I got a 2011 Ford Ranger (2wd, 2.3L four and automatic transmission) engine oil pan replacement because the drain plug hole was stripped. The shop bought an aftermarket part, Spectra Premium brand. The procedure in the manual is to remove the fan, unbolt the engine mounts, lift the engine by the hook about two inches, loosen all the transmission bolts (4 in the oil pan and 7 on the engine for a total of 11) and separate the engine and transmission by about a quarter inch. The time given was 4.3 hours. It was all completely wrong. It wasn't coming out that way. The engine's lifting hook is on the side, so it caused a severe tilt, which gave me almost no room to get the pan out from between the engine and frame on one side. And the transmission has to be completely separated and moved back over two inches. I got it back together and, guess what, oil leak at the front corners where it meets the timing chain cover. Thinking I just didn't seal it well enough (it uses silicone sealant, not a gasket), I pulled it back out and re-did it, using a different technique to lift the engine. Nope, still leaked. I re-did it yet again, plus I had to Heli-Coil one of the engine block holes (it is also aluminum and the bolts are extremely easy to cross thread and strip). And the pan cracked.


Something was bothering me all that time, but I couldn't put my finger on it. The front edge of the pan goes against the bottom of the timing chain cover. When I ran the bolts up against the engine block, I couldn't start the timing cover bolts. If I started the timing cover bolts first, the first few pan bolts on each side just didn't feel right when I tightened them. So, after taking it apart yet again, I compared the old and new pans. The new one is on the left, the old one on the right. Both sumps are facing up, the front edge (where it goes against the timing chain cover) is facing you, and the sealing surfaces are sitting flat on a table.



Look at the difference in the holes' height above the table between the two pans. No wonder it put everything in a bind. We bought a new pan from the Ford dealer and everything went back together with no problem. (After the third time I've gotten my technique down pat.)

I really wish, A, that I'd seen this earlier, and B, that we'd bought the Ford pan in the first place (it was cheaper, too), but you know what they say about hindsight.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: egregore,

The shop I use here won't use aftermarket parts unless there is no other choice. I see why.

Looks like you are missing a flywheel dust cover!

Had the timing cover broken instead, that would have been another 6 hours' work.

When this happened to me, I just tapped the drain hole with a slightly larger thread size and purchased that size plug. Why did you have to replace the whole pan?

For me, it was on a ‘96 Tacoma, so that may have made a difference.

Afermarket is hit or miss as you found out.

Dealership I used to work for got on the aftermarket wheel hub/bearing kick. Well that is until they started eating the labor on a bunch of those that went bad quick. My favorite is the ones that would light up the ABS warning or made noises before they even left the parking lot.

Being in the parts department the whine from the service writers was "you're too high, the shop down the street sells them cheaper". To which I responded "guess they know how much their junk is worth then".

quote:

When this happened to me, I just tapped the drain hole with a slightly larger thread size and purchased that size plug. Why did you have to replace the whole pan?

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I don't think it would have been feasible to repair with the engine in the vehicle. This pan is aluminum, and a soft aluminum at that. The drain plug is 14x1.5. A drill bit that large is also very long. There would have been clearance issues between the pan and frame, even with an angle drill. Under no circumstances would I have tried an oversize, self-tapping plug or other schemes. Maybe after the pan was out, a Heli-Coil or Time-Sert could have been installed, but why bother at this point? The truck will likely outlive its owner.

Usually you can switch from standard to metric or vice versus without drilling a new hole. Just run the new size tap in without drilling a new hole since is already the right size.

I have re-tapped the threads to standard many times on my old Toyota. Works all the time.