Hey all, I just a BII about a month ago, and boy howdy what a gem. '86 Eddie Bauer 2.9 automatic with almost 200k miles. Guy was up snowshoeing one day, when he started it to go home it started ticking (that nasty scary ticking) and the oil light came on, so bonehead added another quart and drove it home, at which time he parked it and never drove it again. Well that was three years ago, and he just sold it to me for $200. So I did some research (mostly on this website, thank you everyone--this place is AWESOME for information) and bought and replaced the oil pump.

I'm posting this mainly because I didn't find much info on oil pumps here, except that you (supposedly) have to remove the engine to replace it and. I would like to make a statement.

YOU DO NOT

It's a pain (but what oil pump isn't) but it can be done (at least on a 2.9 auto). My Haynes manual (which generally isn't useful for much more than toilet paper--doesn't even have a diagram of what cylinder is number 1-2-3etc...) actually had fairly decent instructions as to replacing the pump, although I had to do a few more steps than they listed to make it a bit simpler.

So here is how

1. Disconnect battery

2. Remove air cleaner assembly (I just removed the pipe from the air box to the intake)

3. Remove fan shroud and position over fan

***(At this point I suggest removing the radiator as well, you need all the space you can get...)

4. Remove distributor cap and distributor (I hate taking out distributors, however you need the space because later you lift the engine and if you didn't take it out it would crush against the firewall. I also removed the upper section of my intake manifold for clearance and cleaning, but I don't think it was necessary)

5. Remove engine oil dipstick (why?)

6. Put vehicle on jack stands

7. Drain oil and remove filter

8. Disconnect exhaust pipes from the exhaust manifolds except on 4x2 ranger models ***(I did NOT do this, didn't seem to affect anything in the way and I'm pretty certain it's factory exhaust work)

9. Disconnect oil cooler bracket and lower out of way -- if equipped.

10. Remove starter cable from starter and remove starter.

11. Disconnect and move transmission cooler lines (for auto transmission) as far out of the way as possible--I pulled them to the passenger side of the cross member as far as they would go.
 

12. Disconnect retaining bolts from the front stabilizer bar.
 

13. Disconnect engine mounts by taking off top nuts ***(easiest to reach by going directly between cylinder head and exhaust manifold on passenger side, air conditioner can block view on driver side -- I just removed my a/c compressor, didn't want/need it anymore)
 

14. Position jack under front of oil pan and using a block of wood to protect, lift engine and place wooden blocks between front insulator mounts and cross member.

***(I have a cherry picker, so I just bolted it up to the a/c bracket and lifted as far as I could. The only thing that I found that was directly affected by lifting was my auto shift linkage, it was pressed pretty tightly against the tub but I didn't damage it. IMO wooden blocks will not give you enough height to get the oil pan out, the engine has to be lifted as far as possible. If you don't have a cherry picker, a come-along attached to the ceiling would work as well to lift--make sure it's attached to a solid piece of wood in the ceiling though)

15. Remove oil pan and lower onto cross member.
 

16. Remove bolts retaining oil pump (and pickup tube assembly) and lower pump into pan

This part is kind of tricky, because they fail to mention that you have to angle the oil pan enough to get access to the bolts holding on the pump in place. The pump is on the passenger side of the engine so rotate the oil pan up towards the driver side and you should see clearly the bolts. When you get the pump loose, there is a small slot in the oil baffle where the pickup tube rests, you have to rotate the pump around inside the oil pan to get it off this slot, and then the pump and shaft will drop into the oil pan. It sounds difficult and there's not much room to work, but I'm 6 feet tall and weigh about 200 lbs and I was able to get my hands in far enough to do all this stuff inside the oil pan.

Once the pump is in the pan, you can remove it through the back of the pan however if you're replacing the pump because it's old and doesn't work well, you probably want to clean out your oil pan as well. The gunk in the bottom of the pan is probably why the pump quit working in the first place. Either that or the shaft from the distributor sheared off.

17. To remove oil pan -- this is why you took the radiator out -- angle and slide pump forward over cross member, rotate pan 1/4 turn and lower. It might take some jockeying around but it does come out.

18. Clean oil pan (oven cleaner and scotch-brite pads work the best and fastest!)

The pump cost me $75 a new pickup screen is about $35, however it is fairly easy to clean the existing screen (just don't strip the bolts when removing it from the old pump) and reuse it. Just get all around the opening with a small pick or something to get the gunk out.

Instead of having to prime the pump later, I've been taught (and have done this on many engine rebuilds) that if you pack the inside of the pump with Vaseline before installation, it creates instant suction (think of it this way, Vaseline is simply thick oil and breaks down quickly when oil hits it) and saves you the hassle of priming the pump. There are four bolts on the side of the new pump, remove those and the plate they hold on, take out the rotor, pack cavity with Vaseline, replace rotor, wipe off excess goop and replace cover.

Now you're ready to put it all back together! YAY!
(This took me 4 nights to accomplish working a few hours a night)

19. Place new pump in clean oil pan
 

20. Place oil pan back in position on cross member.
 

21. (Another tricky part) Inside the pan place the pump drive shaft into it's slot on the pump and move pump into position to be bolted. Remember to rotate so pickup tube goes into it's slot on the oil baffle, and be careful to get the shaft into the hole up towards the distributor. I would say if it doesn't look like the pump is mounting flush, loosen and try again.
 

22. Once you have the pump back in place, re attach the oil pan to engine and reverse the order of steps 14 through 1.
Then replace oil filter, refill with engine oil (I added a quart of hyperlube and used 5w30 Castrol GTX) set timing and you should be good to go.

 

 

Page written by: mikeysfun and edited by: rentalguy1  

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