2003 oil pan bolt torque specs and tightening sequence | Ford Thunderbird club group 1955-2005 T-Bird models

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2003 oil pan bolt torque specs and tightening sequence

  • Thread starter Thread starter afhanson72
  • Start date Start date
  1. Install a new oil pan gasket and the oil pan. Tighten the bolts in the sequence shown in two stages.
    • Stage 1: Tighten to 5 Nm (44 lb-in).
    • Stage 2: Tighten to 12 Nm (9 lb-ft).
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I'm about to attack this job on my 130k, 03 bird, have a small seepage and it needs a new gasket after 19 years of duty. It seems pretty simple in steps to remove the x-brace and then the pan bolts. New gasket and then torqueing the bolts and x-brace back on. Anyone tackled this before and come across any issue? Thanks!
 
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Issyro said:
I'm about to attack this job on my 130k, 03 bird, have a small seepage and it needs a new gasket after 19 years of duty. It seems pretty simple in steps to remove the x-brace and then the pan bolts. New gasket and then torqueing the bolts and x-brace back on. Anyone tackled this before and come across any issue? Thanks!
Click to expand...
No big deal; I did it on my 2003 with 60k; a little messy when dropping the pan, but of course most oil already drained; you might as well change the drain plug; again, you can do it, no big deal. Best, Ron, Florida
 
Well the Tbird gods have spoken! Went through the process to the point where I was about to torque the pan bolts in the second sequence to 9 FT. Lbs. As I was just putting my socket on one of the bolts, it decided to just break. Broken part of course within the lower engine and not grabbable. I now will have to take it to my mechanic so he can extract that darn little thing as I do not want to chance it myself and making it worse. I found the part number for the bolt and will order all 17 of them tomorrow from the dealership. I'm changing them all and do not trust 19 year old bolts as with my luck I will break another one. The new bolt part number is FORD W701504-S427.
 
It was an adventure to find out that the oil pan bolts mentioned above are not being stocked per Ford any longer. After visits to Auto Zone, NAPA auto parts and internet research Pan Bolts.jpgI found what I needed. You can find replacement bolts at HOME DEPOT, firstly they have to be a high tensile class (G 8.8) type and the size is (M6 1.0 x 20mm). Perfect replace hex bolt, package attached below along with the washers.
 
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