I haven't actually opened the box yet... Though I don't believe it included a pickup tube seal. Crap. Never thought about that.

 

Opened the box - no pickup gasket...
Decided to just pull the pan and see what else if anything I'd need to try and get a hold of...

ALMOST gave up and kind of shoved the pan sideways so it was sort of diagonal the the center line of the truck - side closest to the transmission towards the passengers side and front towards the drivers side. Pulled down and back towards the passenger door and got her out. (After unbolting the pickup tube, of course.

there was NO WAY this thing was coming out by going straight back... I even removed the TC covers...

that's pulled to the point I was certain I'd bend something....

Honestly concerned how putting in the new pan is going to go....
I feel like someone had recently been in here...? The pan and gasket didn't even try to stick to the motor when I was removing bolts. Gasket in phenomenal condition.

​​​​​​They DID RTV the crap out of the pickup tube gasket.... might've even been a possible leak there...

Also the pickup was FULL of all sort of debris... gasket material... metal chunks... sludge... stuff that looked like hairballs...

and did I mention.... CHUNKS OF METAL?! 😂
I went back under the engine and looked everywhere and couldn't see where the chunks would've came from... Maybe we have our answer for why the heads were redone...?

The oil pan..........


How'd THAT get here?? 😂


Look at that sludge....
good 3/16-1/4" deep....
there was A LOT more blue gasket material and chunks of stuff in the sludge....

While I was under the engine I discovered that heyyou was, indeed, correct - for the most part - you can see/access the pump cover screws when the pan is off... well, you can see 4 of 5 and can actually access 3 of 5!..... with a 1/4 torx bit and a 1/4 box end. 😂

the three I could access were good and tight... I imagine that means my pressure loss could be due to blockage and no a leak in the oil pump cover...?
​​​​​
​​​​​​Not sure I feel like I need to tear down the front of the motor to get to the oil pump now... part of me says do it and the other says don't... haha

I AM pretty happy/relieved that the oil pan was messed up and needed replaced though... I've pulled a few oil pans in my day but I've honestly have never seen anything like this.... 😂
​​​​​​

 

I don't see any real signs of leakage at the pump cover. That's a good sign.

I have seen oil pans MUCH worse, on engines that still ran..... and, of course, even worse on some that didn't.....

 

Much worse?? Haha! What was in those??

 

One of em, the tech pulled all the bolts out, expecting the pan to just drop, once he got it loose from the gasket.... It didn't. Took two guys with prybars to finally get it off, and the reason became apparent immediately. The oil was nothing but jello. Almost completely solidified. There was maybe a quart of liquid oil.... (so, the engine still ran, albeit, badly....) The customer wanted us to just clean it out, and put it back together. Tech said that wasn't gonna work, but, if that's what the customer wanted, and would actually PAY for it, he would do it, but, NO warranty on the repair. So, customer paid north of a 1000 bucks (back in the mid 90's) Picked up the car. It was back in less than a week, with a seized motor.

 

Factory oil pan gaskets are steel core, silicone both sides, get it all squeaky clean, install dry if in fine shape. Check pan for flat edges with a straight edge, new or not. Lil' bit of silicone where the timing cover meets the block.
That blue seal is for the lower intake. Why/how it passed through the cam galley is a good question. This place has been inhabited by idiots in the past. Gasket for the pickup tube is a little paper affair. Could make one, easy. All the extra silicone those clowns used went into the oil galleries somewhere. You know they never changed filters, so constant bypass.......
Timing cover is pretty easy, pull core support and radiator, undress front of engine. Will need a damper puller setup though. Lisle makes a nice one, not super expensive. Makes it easy to run the headlight harness you are about to build.
Yes, these engines seem to have been built with low oil pressure as a feature. Think the book says 15psi idle for minimum. WIX 51515 is the longer filter, fits fine. More surface area, therefore, less bypass, little more oil volume. Your '98 may have room for the 51773. Old 413 industrial filter. Longer yet. More oil, more filter area.
I've had four of these engines apart. One thing that is constant is they are all sludged up. Tiny factory filters, lack of maintenance. Pushrod tips/rockers scarred as a result. Maybe why they were known for snapping the stand bolts off. Got lucky with my '95. Old guy who owned it took care of it, pretty clean. I run Mobil1 15w40 or 20w50, truck does not idle below 30psi.
I cannot help but think you'll have better than you started with after cleanup. Like I said, can't do anything with oil pump with timing cover on. Factory screws have bit of LocTite of some sort. Never seen loose rotor cover, maybe forum parrots chattering. Can pull timing cover to check clearances if you are still not happy. Put a timing chain in it. While the rotors may still be available, the aluminum timing cover/oil pump housing is not. The aluminum case is the weak spot, usually scarred up a bit.The rotors are not generally the weak/clearance problem. Any forum fairy tale you might have heard about Viper V-10 rotors being added for extra volume, is just that.
Damper is unique part, still often available, get 'em while you can if your rubber is failing.
I have a V-8 in a 1500 4x4 that someone opened up/pulled oil pan the lazy/easy way, by pulling the pickup tube. They did not retorque the pickup properly upon assembly. When it fell into the pan later, the engine seized. Beautiful, rust free AZ truck, low miles. Bought it dirt cheap. Just an observation.

 

1. Even with hot 5w-30 mine idles at 35psi of oil pressure. I have since moved to 0w-40 and its even better.
2. maybe forum parrots chattering.... I thought that may be too but when I pulled my timing cover for doing my performance cam. 2 of the screws for the rotor cover were so tight I was worried about stripping the heads, the other 2 were barely finger tight, at 80k miles. Mine was also on 38s and used as a mud truck so take 80k miles with a grain of salt.

 

Oh yeah, that's a really bad time! Haha! I've heard about people accidentally (somehow) putting windshield washer fluid in their oil and it doing exactly that - jello.

The oil pan gasket is in really good shape - I'll make sure I clean it really good before re-install.

I think I'm officially done asking myself "why?' and "how?" with this truck... Haha! Just fix/redo everything I find that they've messed with.

I was looking for my paper gasket material last night and couldn't seem to find it - maybe I threw it away? I know I did't have much. I'm planning on stopping by the parts store and farm store on my way home and picking up some gasket paper, oil and transmission oil. Was reading people like to put Low viscosity "JD Hy-guard" tractor hydraulic fluid in these transmissions? Opinions?

I do have the small/stock sized filter on it right now. Maybe I'll take this time to upgrade. I'll write those filter numbers down and see what I can find. I was also thinking I'd go for a 15w-40 this go around. Really? 20w-50? Haha! Where do you find that??

I'll definitely make sure I get the pickup tube torqued before buttoning up the oil pan... I kind of want to just put this thing back together and see what happens with the oil pressure. I know it's been said its easier with the oil pan off - but if I don't have to get in there then I'd rather not - and I can always loosen the pan later if I do have to get in there.

 

ATF+4 trans fluid only in the automatics.

 

Yeah, I was reading that, that's what you're supposed to put in it but then I was reading also that people will do a mix or almost all Hy-gard and then add ATF+4 for color on the dipstick....
People that I was reading that have actually used the hy-gard swore by it but then there were also people that said never run anything but ATF+4 and then others that stated that you could only use the MOPAR ATF+4 and even just generic ATF+4 had given them or someone they knew problems...?

Oil debates are always fun to read but at the same time confusing... What's okay? What's better?
I suppose probably what the engineers that designed the thing say to use, huh?