I got my putty knife and i picked up a bigger mallet and ive been working it and working it about a 4 inch area for roughly an hour and a half and i still havent gotten through. This seems like it is going to be rather futile in the end. There isnt much room to swing a hammer down there...

The worst part is though ive found out that its been removed before and that they used RTV rather than a gasket...this is basicly glued on. I have no idea what im going to do...

I've been there before with diff covers. The last diff I rebuilt, someone did not use a gasket at all and what looked like a half tube or more of RTV. IT TOOK FOREVER to remove.

I feel your pain. This is definitely why the pan is stuck. Beating on it with a hammer will only bang up the oil pan.

I would find yourself a razor knife that takes different types of blades. I would then get some of the carpet cutting razor blades. They have a hook on the end and they are very sharp inside the hook. Linoleum blades would work well too. Get that wedged in and start working your way around the pan. A fresh blade should cut through that RTV in no time. Just be careful, you don't want to score up the mating surfaces between the pan and the block.

Way to stick with it! Here is the razor knife set I picked up from Lowes. HD probably has similar stuff too. Its about $15 bucks, and it's saved my ***** lots of time in the long run. The carpet blades are the ones in the back of the picture.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_505367-16878...set&facetInfo=

Good old RTV...............

Any update, Crimmy?

Been following this story for a while...

Appreciate that Jamurrin. I cannot get the pan off to save my life. Im trying to get help from the local jeep clubs here in my area. And im waiting for parts to get here. At this point i want someone else to try what they can. If it doesnt work then im going to either tryto use heat or just tap a flathead screwdriver in there and pry the pan off. I will update as soon as i start moving on this again.

Ok guys. Question here. I got a blow torch. Its nothing fancy just a propane torch non adjustable ment for soldering copper pipes. My thought here is to use it on the oil pan lip to burn the rtv up to allow me to remove some of its elasticity and punch through it. Is this safe or would it pose a danger of igniting the oil remaining in the pan?

No. Don't do it.

Crimmy, I had the same situation with an oil pan recently
Mine was no good anyway so I did not care if I damaged the pan getting it off.

I got the passenger side front corner bent down with a heavy set of pliers and a flat screwdriver.
Once the one corner was pulled and pried off worked the passenger side bending the pan edge down

Be careful not to hurt the block.
You're likely going ti have a thick layer of rock hard gasket to deal with stuck to the engine.

A die grinder with a fine or medium scotch pad disc was the key to removing the Old gasket.

Have you tried a screwdriver or prybar between the pan and block? I know you tried a scraper. If you end up bending the edge of the pan a little, you can straighten it up after you get it off. To me, it sounds like it is not RTV. I have had some that are a little tough getting apart after RTV, but not what you experiencing. Thinking some one may have used something else. Good luck, and hopefully you get the pan off......RR

If you have access to a compressor an air-hammer with a chisel bit should make short work of that pan, of course if you use that method you can probably forget about re-using the pan, but replacements aren't that expensive.

Ok guys so i promised an update!

The oil pan is off. I found someone locally who came over and helped out. It took about an hour of hammering variously sized flat head screwdrivers in there to get the pan off. The lip bent a bit but we hammered it back down flat. I basicly decided i do not care if i have to replace the pan at this point. So i think it is useable still. Will find out later. Cleaning the mating surfaces off is turning out to be a real bear cat.

Its almost like jb weld. Its black and gritty like sand. Razor blades and chisels arent touching it. Ive been sanding it off and then hooked up a wheel with sandpaper on to my dremel and have been trying to work it off the past couple days but its real hard stuff.

The guy who helped me said the sludge in the pan is the worst he had ever seen. My jeep has stunned yet another! And here are some photos guys! Enjoy.




So heres the sludge in the oil pan. It was about a quarter inch thick on all the side walls and probably an inch deep or so in the bottom of the pan by the drain plug. Putty knife came in quite handy for getting it out even though it didnt work for removing the pan. =P

Here is the old oil pump pickup line. It got scrubbed and cleaned a bit . About half of the mesh screen was plugged with sludge.



And here are the gears from the oil pump. They didnt seem too bad. The second photo you can see that some of the teeth were burred and bent outta shape. A little rounded on one of the teeth.


Oil pump all cleaned up and put back together!

Now the frustrating part. The guy left before we could finish. He did an amazing job but now his jeep's water pump is leaking and he hasnt been able to come back and help me finish. But this is still alot of progress for one day so im quite thankful and i will continue working on getting the old gasket off so that he doesnt have to waste his time when trying to reassemble all of this.

Wow, did it still have the factory oil in it when you bought it??


To say the oil wasn't changed regularly on that Jeep would be a bit of an understatement.

Ok guys so im at gasket removal stage of this process. Ive been sanding, using a razor blade, even the putty knife, sanding wheels on the dremel. Nothing is quite taking care of this effectively.

Has anyone ever tried gasket remover sprays. Autozone has one from loctite. You brush it on and wait 15-20 mins it says. Any other tips for removing this gasket? Ive ground most of it off the band but the bulk of it is on the block.

You probably don't know for sure what that stuff is...might not be RTV...


PO of my JEEP put RTV on the transmission pan instead of a gasket. Was a real PITA to get off. I put gasoline on a rag, which did help a lot. Obviously use caution if you choose this route. Work outside, blow air with fans, wear safety glasses, etc. I would have used Kerosene or Diesel if I had it laying around, as it does not dry up so quick and would penetrate.


If it were me, I would get a new pan...that way you have at least ONE nice clean surface. Even if you don't get the engine block perfect, you could still re-seal it by putting RTV on the block, then a gasket, then the pan. That way, if you need to remove the pan again, it will still drop right off from the gasket.

I wish i could i really do. But i just cannot afford it. I need the jeep running so i can look for work and then have the money to do things a bit differently. My plan as of right now is to rtv the gasket to the pan because the pan does have some bends and dents from the prying. Ive straightened it out but it will never be perfect again. The pan will be the weak link here though. Ill try the gasoline though to clean off the gasket from the block however. Problem is that the jeep is in the garage. Garage door is...falling apart so im not going to be opening it unless it is because my jeep is done and ready to come out of the garage.