooth sailing.

Let me know if anyone else has any questions!

 

Step 3 went exactly as stated, but on Step 4 I found that there are also 5 bolts. AllCammedUp was right on about the two near the drierside CV Boot. But on there were 3 Bolts on the huge mounting bracket on the passenger side. Two were on top and were best accessed by coming up and over on the backside of the front diff. Then there was one on the side of the mounting bracket facing the passenger side wheel well--its a lot easier to get at than the top two, but without pulling it, the diff won't drop.

Followed this write up today, and it went really well. I wound up pulling the right outer tire rop along with the relay rod off the pitman arm end, as I couldn't get the puller around the pitman arm due to its proximity to the inner tie rod.

Thanks for the write up!

 

Hey there
Just wondering if the procedure would be the same on a 1992 SR5 V6 four runner for removing the oil pan.

 

This thread helped a lot. Did any one else have no battery power when oil pan and pump are off. A little worried.

 

That isn't good. I am guessing that you have a mechanical oil pump so it should have no effect on anything electric.

 

I have a 94 Xtra-cab 22re 4x4 and my oil pan is leaking like a basket, is the procedure for removing and replacing the pan the same as an older model? Do I really have to drop the Diff. and raise the engine? mine is IFS by the way.

 

great info thanks! hg blew on my 88 i just got and finally got some time over winter school break gonna try and rebuild top/front end...guides r probably fried so ill need to drop pan most likely

 

this job is a pain in the butt. these instructions are good however, its much easier to unbolt the idler arm (3 bolts on passenger side) than to disconnect the pitman arm or linkage ball joints. the linkage will drop enough.

halfway there now, I'm trying to decide how to effectively bolt in the oil pickup and seal the pan without making a mess.