1973 460 Oil Pan Removal and No Oil Pressure | Ford Thunderbird forum club group 1955-2005 models

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1973 460 Oil Pan Removal and No Oil Pressure

B

BigBird28

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Thunderbird Year
1973
A while back I completely lost oil pressure driving to work. Zero PSI and the oil light was on. Lucky me I was only a block away so I idled it home, maybe 200 yards. It did start knocking but nothing I feel too worried about. I've finally gotten around to getting it into my home garage, jacked it up and got to work. I pulled the distributor and saw the oil pump shaft was still in place. So I'm pulling the pan to replace the oil pump.

Today I managed to remove all the bolts (which included unbolting the starter) and the pan is now free. However, I do not have the clearance to get the pan off. I knew about not having clearance going into the job so I went ahead with jack the motor up via the crank pulley. I finally got a decent enough configuration with some 2x4s and started slowly jacking. However, I only seemed to achieve raising slightly lighting the car so I aborted. I should also note, I did this with the car on jack stands just behind the front tires.

What am I doing wrong? I know 460s are known to be tricky in getting the pan off with the engine in the car, but any advice or guidance would be appreciated.

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I'm sorry to say, but you are probably not going to get it off. You have to be able to clear the oil pump and pickup. At this point it's probably best to just continue your efforts and pull the engine.
On to your oil pressure problem. More then likely you are going to need crank bearings, and cam bearings. Cam bearings are frequently the cause of low oil pressure in older engines and often overlooked.
 
74 Harley said:
I'm sorry to say, but you are probably not going to get it off. You have to be able to clear the oil pump and pickup. At this point it's probably best to just continue your efforts and pull the engine.
On to your oil pressure problem. More then likely you are going to need crank bearings, and cam bearings. Cam bearings are frequently the cause of low oil pressure in older engines and often overlooked.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your input! I wasn’t initially planning on pulling the engine as I don't quite have the resources to do so right now. I heard about the oil pump pickup getting in the way. Is there a way to separate there a way to separate the pickup and oil pump with the pan still on?

Also appreciate your feedback on the oil pressure. The thing is, the oil pressure had been holding very well until that one morning when it instantly dropped to zero. It didn’t sound catastrophic like a spun bearing and the engine only has about 50K original miles. You’d still do the cam and crank bearings?
 
Absolutely! So here's the rub. You probably can reach in and unbolt the oil pump, maybe even get the drive rod out of it without too much hassle. Then you -might- get the pan out. However, you would have to reverse that process to get the pan back on. This is where the likelihood gets real slim....
You already seem to have the ability and tools handy, and you can rent a cherry picker pretty cheap.
The oil pump is a gear- rotor, they're not known for sudden failure. It makes me believe that something else let go. If it truly is that low of mileage then you have a high probability of the stock timing chain with a nylon upper gear. These had a habit of disintegrating and plugging up the oil pickup starving the engine for oil.
Most people don't realize the time is just as bad as high mileage, sometimes even worse.
 
Wow! Definitely on the same page. About an hour ago I peaked into the pan to see if I could unbolt the pump (after deciding I don’t have room for an engine crane right now). Decided to try and succeeded. Now the pump is unbolted and lying in the bottom of the pan. I’ll have to try to actually negotiate the pump out with the small clearance but taking a breather right now.

Great point on the stock chain, I actually swapped it out when I first got the car 3 years ago and advanced the timing. I forget the brand but it’s steel? gears and chain. But I think you’re on the right track with the chain being related. When I did that job, I tried my best but definitely had some debris (enough that I was uncomfortable about it) fall into the pan. I’ve done an oil change and new oil filter since then and everything looked alright. Even when I drained the oil this round, don’t see any metal shavings or shiny bits. But the original chain and gear(s) looked good when I did this swap. My hope is the pump either died of old age or simply got clogged.

So now, I’ll go back in and try to negotiate it out. If I can’t, I’ll try to prop it up on a jack and unbolt the left and right motor mounts.
Re the oil pressure, have you heard anything about the lifters popping out of their bore killing oil pressure? I saw a 460 thread mention that, but am curious if that’s something this community has experienced.
 
