Move Crossmember or Jack Engine

[Maeda]

Ok, so the time has finally come for me to stop being a poser, and be the man my long-time-devoted-girlfriend knew I could be.

Anyway, so I know that to change my oil pan out I need to either move(remove) the crossmember, or take the motor off its mounts and jack it up.

Which one is easier? I only have ramps, jack stands, and a floor jack.

Install is scheduled for the 19th. If you have any advanced experience in this area feel free to AIM me (NOTSOQT).

[FRpilot]

aren't the engine mounts on the crossmember? if you take off the cross member, will your engine be suspended in air via an engine hoist so you can change the oil pan? kinda the same as pulling the entire engine out.

[Maeda]

thats the exact reason why im a bit confused... it seems to be that there are 2 routes of going however they seem like the same thing to me...

as of now im most likely going to be jacking up the motor off its mount and pray that the tranny has enough room above it so i can get the oil pan outta there.... anyone else?

[deviousKA]

i have never taken the oil pan off while the engine was in car. if i were to do it i would take the crossmember out. it will be a pain in the a$$ if you dont, that engine is going to have to pulled way up to clear the oil pickup in the pan. removing the crossmember is not all that hard, and you can clean it all up while its out.

[wicx]

I removed my oil pan by
(1) Removing the front sway bar
(2) Attaching an engine hoist to the motor.
(3) Jacking the motor up a tad bit and/or you could disengage
your stock mounts if your not too lazy(i didnt do this I simply
raised the motor a couple of inches in effect pulling on the mounts;i'm going to change them out later anyways).

And the rest involves unbolting the oil pickup 2 bolts on the front
and one on the side.
WIGGLE WIGGLE WIGGLE
and
BLIZAMM its out.
wic

[elevator]

Originally posted by wicx
BLIZAMM its out.

BLIZAMM? Good word. :)

[old_s13]

I changed the KA pan without removing the cross member, I just unbolted the sway bar and then lifted the motor up from the back where it mates to the transmission. I had to unbolt the engine mounts to give the motor freedome to move, but other than that it was cake. You may need to unbolt the oil pickup, but its easy to rebolt later down the road.

- Mike

[Maeda]

hmm. this might turn out to be easier then i thought ^_^

thanks guys.

[AceInHole]

Originally posted by Maeda
hmm. this might turn out to be easier then i thought ^_^

thanks guys.

Yeah. removing the front cross member still involves everything associtated with lifting the engine up a few inches, plus removal of the steering rack and IIRC, a couple hard lines.

[Maeda]

Originally posted by AceInHole
Yeah. removing the front cross member still involves everything associtated with lifting the engine up a few inches, plus removal of the steering rack and IIRC, a couple hard lines.

doh. ok maybe not as easy as I thought after I thought it was hard.

Cliff's note - Its hard then huh? crud.