Dropping the K frame, whose done it

[Day-mow]

so i have an epic bull crap leak and its really ticking me off! seeing as im changing ball joints i feel as if im almost half way there to dropping the K frame, taking the sump off and changing the gasket's in the effected area.

but if anyones done this it would be sweet to know.

[Evgeni]

Here is a step by step of what I do when I get the old sump problem. I have heard of people lifting the motor, but I prefer to take the sub frame out.
What you will need in advance if you dont have another car to run to the shop with.
Engine oil, power steering fluid, zip ties, o rings for the p/s lines, maniseal and exhaust gaskets, thread locker, anti seize and rtv.

1. Jack up the car, take the f/wheels off, drain oil and remove the neg battery terminal.

2. Hit the ball joints, lower arm pivots, crossmember nuts and manifold to cat coverter bolts with lubricating oil.

3. Remove 2x14mm nuts from the manifold end of the cat and the 13mm nuts from the exhaust end and get the cat out of the way.

4. Get a 13mm hex socket if you have one and crack all the sump to transmission and cross sump bolts. If anything is going to seize or round, it is these. Best to get them out of the way now, in case there you get a problem with the engine hanging etc.

5. Remove anti roll bar d brackets and link pin connections and remove the anti roll bar.

6. Remove the lines from the p/s rack. I used a syringe to suck out some fluid from the reservoir. This takes forever to drain. When you get most of it out, tie the lines up with a rag. Every rack I have taken out, these lines dripped for the entire job.

7. Lock your steering. Loosen the top bolt from the steering uni joint. You will have to remove the bottom bolt from the uni joint before you can lever the joint from the rack. I didn't bother marking the rack and pinion. Just take a measurement from the tie rod end to a fixed point on the rack with the steering in the locked position. This will be a sure thing in case anything moves whilst the rack is out.

8. Remove the nuts from the tie rod ends. Dont hit the stud. Dead hammer blow or 3 to 4 blows on what the stud goes through will release it.

9. Remove the two bolts from the rack to crossmember and this is the p/s rack out.

10. Remove brake calipers and hang on the springs. Remove rotors. Might also be an idea to take out the wheel speed sensors and get them out of the way.

11. Remove the ball joint nut and release it from the spindle the same way as the tie rod. Dont be tempted to hit the stud - the ball joint will be a little more stubborn. Just be persistent.

12. Remove strut to suspension arm nut/bolt and lower control arm pivot bolts.

13. There is a bracket on the front crossmember holding the transmission cooler lines. Free this with a 12mm spanner.

14. Remove front cross member nuts, and lower control arm pivot bolts. The lower control arms will come out as the crossmember drops.

15. Remove thermo fans.

16. Use a 3/8 rachet and release the belt tensioner in order to remove the drive belt.

17. Remove the electrical connectors from the alternator and remove the alternator.

18. Hang up the engine on a crane or brace and remove the through bolts on the two engine mounts.


19. Remove the alloy cross member bolts and remove the crossmember.

20. The sump is yours for the taking. I just left a alternator mounting bolt in and levered the thing off. It can stick on pretty tight, although you woundn't know it will all the oil that is probably leaking out of it.

21. Make sure you clean the surfaces up and use some rtv, especially around the half moon ends. This is where it is most likely will leak from.

22. Torque everything back up to spec. Anti seize on bolts such as the sump to transmision and p/s line connections. Loctite on all suspension connections.

Hope this helps you. Sorry for the long post. Yell out if you get stuck.

[Day-mow]

Dude. Awesome!!!! I just realized that I don't have the time to do this but this will happen soon. Thank you!!

[Evgeni]

Yeah - Its a full days work. Took me a about 2-3 hours to get the sump off. Most of the time was taken cleaning surfaces, rubbing down bolts with a wire brush, cleaning parts while they were out. It will be a good time to do your water pump if you need to whilst everything is out.
Just note, I had a rear main leak as well. Open the inspection plate on the front of the bell housing and this will give you an idea if this is gone as well.