Stuck oil pan

I don't think the pan has been off in a long time. I tried gingerly tapping the sides of the pan with a dead-blow soft-faced hammer. It seems that I need to introduce heat, but I need to be very cautious. [1974 R60]

It appears that when the last time the pan was sealed, some type of gasket sealer was used, as I noticed excess along the gasket edge, and it is hard. Perhaps heat would soften it. What temps does the oil reach under normal operating conditions?

Anyone here have a similar problem in the past?

Thanks.
Richard

Maybe???

I would try a wire. Secure the ends to handles and try to work the wire into the joint with a sawing motion. Piano wire would be ideal. I would avoid a blade as any nick in the soft aluminum may start a leak. Fishing line might work but I doubt that it's strong enough. If you use heat, a heat gun should be safe, no flames.

Thanks for the reply.
The only non-flame heat source I have is a small [5.5" dia coil] electric table range. I used it to warm the rear hub when I installed the bearing races. It has 7 heat ranges, so I put a pan of water on it to see what temps the dif settings would reach: #1 got to 138 deg, and #2 boiled the water.

I spaced up some wood so that the hot plate coil would bear against the oil pan fins and set the temp to 1 1/2. After the pan got too hot to touch [about 5 mins], I removed the hot plate and tapped the side of the oil pan with my soft hammer, and the pan came off easily!

The engine block didn't get warm [the pan gasket must have served as an insulator], but the pan got uniformly hot; no smoking oil whatsoever. I kept water near as a precaution.

BTW, no sludge in the bottom of the pan.

That is an excellent and easy way to soften that old sealant. It is always interesting what kind of methods we all come up with that will work just fine. Of course, there is probably some expensive tool and special method that some engineer came up with to do the exact same thing.

shire2000 said:

That is an excellent and easy way to soften that old sealant. It is always interesting what kind of methods we all come up with that will work just fine. Of course, there is probably some expensive tool and special method that some engineer came up with to do the exact same thing.

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necessity is the mother of invention.....I have found more shop uses for that hotplate!

I made a chain-cleaning tool years ago, utilizing the same hot plate and an old rotissiere' motor; the chain hangs in a pan of ATF warmed to about 220 deg; the motor turns 6rpm - I let it run about 5 hrs then let it drip dry; then wipe it down and lube it.

The oil pan is almost always stuck on these motors. Get as large a dead-blow hammer as you can swing comfortably and hit it at the front. Don't mess around; HIT IT. Two or three blows usually result in the pan coming off. Do make sure you have all the bolts out.