Installing the Oil Pan

The oil pan that came with the replacement Subaru engine was a stock oil pan, which if installed in a Vanagon would give only 5.5 inches / 14cm of ground clearance, resulting like this:



Luckily, the Vanagon's engine came with a shortened oilpan [a $250-$400 item] that nearly doubles the ground clearance. The builder [a guy named Leon Korkin] added extra space towards the front of the engine to retain the original oil capacity [the black hole makes it possible to get to the front center oil pan bolt]. Having a shortened oil pan is a must for off-road driving.

Notice the difference between the shortened oil pan at left and stock oil pan at right. The black hole in the shortened oil pan makes it possible to get to the front center oil pan bolt.



The shortened oil pan was still on the engine we removed, so we lifted the engine and put it between two sawhorses, so we could drain the oil and pull the oil pan off. Man, it was filthy inside; considering the 11 quarts of oil I put in the engine while driving back from Reno, I wouldn't have figured that. The more I see this engine's condition, the more I am grateful it lasted long enough to get me home. I scrubbed oil pan with water-based degreaser, then brought it to the car wash to blast off all of the remaining grime. I finished by applying a few coats of high-heat gloss black engine enamel.

Before installing the oil pan, I needed to remove the sheet of thick plastic and 3/4 inch plywood that covered the engine's oil gallery [the area normally covered by the oil pan] to make it easier to lift the engine with the jack. I removed the wood/plastic, and saw that it had done a superb job keeping the oil gallery clean.

Since where I live is usually pretty windy, I waited for a calm day to remove the plastic/plywood cover. I installed the oil baffle and oil pickup tube, then installed the oil pan using Great Stuff grey sealant. The bright aluminum part with the barbed brass fitting is the thermostat housing designed by Tom Shiels of Subaruvanagon.com. The thermostat housing allows hot water from the engine to continuously flow through the thermostat area. This prevents the potential overheating conditions when freshly-cooled water [returning from the front and rear passenger area heaters] comes too close to the thermostat and causes it to close.



After installing the oil pan and filling it with oil, I decided to pump some oil throughout the engine, to reduce engine wear when the engine is started for the first time. Turning the crankshaft would cause the oil pump to suck oil up from the oil pan and push it through the oil passages.....all at low speed when the engine is not under load.

I removed the spark plugs, then put a socket on the crankshaft pulley bolt. At first I used a hand rachet, but because of space restraints could not swing it in a complete circle. I decided that my air ratchet would be better because it would provide a more consistent rate of speed. The air ratchet [not designed as a high-torque tool] managed to turn the crankshaft pulley at about 100 RPM for about 30 seconds, so I did this three times. That should have provided a good supply of oil to the oil gallery passages, including the upper end components like camshafts, etc.