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V6 oil pan 000
DAY ZERO The V6 Tracker has an aluminum upper oil pan and a steel lower pan. The upper oil pan is also referred to as the lower crankcase. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...5d7e2b6a2f.jpg My engine is seeping oil at the interface of the upper and lower crankcase. Both the Suzuki and Chevy manuals call for replacement of the O-rings when reinstalling the oil pan(s). https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...849e23ebc5.png The problem is neither Suzuki nor Chevy sell the O-rings anymore. The O-rings are only available as part of the lower engine gasket set. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...d67e6893aa.png The gasket set contains more parts than are required for just an oil pan installation. I'll start the repair in earnest tomorrow (day one). Today I put the car on jack stands and drained the engine oil. I removed the front wheels and unbolted the tie-rod ends. This $20 tool from Harbor Freight is essential for separating the tie-rod from the steering knuckle.. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...9bf9a48307.jpg The undamaged tie-rod comes loose in 30 seconds. A pickle fork will only lead to grief and regret. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...d4a55a7add.jpg I unbolted the half-shaft on the driver's side. Both the rack and pinion assembly and the 4WD differential have to be removed to gain access to the oil pan(s). https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...39300f6ab5.jpg I unbolted the front driveshaft from the back of the differential. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...8ff957700a.jpg I removed the dipstick tube... https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...5c0dbf2f31.jpg … drained the differential oil https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...6739bfc386.jpg The Suzuki manual says to remove the rack and pinion assembly first, but a contributor on the Suzuki forum removed the differential first. I'll make my decision tomorrow. Either way I'm keeping a clean work area and sorting all the parts I remove. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...55d6e9d2eb.jpg |
V6 oil pan 001
DAY ONE
I decided to remove the differential first. The day ended with mixed results. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...2764a621da.jpg I pried the front driveshaft away from the 4WD differential. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...befafe7d99.jpg I was able to get the air pump hose disconnected with just my fingers. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...470d695056.jpg I removed and degreased the center mount. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...4d2a245d18.jpg I unbolted the left and right mounts. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...5708321cbd.jpg I bolted a wooden cradle to my floor jack. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...0c56ea7efe.jpg But no matter what I tried I could not I could not get the passenger half-shaft to release from the differential. Last time this happened the hog-nose ring broke inside the differential. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...b006774239.jpg Rather than have that happen again I decided to remove the snap ring from the wheel end of the half-shaft and pull the whole thing out as an assembly. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...acf6d82b96.jpg That actually worked. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...802d953542.jpg The bad news is the snap ring was mangled. This has been an ongoing problem I thought I had fixed. This won't impeded the oil pan repair but it means I will have to order new parts before I can reinstall the differential. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...443eabf34e.jpg Since one of those parts is going to be a new half-shaft, I had to beat the old one out of the differential. Of course half the hog-nose ring broke off inside the differential again. Luckily I was able to fish it out with a small retrieval magnet. My goal for tomorrow is to remove the rack and pinion assembly. |
V6 oil pan 002
DAY TWOI spent the morning visiting 4x4 shops hoping someone had a solution to my snap ring problem. They didn't. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...7b0c99edbe.jpg With the differential out of the car I had much better access to the rack and pinion assembly. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...dfc484f424.jpg The steering column coupler came off easier than I expected. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...744728300a.jpg Access to the banjo bolts was limited. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...30402b8c1b.jpg I spent $7 at Lowe's on two 100mm metric bolts. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...1b138e58a8.jpg I hung the rack and pinion on the long bolts so I could slide it away from the frame. At first $7 for two bolts seemed like an extravagance, but I could not have removed that bottom banjo bolt without them. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...f9bb95d379.jpg I managed to catch all the power steering fluid in a pan. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...bde37e5ae1.jpg The rack and pinion assembly is amazingly light. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...e141867b84.jpg Originally the lower oil pan used a gasket (one is included in the gasket set) but later engines switched to an RTV seal. My engine uses RTV. I tried to separate the upper and lower oil pans with a box cutter. When that failed I repeatedly thumped it with a dead-blow mallet. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...bd6d5daef4.jpg I was surprised how few gentle taps it took to break the seal. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...dee3d4e138.jpg With the lower oil pan removed the oil pump pick-up tube is clearly visible. Tomorrow I will attempt to remove the upper oil pan (aka the lower crankcase). |
