I have a '90 F150 with 4.9L 6-cyl, manual transmission (5-spd). It is leaking motor oil from the oil pan gasket. It is also leaking transmission lubricant from the rear seal (where it goes into the transfer case). I do the easy mechanical repairs and routine maintenance myself, but I'm not sure if I want to tackle these repairs myself. Has anyone successfully repaired these leaks themselves? If so, how was it? Any special tools/tricks required? I have a Chilton manual, but it's sometimes hard to follow.

 

I put a new oil pan and pan gasket on my 1996 300/6 and it took me and my buddy about a day and a half. We had to jack up the motor to get the pan out and that was a little involved but it is doable if you are willing to try and if you have the right tools.

 

I have a floor jack - any other special tools required? Is it necessary/difficult to remove the intake manifold as instructed in Chilton?

 

You need to drain and take out the radiator, unbolt the exhaust downpipe, and unbolt the engine mounts, this will allow the engine to be jacked up. You should be able to jack the engine up till it hits the firewall and then place a piece of wood between the engine and the engine mounts on the frame. You can then unbolt the oil pan and with a little bit of work, slide it out. You might have to loosen the bolts on the tranny to allow the engine to go up far enough. The thing you need to make sure of is that when you put the new gasket in you make sure that it is free of grease and oil, I made this mistake and the first time I got mine back together it leaked. I hope this helps.

 

Good golly it just took me about 30 minutes to replace my oil pan gaket.! Just got a rubber gasket, dropped the pan few inches and rested it on the cross member, pulled out old gasket and popped in new one and bolted everythign back up.

 

WOW supermechanic.

 

Not really, nothing to unbolting the oil pan.

Just be sure to remove the dipstick, because when placing the gasket in place you have to work it between the oil pan and the bottom of the engine, It kept getting hung up on the dipstick, took a few tries to figure out what it was.

Also my rear seal was leaking and that was another easy 30 min fix, just park the truck so the nose is pointed down, you can either jack up the rear of the truck or like me you can just back into your driveway, this way when you remove the seal the tranny fluid won't drain out. Remove the drive shaft, I pulled the seal off with a screw driver, then got a new one (I can't remember the price but it wasn't bad), then I put it in place and got a large socket about the same size diameter and placed it over the seal while I tapped it in place with a hammer so it went in evenly and that's it.

 

SPROCKET_X,

That's encouraging - would your '96 oil pan and frame crossmember be the same as my '90? When I took a look under there it seemed like some of the oil pan bolts (the ones above the crossmember) would be very difficult to get to without lifting the engine.

 

it should be the same, I think I ran into 2 bolts on each side right where the cross member is and ended up having to use a regular open end wrench.

Also I would suggest after installation of the new rubber gasket not to tighten down the pan very tight, just a bit past finger tight with all the bolts, then after a few hours of driving on it tighten them down a bit more and you should be good.

I replaced mine at 80k miles and I'm now at 135k and it still looks fine..

 

That's interesting...Mine is at 80k now too.