Any way to move it enough to work on the components?

 

on the 2wd trucks there should be plenty of room to get the pan off, the only thing in the way for the 4wd trucks is the front differential and driveshafts.

 

Nope, there is a cross member for the frame right there.

 

There is about 1 1/2 inch between the pan and the crossmember, it wont allow it to tilt enough the clear the front of the transmission.

I will be looking for a cherry picker to raise the motor. Hopefully I wont need to raise it much and not have to disconnect much to do it.
I have the motor mount bolts loose and ready, I was thinking of a floor jack under the front of the tranny but I think it would be in the way trying to get the pan past it, dont see anywhere in the front of the egine to jack it up from.

 

the fsm suggests using a floor jack to jack the engine up some(of course the preferred method is to pull the front driveline out), and then use scrap wood to support the engine to get the pan out, i didnt see anything like that mentioned for the 2wd version

 

Just to update on my progress...

I loosened the 2 motor mount bolts and the top fan shroud and was able to lift the motor up about 3 inches with a cherry picker.

The oil pan still would not clear the front of the tranny, I had to manuver the oil pan to one side and unbolt the oil pickup tube and allow it to drop into the pan, then i was able to manuver it out of there thru the drivers side tilted sideways. the pickup tube sits low into the pan sump and prevents the pan from being able to turn enough to come out.

Putting it back on was the same, I had to lay the pickup tube in the pan then manuver the pan back under the engine, holding the pan to one side i was able to bolt the pickup tube and windage tray back on then install the pan.

Unfortunately i did this for nothing, the pickup screen was clean as hell and there was no sludge in the pan at all, everything was really clean in there for a 172k engine, i was surprised.

Maybe a bad oil pump??

 

idk you havnt shared your symptoms with us, you just said you needed to get the oil pan off. . .

 

Oil pressure issues, when I first start it it the gauge jumps up to about 3/4 mark then within a few seconds it drops to 1/4 mark and stays there, as i drive and accelerate it keeps dropping to nothing and then jumping back up to the 1/4 mark.

 

unfortunately that does sound like a weak oil pump but if it were me i would put in a mechanical gage to confirm that it is in fact a pressure problem and not a sensor problem

 

Yeah I should have doen that first, I just assumed and you know what that means!

What should I see as far as normal oil pressures?