What to do about an oil pan full of coolant and grime

[Stokestack]

Hi all.

I have to fix a blown-out plug hole on my '96 Cobra. I'm in the midst of this epic disassembly and just removed the timing cover. To do that, I had to remove the water pump.

Of course, this unleashed a cascade of coolant and grime that went right into my oil pan (not to mention the timing chains). I conclude that I must remove the oil pan to clean it out, and this looks like the biggest pain in the ass of this entire job so far (and that's saying quite a bit).

I'm doing all this in a tandem parking space in a rental-apartment parking lot, so there'll be no engine hoist.

I suppose I could attempt to flush the pan from the slot that's available at the front of it right now with the timing cover off. I do have a borescope that I can use to inspect the interior. Not sure what the best flushing solvent would be.

But given the way that the timing cover mates with the front edge of the oil pan, how often do these things go back together without leaking anyway? I don't have reason the believe the gasket is damaged, but I haven't looked carefully.

Ugh, you get the picture. Recommendations welcome. I was feeling pretty good about the progress thus far, but the pain in the ass of removing this pan is very disheartening.

 

[Jeremy Martin]

I dont own a Cobra however I did have to replace my timing chain cover on my 99 GT and to ensure I didnt have any issues with the pan gasket leaking out the front i just used red RTV on it. So basically i just coated the gasket for the oil pan with red RTV and the corners of the block where the pan meets the block. I havent had a leak yet.

As for the crap that fell in the pan...maybe you can get some small cheap shop vac with some small tubing you dont give a crap about and suck that crap out of there after draining the oil? I mean its a hillbilly way of doing it but it sounds like you are in a pickle and dont really have many options in a parking lot. You could use your scope to see if you got it all and if not flush it out and try again. Might be a dumb idea that wont work but its an idea

 

[Stokestack]

Hahaha thanks Jeremy. I’ll probably try flushing it and scoping it. If that’s not conclusive, I might just do the rest of the project and then have it towed to my mechanic for this last bit.

Very annoying, though.

 

[wmburns]

For the Mustang the oil pan is very difficult to remove with the motor in the car. The motor will need to be supported from above and the K-member dropped. A huge PIA.

Given the baffles inside the oil pan I have doubts that a scope will tell you what you want to know. But it couldn't hurt.

If it was just coolant and road grim that went into the oil pan I would be tempted to put it back together and over fill with cheap oil. Drain. Then refill with fresh oil. Any debris that might remain in the oil pan is likely to be trapped inside the oil filter.

Or maybe use mineral spirits poured directly into the oil pan to start with.

If it's larger debris that went into the oil pan that's a different story.

I wouldn't be concerned about the coolant. Just let it drain out before adding any oil the first time.

I would also be tempted to change the oil again after a few hundred miles. Further cut open the oil filter to inspect the filter element for debris. I have an oil filter cutter and do this at every oil change. It has saved me two motors. This is the one I have. Works very well but there are cheaper ones. The important part is to "just do it".

Longacre Oil Filter Cutters 77750
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/lng-77750/overview/

My experience with timing covers says that if you follow the instructions and put RTV where they say they say. Torque the bolts to spec. They won't leak.

Are you replacing the timing chains at the same time?

 

[Stokestack]

Thanks for all that info. I guess that's encouraging. The stuff that fell into the pan is the caked grime off the timing cover... although there might be some wood splinters from the water pump where I was wailing away on it with a board and mallet. However, this all fell straight down and I can at least take a look in the front lip of the tray and get a pretty good idea of what's in there. I have a shop vac and some vinyl tubing, so I could suck stuff out that isn't too embedded.

I wasn't going to replace the timing chains or guides (unless inspection reveals an obvious problem). Is that dumb? I could go crazy replacing things simply because I've done all this disassembly work, but I'd rather spend money where it's definitely needed.

For example, if I knew I could get '03 heads and had a detailed list of everything I need to do to make them work on my '96, I would be willing to throw down because that also eliminates my original problem poo:ty threads in the '96 heads).

So I'm open to any advice you'd like to dispense...

Gavin

 

[wmburns]

I wasn't going to replace the timing chains or guides (unless inspection reveals an obvious problem). Is that dumb?

Generally speaking anything over 150k miles could be on borrowed time. So unless the maintenance history has been beyond great AND the guides show no real signs of ware, I would not have that much of the job done and not replace the timing chains. The worst part of the job is already done for you.

IMO the answer is yes.

 

[Stokestack]

Now I have the engine at TDC and the last things before the head are the timing chain and exhaust manifold. What needs to be done to disconnect the exhaust manifold? The factory manual procedure is outrageous.

Thanks for any insight.

Gavin