Engine Fox Body Oil Pump Replacement

ragtop88

Member
Mar 11, 2019
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Rhode Island
Need some advice... I’m currently in the process of overhauling my T5 and have the clutch & flywheel down to replace the pilot bearing and rear main seal. My question to you is, has anyone attempted to lift the engine up partially and replaced the oil pump and pan gasket. I just figured while the engine is floating on the engine mounts only, it wouldn’t be a huge task to cherry pick it a bit to get the pan down and replace the oil pump with 160K on it. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
 
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I've done it more than once unfortunately.
Get the motor up as high as you can, drop the pan onto the K member, blindly unbolt oil pump and pick up,
drop those into the pan. Now the fun part... wiggle, shift, slide , bang , curse the pan out the back side of K member.
Reverse the process by putting pump/pick up back in pan , finagle pan back in position, blindly bolt in pump/pickup
don't forget gaskets , then bolt up pan.
Not fun but can be done.
 
What Steel1 said. I did it the same way. It sucks but can be done. Get the 1 piece pan gasket, the Felpro one comes with plastic studs that will hold the gasket and pan up while you bolt it up.
 
Just me but I would never feel confident doing it that way. I have to watch every bolt and gasket and make sure they are perfect. It would drive me crazy to assume all was good in there.
 
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Been there, done that - You can do it in the car, but it is hard to do. The best way is to pull the engine.

Disconnect the battery at the battery ground terminal, remove the fan and fan shroud. Both motor mounts will need to have the large nuts that secure them to the frame removed. The trans mount will also have to be loosened, and it is a good idea to remove the drive shaft.

I also had to disconnect the cat pipes at the headers to get the engine high enough to remove the oil pan. Be prepared to have to drop the steering rack and disconnect the steering shaft. The flex coupling for the steering shaft needs to be disconnected before you can get the rack out. You should disassemble the coupling by removing the 2 bolts that hold it together Jack up the engine with a wood block under the oil pan and watch for things that bind or hoses/electrical wiring that may need to be disconnected. I put a couple of wood blocks between the headers and the frame to support the engine. You will likely need to jack up the rear of the transmission as well to get the required clearance.

Scrape the pan mating surfaces clean as possible - old gasket stuck to the surfaces are a source of leaks.

Get a high volume/heavy duty pump, and a replacement HD pump shaft.
If anybody tells you some fable about a high volume pump being a bad thing, see http://www.mellingengine.com/Portals/5/pdf/pdf_catalog/high-volume-pumps.pdf. The bad stuff is all Internet myth and tall tales Melling makes the pumps and they know what they are doing. HD Pump Shaft - FMS makes one, and ARP does too. When you install the pump, the funny looking washer thingy goes on the part of the shaft that fits into the hex socket in the distributor shaft. It keeps the shaft in place when you remove the distributor, which you will have to do to prime the pump. Forget to put it on, and the pump shaft can come loose and fall down in the bottom of the oil pan.

There is a one piece oil pan gasket which will help re-assembly if you can find it. If you can't get this gasket, use weather strip adhesive to secure the cork gasket to the pan rails and the rubber strips to the bearing caps. Use lots of Acetone or MEK to clean the gasket surfaces so the weather strip adhesive will stick good. Read the instructions on the adhesive carefully to make sure the gaskets are permanently stuck in place and won't move when you slide the pan in place. Use lots of blue silicone sealer on top of the front and rear rubber seals where they mate with the pan.

Fill with oil, replace the filter. Reconnect the battery, switch the ignition on to enable the gages, but DON'T crank the car. Remove the distributor and use a 1/4" hex socket to turn the pump counter clock wise (same direction as distributor rotation) until you see oil pressure (an external gage is a great help long about now). And keep turning for about 30 sec after you see the pressure come up. A reversible drill is the best tool to use to turn the 1/4" socket. The pressure should come up to about 50-80psi with cold oil. Once you see good pressure, check for obvious leaks, and then and only then, lower everything back into place and bolt down the mounts and anything else you had to take loose.

Re-install the distributor and set the timing with the engine running using timing light (don't forget to disconnect the SPOUT plug and reconnect it when finished) 12-14 degrees BDC is good. Start up and check for leaks, let it warm up and look again for leaks. It took me 2 days plus, but I am old and slow, maybe your granny is faster.