DEEP TROUBLE 1997 Volvo 960 Oil pan REMOVAL. HAS ANYONE DONE THIS!!

You have your answer you have to lower the x member to remove the oil pan not fairly easy lying on your back not realy a do it your self job I have been repairing volvos for a long time & this is my least favorite repair to perform you can either lower the x member or find either a local Volvo repair shop that will perform this or return to the dealer Glenn

There is another option.

Get an engine crane / engine puller and remove the engine and / or transmission from the car.

Not real difficult, if you have room and are indoors this time of year.

I'm with zencraps - the engine really isn't very hard to remove from this state. Unless it is very different from the 740, the wiring harness disconnects at each end and comes out with the engine. By the time you get enough loose to clear the pan you are just about there.

"... all it requires is the *will* to do so." Dr. Strangelove

Mike

1. Remove jack stands and set car on ground. Loosen the bolts on either side of the steering shaft lower u-joint. Lock steering wheel so that it can't turn. You're going to separate the steering shaft and if it spins freely you'll snap the clockspring for the SRS contact in the steering column. A simple but expensive repair. Make and index mark on the rack splines and one one the u-joint to simply reassembly.
2. Remove the rear two frame bolts that hold the engine crossmember in place. Slacken the front two but don't remove them. jack the car back up and set on jack stands. Put the transmission crossmemeber back in place. Remove the nuts holding the motor mounts to the engine crossmember. Jack up the motor as far as it will go. Separate the steering column at the u- joint as you go. Find or make somthing to go between the motor mount stands and the crossmember that will hold the motor away from the crossmember. Loosen the fron two bolts for the front crossmember and let the whole mess swing toward the front of the car. As the crossmember swings the pan may just fall out on the ground, otherwise you have to monkey with it a little bit. Once it's out do your thing.

N.B. The pan is installed with an anerobic sealant. Loctite 515 or similar. Do not use any metal scrapers on the mating surfaces. Find or make a plastic scraper. Use Permatex gasket remover to soften the residue. It will take three or four applications. You can find a disposable 2 or 3 inch touch up paint roller at the paint or wallpaper store that uses the blow molded package for a paint tray. Squeeze some sealant into the tray and lightly coat the roller. Roll a thin even coat on the gasket surface of the pan before you put it back up. You don't need much to create an effective seal and the roller method works very well to evenly distribute the sealant. All the horizontal sealing surfaces af the motor are assembled this way. Under pressure the sealant will be fully cured after about six hours, but you really don't have to wait that long before running the motor.

1. Reinstall the oil pan.

1. Jack up the motor and remove the spacer blocks. Lower the motor back down onto the crossmember. Refit the motor mount stands, Refit the the lower steering shaft u-joint. Tighten the front crossmember screws slightly. Jack up the car from the front. Remove the jack stands. Lower the car and let the crossmember rotate back into place. Install the rear screws and tighten the fronts. Tighten the steering shaft u-joint, unlock the steering wheel.

2. Refill the motor with oil. Use synthetic oil, 10W30, it doesn't sludge nearly as much and it makes the lifters very happy. Keep the oil change interval to no more than 5000 miles or about 4 months with synthetic, especially if the car will be doing a lot of short trip driving.

Bob

FIRST Thanks for your expertise.

YOUR ITEM #7.

I went to loosen one of the 4 engine crossmember nuts, and snapped off bolt from its welding mark. Now the nut and bolt just spins freely.

HOW TOUGH IS IT OT RAISE THE ENGINE 6 INCHES! [ I told you I was in deep. ]

What do I do to remove the big thing under the hood? Do I have to go through the bell housing to unbolt the Transmission?

Paul:

I see this is one of several new threads and still wonder...did you ever do the engine flush I recommended?

I still maintain that would have been the FIRST thing to do before all else.

Regards,

Doc

O h yes! you are correct what I should have done was to flush it with a pressurized machine flush. I did a 5 mim. flush out of the can ,and that is what intensified the screen blockage. That's what I will do once I get the goop out and the engine back together.

Thanks any other help or ideas!

Hello Paul:

Unless you want to remove the steering rack and drop the cross member etc, removing the engine and transmission as a unit is the easiest way to accomplish the job. That's only MY opinion and the way I would do it, as it takes considerably less time and is a lot easier.

Regards,

Doc