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Oil pan removal without hoist?

1K views 8 replies 4 participants last post by  immattj 
#1 ·
Hello all, I'm new here but I am in hopes someone may be able to help me out.

At the beginning of the year I picked up a 2004 Dakota 4.7 2wd for $1500. Thought I Was getting a great deal. Was a southern truck with no rust and to my knowledge at that point all it needed was a heater core. That was wrong on all counts. Turns out the previous owner neglected my poor truck quite a bit. So far i have replaced the rear end. Had to replace the solenoid pack in the transmission, brakes were metel on metel, had an exhaust leak and leaky valve covers. I have done more but it would take too long to list it all.

On to my current problem. Lately after the truck is warmed up when I am at a stop the oil pressure drops way down and my check gauges lite comes on. The oil isn't low or over full. So I am in hopes that it's either the sensor or the pickup screen is clogged. I plan to replace the sensor and clean the oil pan/pickup tube. Luckily I have rwd so I don't have to deal with removing the front axle etc. However from my reading when removing the oil pan you need to lift the engine. This is where I have issues. I don't own a hoist as I have never gotten into anything as complicated as an engine swap. Does anyone know of a way to lift the engine a few inches without a hoist so I can remove the oil pan?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give!
 
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#3 ·
Thanks for the advice! I think I may try just replacing the sensor and doing an oil change first. From what I have read our trucks don't like Fram filters and a few people have had this issue due to them. Of course that has to be the filter I am using lol. If that fixes the problem awesome. If not I will probably go to my local harbor freight and pick one of those up.
 
#8 ·
So this morning I drove it for about 45-60 minutes. Dropped my oldest off at their bus stop, went to dunkins drive thru, let it idle a bit in the Walmart parking lot and everything seems to be running well no drop in pressure at all. I am so glad it seems to be working well. I was not looking forward to dropping the pan or replacing the pump/bearings.
 
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