95 Dakota 5.2 oil pan removal
 

hey, new to the forum. I've been looking everywhere for this to no avail any advice/tips or tricks is much appreciated.

so I was wondering if i would need to lift the motor at all in order to remove the oil pan on my 95 Dakota. its a 5.2L magnum and its RWD

this truck has got some serious sludge build up throughout the motor. I've cleaned the entire top side of the motor but I have yet to tackle the underside. long story short, I need to get this pan off to get to the oil pickup tube but I don't want to realize midway through pulling the pan that I cannot get it around the oil pickup tube without raising the motor. any advice are appreciated, its my first truck and I'm wanting to get her running again

Yes, you will have to lift the motor.

It won't even clear the oil PUMP and crank throws.

Suggestion? If you're having to go that far in, pull the motor, put it on a motor stand, and clean the entire bottom end.

I'd also consider doing the timing chain and gears and also the freeze plugs if it's out (I did it the other way; my mechanic pulled the motor to do the freeze plugs, so we did the timing chain, oil pump, and oil pickup tube at that time. Rather than just cleaning, if I were you, I'd consider replacing all.)

The factory service manual for a 1995 Dakota is available as a PDF download from the FAQ1 sticky at the top of this forum's posting list; I'd pull that down to find out how they say to do it.

My experience from my stepson and me trying to do the oil pan gasket while the motor was in the 1988 Dakota (three years before the freeze plugs were done) was ... not conducive to keeping the swear jar empty *grins* YMMV, though.

Take your time, don't hurry too much, and it's doable with the motor in albeit lifted (the FSM for the 1988 has you pulling the motor mount/frame bolts, jacking the motor up, and putting the bolts back into the frame, letting the motor sit on those)

RwP

This is the oil pan removal procedure in my 95 FSM. Seems like a lot of unnecessary work but they must have a reason for it???
1) Disconnect the negative cable from the battery.
(2) Remove engine oil dipstick.
(3) Disconnect distributor cap and position away from cowl.
(4) Raise vehicle.
(5) Drain engine oil.
(6) Remove exhaust pipe.
(7) Loosen side engine mount bolts.
(8) Raise engine by way of oil pan using a block of wood between the jack and oil pan.
(9) When engine is high enough, place bolts (similar in size to the engine mount bolts) in the engine mount attaching points on the frame brackets.
(10) Lower engine so bottom of engine mounts rest on the replacement bolts placed in the engine mount frame brackets.
(11) Remove oil pan and one-piece gasket.

thats more then likely what im gonna do then lol... i have a buddy of mine who could help me pull the motor and set it on a stand. ill post pics of it when im done, thanks again for the advice its much appreciated

I pulled my pan to replace the rear main seal. But mine is 4wd and I already had the transmission out. Even at that, it takes a lot to clear the oil pick up, and the crankshaft. If I had it to do again, I would have pulled the motor....

While you are in there, consider the rear main seal. Good luck!!

Yah, I forgot the rear main seal. Most DEFINATELY do that at the same time!

RwP

I haven't had to pull the pan on a 2wd yet but I did on my 96 4X4..... I had the front diff out for a rebuild at the time, can you say "wide open access"? It definitely helps that I have access to a 2 post lift, It's so much nicer to be able to do a job like this while standing on your feet...
I also put a pump in while I was in there, pickup and inside of pan were clean/ so I reused the pickup on the new pump. When I got the truck, I had a hard time getting the oil gauge to work, seems that the 1st sending unit I had bought was defective.... but I had done a "real" oil pressure test in figuring that out.... and my pressure was quite high-like nearly 100 PSI high with the engine hot, just above idle. with the old pump, I think the relief was sticking. and probably why my rear main was leaking. I haven't checked the pressure with the new pump, probably should, dash gauge reads lower than I would like. I used a standard pump not a high volume. I had a couple of rod caps off to look at the bearings and of course the rear main and all the bearings I looked at looked like new.
I want to put a Sunpro type oil gauge in that truck so I know for sure what's going on..... along with a few other gauges..... project for spring time.

I had replaced the sending unit initially before I ever heard my engine run because I bought the truck with the trans laying in the bed, and noticed the original one leaking when I went to reinstall the trans.....

yeah im definitely going to replace the rear main seal while i have it out of the truck, for what that motor has been through, it runs fairly well considering the oil had not been changed in god knows how long prior to me getting it. all the gaskets where junk though when i had it apart, and there was hardened oil deposits about an inch thick in some places.

sounds like the 67 Barracuda I once owned, being all sludged up, like that when I bought it.... That was the only 318 I ever actually blew up. Had the intake off and ran a lot of solvent thru the open crankcase with drain plug out but some of the sludge couldn't pass thru the drain plug hole and wound up plugging the oil screen for me.....

.and my parents' 81 Olds wagon which had had its 350 diesel swapped out by a prior owner for a gas 350 (olds not Chevy) motor....that one was ALOT of work getting de-sludged......

I have one suggestion, after re-reading everything here. But it is based on a few assumptions that the answers to the below questions are no. These being,
1. Are you loosing oil pressure?
2. Currently, is the sludge affecting the running of the truck?
3. Are you leaking oil anywhere?


This was suggested by a Valvoline engineer over 40 years ago, when sludge used to be a lot more common then in today's engines.
Change the oil and filter using a good quality HD oil. (which is about all of them these days)
Run it, and when it starts turning black, change it again.
Repeat this procedure until it clears up.

His thoughts were, the Detergent in the oil will, for a lack of better words, melt the sludge. The oil will suspend it in the oil and then it can be drained out.
Taking parts off, like valve covers etc and cleaning them out is one thing, but when you go scraping and cleaning on the heads, lifter valley, etc. you have a good chance of debris, getting into the cam bearings, plugging the pick up screen etc.
Good luck, and let us know what you do and how it turns out!!