Removing sump with engine in car???

[cisco 111]

At first I thought I had a leaking rear main seal. Removed bell housing cover for a look and flywheel and seal were clean. Looked over and saw oil pressure switch was leaking at the crimp (quite common). Replaced that with new but still getting an oil drip on garage floor.

It looks to be the rear part of sump gasket (the U bit) that is leaking.

 

That prompts the question in the title. I read somewhere that if you raise the engine 50 mm the sump can be taken out. Can anybody confirm this and give further advices. Thanks in advance.

[deankxf 20,292]

it's extremely difficult from what i've seen, 
to change sump gasket you could probably do it without fully removing it, undo engine mounts, jack engine by cross member as high as it goes (bonnet up) (bell housing will hit the tunnel) then you can undo the sump enough to get the gasket on.. 

 

be 100 times easier on a hoist. 

 

we tried to remove the sump on a crossflow XD about 30yrs ago, sway bar out, engine jacked up.. didn't seem possible but i'd heard it was. we were able to get enough access to do whatever we were doing anyway (big end bearing spun.. check if crank stuffed.. yep, game over.. ) 

 

[cisco 111]

I have an engine hoist, trolley jack and stands.

 

I am thinking though that it will not be possible to get the shallow part of the sump past the oil pick up.

 

Spoke with my Ford expert today and he thinks he has done it in the past. He has done plenty of V8 sump removals.

 

The problem is that the rubber U pieces are made too long and you get a bit of a crimp in them. He said he always has to cut them, take a bit out then glue it back together.

 

I remember when I was putting it on having trouble with it. You can't just cut some off the ends as they have a shaped foot.

 

Starting to look like an engine out job.  : -(

[deankxf 20,292]

6 minutes ago, cisco said:

 

Starting to look like an engine out job.  : -(

yeah in a standard ish car i'd pull the engine, be easier.  and probably quicker. 

if you had all kinds of mods it might make sense to leave the engine in but then that stuff would likely get in the way of jacking it up also. 

 

i'm sure people on here have said they'd got them out, we gave up more on the grounds of ... what if we can't put it back.. and also, not entirely necessary to get it out. 

[Slow250XC 1,513]

Have done my xc a couple of times in the past. Undo engine mounts, remove swaybar, jack up engine far enough to fit some bits of 2x4 under each engine mount, sump comes out with a bit of a twist and wiggle.

Prick of a job tbh.

[gerg 10,871]

I did mine on my V8, but 6s might be a whole different ballgame. The oil pickup could well be a pain, may need to remove that with sump dropped to remove completely. If you still have the gearbox off, it would make it much easier to juggle the engine around inside the bay.

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[cisco 111]

I am not liking the idea of being under the car and working on it with the engine and gearbox suspended above me.

If it comes to the point of having to take the gearbox out it is not a whole lot more to take the engine out completely.

 

Thanks for the feed back fellas. I thought there might be somebody on the forum who had done it recently and describe exactly how it is done.

 

At the moment it is not a drastic leak so I will keep driving it until I get everything in place to pull it out. With the engine out I can lay it over on the exhaust side or upside down and make sure I get it right this time.

 

Can't get genuine sump gasket kits and ole mate tells me these Chinese made ones are just not as accurately made. That sounds familiar!!!!

 

Thanks again. I'll do a vid of the job and post it.

[Mr Polson 10,214]

Sump off in car (XF) - yes.
Sump REMOVED from car - no.

I tried with XF once. Could get the sump off the engine. Couldn't get the sump out. Managed to get the oil pickup & pump off and out. Still couldn't get sump out. Even with engine lifted as high as I was willing with hoses, wiring and gearbox attached.

Could possibly be doable if away bar was removed.

[cisco 111]

That settles it. Out it comes. I know I can do that.

[Bob Valdez 136]

I've pulled the sump from an XD before. Drop the sway bar, lift the engine up and put blocks under the mounts, remove the oil pump and pick up and it SHOULD be able to be manouvered out. You might have to rotate the crank to allow the back of the sump to clear the crank counterweights and rods, etc but it will come out with patience.

[Slow250XC 1,513]

My xc is a 6 banger, as said above it is possible once swaybar is dropped/removed. These days i have unrestricted access to the workshop so last bit of engine work i just pulled it out.

[cisco 111]

I managed to solve the problem by removing the bell housing half cover, degreasing and then wiping Three Bond High Temp RTV Silicon into the slight gap between the sump and the rubber seal.

It wasn't a big leak but enough to fail a RWC inspection. I should probably have put the RTV silicon on it when fitting the sump. Anyway I am most happy that it no longer leaks.