oil pan

[Jonah D'Avella]

The oil pan on my touring hasn't been removed for at least 40 years, should i drain the oil and take it off and then clean up in there?

[TXGOAT2]

If the engine is in running condition, I'd add a pint of Marvel Mystery Oil and run the engine at about 1,000 RPM for 15 minutes or so, then drain the oil into a clean container and examine it for any indications of water or loose metal particles. I'd refill with clean 10W30 oil, such as WalMart sells in the 5 qt bottles, and go from there. If the oil gets very dark and/or thickens as you drive the car, change the oil again.

[Jonah D'Avella]

So no need to take off the oil pan cover?

[Humblej]

No need to go in there to clean up. And no harm to do it if you want to. Oil is in the tranny side if the oil pan, so no need to drain the oil first or at all. Some ullage is in and around the cover so draining the oil will not get rid of it, there will be about 1/4 a quart or less of oil that will come out when the bolts and cover is removed, better not be directly under it when you do it.

[TRDxB2]

Here's the problem. It is likely that previous owners used non-detergent motor oil, which allowed engine deposits to accumulate, referred to as sludge. Some advocate the this sludge clings to the engine walls others, that it gets heavier and falls to the bottom on the pan. Now Marvel Mystery Oil is known to loosen sludge. So here's the dilemma: If you have a lot and it loosens to much at once then it could cause engine issues.
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Your young and inquisitive and have the Summer ahead of you so Yeah, Do It. Then you'll know what you have!
Just clean the "inspection pan", nothing else. Then use Marvel as directed and end the Mystery

[RajoRacer]

It sure couldn't hurt anything Jonah ! If you've never removed the lower cover since you've owned the T, you might as well remove it & both the retainers - if the inside shelf those retainers sit one hasn't been cleaned off, they can hold a bunch of sludge, Babbitt pieces, cotter pins, wire, etc. ! You'll also get the opportunity to see what the heck is in the basement - any possible rod shims, cam condition, piston material (unless you've had the head off) & general condition. It's a bit easier to remove the wishbone to have clear access to the bolts & cover.

[Russ T Fender]

If you really want to get in there and see whats going on jack up the front of the car so all the oil drains out of the dips in the inspection pan back into the sump. Remove the inspection pan to see what you have. If there's lots of sludge in the dips you might want to next drain the oil out of the sump and flush that out with kerosene to remove the sludge in the sump. After you are comfortable that you have most of the sludge removed button it up again and add 3 quarts of oil and one quart of kerosene. Run the engine until it reaches normal operating temperature, shut it off and jack the front up again to get everything to drain back to the sump. Drain it all out and then refill with fresh oil. I usually switch to detergent oil at this point and change it again after a few runs. That is what I do when I get a new car with unknown history. Sometimes everything looks good when the inspection pan is dropped and all I need to do is an oil change. Other times there is so much sludge that I have to repeat the whole process above more than once. Hopefully you'll get lucky. With the pan off it's a good time to check the rods. I would drop the pan regardless. Good practice for you and a great opportunity to inspect things.

[Allan]

I'd second Steve's point about the horse shoes in the pan. When I replaced the no 1 rod in Henrietta through the pan inspection plate hole, I removed the two horse shoes to get them out of the way. You would not believe the amount of gritty sludge lodged between the horse shoes and the sides of the pan. The grit was carbon, likely from the underside of the cast iron piston tops. A thorough wipe down and kero gun clean made a nice job of it.

Allan from down under.

[Mark Nunn]

If you do this job, reinstalling the horseshoes and inspection cover can be difficult. You cannot see the horseshoes while holding the pan in place. How do you install the bolts?

I made alignment studs to ease the assembly. I cut the heads off of four 5/16-18 bolts and cut a slit on the cut end for a screwdriver. I put the horseshoes in place and put two studs into each of them. Then the inspection pan slipped over the studs and all bolt holes were lined up. Add your bolts, replace studs with bolts and the job is done. You will need to use sealant washers to hold back leaks. I used neoprene but others have made washers from rubber fuel hoses.

[Steve Jelf]

What Mark said.

You can also use them for the transmission cover. There you only need two. Install them before you remove the cover and take them out after you replace it, so there's no chance of dropping one into the Black Hole of Misery.