V6 oil pan 003
DAY THREEhttps://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...6d37843517.jpg I soaked the rim of the lower oil pan in xylene to soften up the old RTV silicone seal. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...4ebb78f1b2.jpg Xylene is slow acting but it softens the RTV to a point where it can be scraped off with a wooden popsicle stick and toothpick. It does attack paint but it leaves the mating surface clean and smooth without damaging the metal. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...e0ecc8b55f.jpg The lower oil pan is held on with 10mm bolts except for two 10mm nuts and two very long 12mm bolts at the rear https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...0608198a1d.jpg I was able to position the lower oil pan such that I could get a 1/4"ratchet inside the pan in order to remove the 10mm bolt on the far side of the oil pump pick-up pipe. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...ac2fc54979.jpg The oil pan cannot be removed until the pick-up pipe is out of the way. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...4794b1a654.jpg And finally the upper oil pan is out of the car. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...058b46eb37.jpg With the oil pan out of the way you can look right up the piston skirts. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...16bd75fd27.jpg I think this oval cavity was the source of my oil leak. One, it's located exactly where oil was oozing out and two, there was no evidence of leakage anywhere there was RTV. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...cf5c7a4b8b.jpg Instead of RTV this cavity had an oval O-ring inside this oval channel. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...3ad9302df8.jpg The new O-ring is round and flexible. The old O-ring is flat and brittle. I don't know why they didn't put RTV around the cavity but not doing so seems like it was a mistake. Tomorrow I will start prepping the engine for reassembly. There is still a lot of RTV residue to clean off. |
V6 oil pan 004
DAY FOUR
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...b08b381a6a.jpg I soaked the upper oil pan in a pan of xylene. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...b396de01c2.jpg That helped remove the old RTV silicone seal https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...7911fd0b2a.jpg Both sides of oil pan's interior had a coating of burnt oil. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...95e27875aa.jpg I had a contaminated can of parts cleaner left over from a carburetor rebuild. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...d8462be9bc.jpg It did a fair job of dissolving the oil film but it took a long time and a lot of elbow grease. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...f58e520753.jpg Next I cleaned mating surface on the bottom of the upper crankcase. The engine's been dripping oil for five days. This picture just made me realize why. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...cb6759a2ff.jpg This is where the new oval O-ring goes. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...54243c1442.jpg The differential was caked with engine oil residue. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...31f97b95cf.jpg I taped off the openings and gave it a shot of engine degreaser. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...177665171d.jpg So now the car is ready to go back together. |
V6 oil pan 005
DAY FIVE
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...0a70ede935.jpg I had bagged and tagged all my fasteners during disassembly. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...eaa1b3cacc.jpg The two new oil pick-up pipe O-rings are red. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...78a2d16c42.jpg One of the old O-rings was still on the pipe. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...ba8bccab3a.jpg The other was stuck inside the oil pump. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...d62380e5ff.jpg I applied RTV 3/4 of the way around the perimeter of the upper oil pan. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...ede2f6699a.jpg After I got the pick-up pipe bolted to the oil pump, I completed the RTV bead around the perimeter. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...674b6ab927.jpg I tightened the upper oil pan bolts just enough to squeeze out excess RTV. After it cures overnight I will torque all the bolts to 8 lb-ft. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...ec7a53dc0c.jpg I reconnected the pick-up pipe bracket. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...5dc0d33a35.jpg I installed a new oil filter and reinstalled the dipstick tube. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/chevrol...7df5e4fe0a.jpg This is the "full' mark on the dipstick. It is 2" above the top of the lower oil pan and 7" from the bottom of the oil pick-up pipe. |
how hard is it to hit "reply"? not trying to be harsh and i do appreciate people doing write-ups but the way youre doing it they would have to search for "V6 oil pan 001", "V6 oil pan 002", "V6 oil pan 003", "V6 oil pan 004" and so on and so on. theres no way to link them, if you click "reply" it will link them all together and not spread all over
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I was starting new threads as a work-around to the ten picture limit. I will try REPLY and see what happens.
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the 10 picture limit is per post not thread
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Since that's the case let me start over. I'll unify everything into one post tomorrow.
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