Tried to work on it again and managed to get my hand in deep enough to work the oil pump shaft out, but that's it. I need those 4 inches. So I guess back to the plan of unbolting motor mounts, jacking it up, and hoping I get 4 inches to get the oil pump out or for the pan to drop.
I managed to get my phone in there to take some photos and videos and simply cannot figure out what the pan is getting stuck on. Would be happy to share if anyone is interested.

Do they make a pan for the 73 that is easily removed??
 
You can leave the oil pump in the pan, the only way to get a lifter to pop out of the bore is to fold the push rod and have some very high rpm. Your stock motor and normal driving habits would prevent this.
 
No pan is going to be any easier. It will help to turn the engine over, you're going to be hanging up on crank journals and rod caps. Very few cars are easy to get the pan off of.
 
Appreciate your input @74 Harley
I'm going to have another go at it tomorrow and report back.
I found the step by step instructions from the 1973 Ford Shop Manual. I'll post below in case anyone needs a reference:

"
FORD, MERCURY, TORINO, MONTEGO AND THUNDERBIRD Removal

1. Disconnect the battery ground cable. Disconnect the radiator shroud from the radiator, and position it over the fan.

2. Raise the vehicle on a hoist and drain the crankcase.

3. Remove the sway bar attaching bolts. Remove the two bolts and bushings that attach the sway bar to the lower arms. Move the sway bar forward on the struts.

4. Remove the through bolt from each engine support. Place floor jack under the front edge of the oil pan, with block of wood between jack and oil pan. Raise the engine just enough to insert 1-1/4 inch blocks of wood between the insulators and brackets. Remove the floor jack.

5. Remove the oil filter.

6. Remove the oil pan attaching bolts and remove the pan. It may be necessary to rotate the crankshaft to provide clearance between the pan and crankshaft throws or counterweights.

7. Refer to Part 2 1-01 for cleaning and inspection procedures. Check the gasket surface for damage caused by over-torqued bolts. Straighten the surface as required to restore original flatness.

Installation

I. Clean the gasket surfaces of the block and oil pan. Coat the block surface and the oil pan gasket surface with oil-resistant sealer. Position the oil pan gaskets on the cylinder block.

2. Position the oil pan front seal on the cylinder front cover. Be sure that the tabs on the seal are over the oil pan gasket.

3. Position the oil pan rear seal on the rear main bearing cap. Be sure that the tabs on the seal are over the oil pan gasket.

4. Hold the oil pan in place against the block and install a bolt, finger tight, on each side of the oil pan. Install the remaining bolts. Torque the bolts from the center outward in each direction to specifications.

5. Move the stabilizer bar into position and install the attaching bolts. Rotate the stabilizer bar into position and attach the ends to the lower control arms.

6. Install a new oil filter.

7. Raise the engine slightly with a floor jack and wood block against the forward edge of the oil pan. Remove the wood spacers from under the front support insulators. Lower the engine as required to install the insulator through bolts. Remove the jack, then torque the nuts to specifications.

8. Lower the vehicle on a hoist and attach shroud to radiator. Connect the battery ground cable.

9. Fill the crankcase. Start the engine and check for leaks.

OIL PUMP Removal

1. Remove the oil pan, following the procedure under Oil Pan Removal.

2. Remove the oil pump mounting bolts, and remove the pump from the cylinder block. Installation

1. Prime the oil pump by filling the inlet or with engine oil. Rotate the pump shaft to distribute oil within the pump body.

2. Install the distributor intermediate shaft in the oil pump rotor shaft. Apply oil-resistant sealer to the new oil pump mounting gasket and install the gasket on the oil pump.
"

3. Insert the intermediate shaft into the distributor shaft hex bore. Make certain that the intermediate shaft is properly seated. Do not force the pump into position if it will not seat readily. The intermediate shaft hex may be misaligned with distributor shaft. To align, rotate the intermediate shaft until it can be seated. Secure .the oil pump to cylinder block and torque the screws to specifications. Make certain that gasket is properly installed. Oil leakage can cause loss of. oil pressure and extensive engine damage.

4. Install the oil pan and related parts, following procedure under Oil Pan Installation.
 
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