I've got a bad oil pan leak.  Put my 72 240z on jack stands, removed all the fasteners, can't get the oil pan out to replace the gasket.  Seems to be trapped by the rack & pinon steering mechanism.  What's the method for getting the oil pan off?  Thanks.

Not sure if the S30 is different, but on my ZX, i had to hoist the engine slightly to obtain the space required to free the pan from the area around the crossmember. 

Edited April 29, 20195 yr by Reptoid Overlords

This may help: https://www.zcar.com/forum/10-70-83-tech-discussion-forum/76816-oil-pan-removal-280z.html

Thanks SteveJ!  That link gave me the clue I needed.  After removing all 31 fasteners, the oil pan wouldn't slip down/out to the rear.  The only thing I had to do was pull the spark plugs and use a 27mm socket wrench to rotate the crankshaft until the #1 cylinder (front most) rod journal was retracted upwards into the block.  Nothing else required.  

After removal, degreased it thoroughly.  Lots of pieces of old gasket material was in the sump!  Put down a thin layer of Edelbrock Gasgacinch on the new Fel-Pro gasket plus a layer on the oil pan.  Waited 5 min as per the directions, stuck the gasket to the pan.  Temporarily put all the fasteners back in to make sure the pan holes stay aligned with the gasket holes, while it dried.  Put down another layer on the block and block side of the pan gasket.  

Reassembly is just the reverse of disassembly, right?  Isn't that what shop manuals say?  Well the pan wouldn't slide in past the steering rack, stopping an inch short.  Whacking on the tail end with a mallet didn't help, it wouldn't go.  Realized that there was so much caked on grunge on the steering rack that it was costing me 1/8" of clearance.  Once I degreased it, the pan slid right in.

Last hurdle was the pan gasket separating from the pan, at the front end.  Put two fasteners into the rear corners to hold the pan, then the front of the pan drooped.  Using a little L-shaped pick, weaseled the gasket back into place.  29 fasteners later and it was done.  Let it sit overnight before firing up.  No more drips and leaks!

I love a good success story. Thanks for letting us know how it worked out.

When dealing with gaskets that tend to move out of place during installation, tie the gasket to the pan using sewing thread thru each bolt hole. When the pan is in place and the bolts are started just break the threads and pull them loose