[MattMaxon]

I need to replace the damaged oil pan on my 2008 2TR-FE 4cyl 4x2

The only information I can find is someone who did this on a 4x4 4cyl and it was engine out

 

[sdspeed]

What do you need to know?

 

[MattMaxon]

is it an engine out job or can I do it with the engine in the vehicle

 

[sdspeed]

I read on the Tacoma owners forum (not this one) that you can do it with the engine in place. some owner's did decide to unbolt the engine from the mounts and lift the engine up as much as possible without doing any damage so they could get to 2 of the rear pan bolts easier and have a little more room to jockey the pan out.
Same drive train as yours. If I run across a write-up or video I'll post it for ya! If you use the advanced search feature on this forum there are some threads about the job but the ones i saw (not all that were posted) were on the 4x4's which isn't surprising since there more inclined to damage the under carriage while off-roading.
Someone else will chime in I'm sure.

 

[MattMaxon]

well FWIW I did it without unbolting the engine mounts... I did have to remove the oil pump pickup tube, requiring another gasket

All that said I'd recommend unbolting the engine mounts with the short working time with the sealant you're gonna need all the room you can get

 

[MattMaxon]

This is my long winded version

I got the pan out without lifting or removing the engine BUT....

I needed to remove the oil pump pickup tube, hence I need the gasket. Luck was with me here and the local stealer had one in stock

I would also say I would have been better off getting a bit more room by unbolting the motor mounts and lifting the engine, That would also negate the need to remove the pickup tube.

The short working time for the adhesive/sealant (3-5 min) means you have to have all your ducks in a row and get all the fasteners in quickly (a helper might be good to have)

You also should consider some RTV Silicone Gasket Remover to ease the process of surface preparation, the sealer remover chemicals seem to be increasingly difficult to get so plan ahead. I have 3 parts store locally within 10 min and none had what I needed

I opted to use a gasket. I got the FEL-PRO OS 30784 gasket, time will tell if that was a wise decision, it's hard to argue with toyota engineering decisions. I torqued the screws to the recommended value (9 Nm) mostly in the recommended sequence (it's a bit confusing, using the diagram laying under the vehicle looking at the bottom of the engine). The 3 tubes of sealer in the Fel-Pro kit is barely enough and I had some toyota 1207B on hand so that was a lifesaver

Part of the preparation for this little project was removing the badly corroded screws and nuts. I did this ahead of the project to give me time to deal with any disasters and hard to remove screws. One product that helped immensely is the 1/4" drive Rocket Socket set. I got many of the screws out by hammering a 3/8" 12 or 6 point socket onto the screw heads but a couple wouldn't cooperate and 11/32 ", 5/16" or any of the 8-9 other options I tried would not work. The Rocket Socket worked like a charm without any hammering or difficulty whatsoever.

Another tip is the cross member has some big holes in the top you can't see and I dropped a screw in there, what a bitch getting it out was. Probably want to cover those or plug them up somehow or at least be aware and use caution.

I have been using some roof underlayment material to protect the driveway from the inevitable spills and drips and it has worked great! GAF FeltBuster 48-in x 250-ft 1000-sq ft Felt Roof Underlayment. I bought a roll of this for tent footprints , a ground cloth for bivvy camping under the stars, and impromptu rain protection, I keep a peice in my daypack too for sitting in wet areas or someplace where poison oak might be present.

I bought new hardware from toyota and in retrospect I feel it might be better for the shade tree mechanic to use all studs and nuts for this... I say this because the base of the engine is at an angle and judging the screw is started properly with adhesive on it is hard given the time pressure, 2 screws where especially difficult and maybe slightly cross threaded (hope this thing don't leak ) There is probably some toyota SST for installing these studs since they have serrations on the end maybe a bit of blue loctite too.

Being a New Englander with more than a drop of Scottish blood and all around cheapskate (fixed income unemployed/retired too )... I didn't want waste the recently changed $5 a quart synthetic oil. You gotta transfer the oil from the drain pan to something else so you don't spill it while pouring it back into the engine (what an idiot DOH!)

Hope this is helpful to someone and thanks for taking the time to read this post

 

[sdspeed]

Thanks for the write up!

 

[MattMaxon]

There is probably some toyota SST for installing these studs since they have serrations on the end

The Toyota parts catalog calls this "STUD, HEXALOBULAR" (90126-A0004}

WTF is that? HEXALOBULAR that is

hummm it is a Torx, male Torx.. who knew

Everything you never wanted to know about these screws

ISO 10664:2014, Third Edition: Hexalobular internal driving feature for bolts and screws: International Organization for Standardization: 9789267107394: Amazon.com: Books

ISO 10664:2014, Third Edition: Hexalobular internal driving feature for bolts and screws [International Organization for Standardization] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. ISO 10664:2014, Third Edition: Hexalobular internal driving feature for bolts and screws

www.amazon.com

 

[MattMaxon]

This is way off topic but early Cadillacs had slotted screws for the piston connecting rods... There was a special tool where you put the piston at the top of the stroke and put the slotted screw bit in the end and a jack screw down to the garage floor applying force to keep the bit in place while you remove or installed the screws.... Who knew this innovation didn't take off

 

[MattMaxon]

a week later and no leaks. I will now do the ultimate test and proclaim the leak is fixed

A bit of justification for using the gasket is the metal to metal seal requires perfection <> the 2 oil pans. Surface damage from removing the oil pan, cleaning off the sealer, using an aftermarket oil pan ticked off the boxes for me.

My main concern for the aftermarket oil pan was thinner metal being used to save money.

Another concern for the gasket was the oil pan flange would distort all of which seem to be nothing to worry about.

 

[MattMaxon]

Another tip...
I recently replaced the rack & pinion and feel removing the 2 mounting bolts

and the 2 "chassis frame reinforcement" bars from the front to the mid-cross member would provide much better access.