New to buick world I need to remove oil pan in 72gs 455 (sounds like spun bearing) can this be done with motor in the car?? if so any helpful suggestions? thanks shawn
You've got to raise the motor to drop it. I've never done it but I have to help my friend do it to his 72 to replace a leaky gasket. If you can unbolt and jack up the engine 3 or 4 inches you might be able to slide it out.
thanks guys good to know that I don't have to pull the motor. I have a set of long tubes on hope I don't have to remove. they were the #*@*#.
You shouldn't have to drop the headers. Remove the fan or fan shroud before you try jacking the engine up. It only needs to come up a couple inches.
Thanks Smartin, good news on the headers I will remove fan and shroud so I don't break them. This site is a good resource. THANKS thanks shawn
not sure if thats the problem, dip stick broke off in pan around the same time. so if I can fix problem with out pulling motor I will.
Also pull the starter and trans inspection shield,if its an air car be careful when jacking engine you don't crack the air box on the right side at the fire wall.gary
I would open up the oil filter first and look for metal flakes. If it sounds like a spun bearing it probably is. Sorry
a little history about my skill level. I have only been into a couple of motors and mostly top end like new cams, did my first valve job and port and polish job 2yrs ago gasket matching ect. probably just enough mechenic ability to get me into trouble! with that in mind I was under the impression that a bearing was the week point and would be were the damage would be if this is true why should I have to pull the motor? looking for advice!
1. Check for the metal flakes. If they are there they are all through the motor. 2. If you have the flakes you need to rebuild the motor. Just throwing in new bearings is maybe getting you a few thousand miles down the road. 3. After the last 2 years (pulled motor 3 times) I find that pulling the motor is no big deal. Hardest part for me is getting the hood off. 4. When I spun 7 and 8 I was lucky and got it when you could only feel it not hear it. Because of this did not have to have the crank reground. If you can hear the bearing you will probably need to regrind the crank. Most of us have been there and it sucks. Best to think of it as an opportunity. Hopefully you will open up the oil filter and find nothing. That will change everything. My main point is that pulling a motor is not that big a deal on our cars (don't ask about LT1 Camaroes:idea2: )
how do you open up the filter with out getting metal flakes in it? are the bearings going to have the brass or copper look and the filters aluminum color? It would suck to have to rebuild as rebuild may be old it only has about 5000 miles on it.
put a hole in it with a chisel and cut the rest with tin snips. The bad flakes are sliver and copper.
