I have a 96 dodge cummins.

The oil pan has some rust circles that appear to be weaping through. Here in the northeast they have a tendency to overuse roadsalt so eventually everything under the truck is rusty!

I would like to replace this now before it ruptures and destroys the engine.

I bought the pan $75 gasket $25.

Now, I looked back in some old threads and some say you have to pull the motor.

some say remove motor mount bolts, fan and shroud, hood and valve cover. lift from front eyelet about 4". remove pan bolts, reach in and remove pickup tube bolts. drop tube in pan and slide the pan out.

anyone ever considered cuting the crossmenber tube then welding it back in?

I know it sounds like a hack but if it will save hours of time and alot of B.S. !!!

After all the truck probably will not make another 10 years.

I'm sure I can cut it with a sawzall. the only thing im afraid of is the chassis moving and not lining up when I put the crossmember back in...


HELP!!!

 

You do not need to pull the motor, but you do have to loosen the motor mounts and jack the engine up to work the pan around the cross member. It also really helps to remove the front body bolts and jack up the body to clear the engine when you lift it.

There are pretty decent instructions on how to do this in the Haynes Manual #30041. They recommend jacking the engine up and supporting the mounts with wood blocks, then removing the jack and pulling the pan. I use a motor hoist and just support it from the lifting hooks, but whatever lights your fire - either way works just fine.