How do you remove the oil pan on 2001 Taurus 3 Liter V6?

Answer 1

This took me a little over 2 hours without any referances. I was not able to find any procedures online so I thought I would post it. should take about 1 1/2 hours usually. 1. First jack and drain oil as usual. 2. then disconnect battery. negative cable first and then positive cable. you need to disconnect the positive to give cable slack to remove starter. 3. trace positive towards the starter and about a foot down there is a cable stay holding cable against block. remove that nut to free it up. 4. remove starter and position out of the way. 5. disconect all 4 O2 sensors. there are 2 on each manifold, 1 on top front and rear, 1 on bottom of Y pipe front and rear. 6. remove the 2 nuts (14 mm I think) attaching Y pipe to rest of exhaust at rear of oil pan. The one nearest passenger tire is the one with least amount of room for a rachet head. if possible disconnect the intermediate pipe from Y pipe at this time. 7. slightly loosen the 2 manifold to Y pipe nute (14 or 15 mm) on FRONT of engine. do not remove yet, just create a little slack. 8. remove the 2 manifold to Y pipe bolts (13 mm I think) at REAR of engine. there should be a little give due to loosening the front ones. you might need to remove pcv hose for ease. these can be reached from top but it is tight, I was not able to get at from bottom without a lift. 9. now remove front nuts completely (carefully) and drop Y pipe. This needs to be done to give oil pan room to clear the pickup tube and oil pump. 10. remove all 16 oil pan bolts (8mm I think) and the 1 bolt that holds starter shield to transaxle case. 11. there might be factory sealant holding starter shield onto oil pan. remove this and pan should drop easily. Wow, that sounds like a hell of a job. I have to change the gasket on a 2000, would it require the same headache????? My Taurus is a 2000 3.0 sohc Flex Fuel Vehicle.