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I've got a lot of help off this site and asked a similar question before but it was closed because I was asking too much.

I'm trying to replace the oil pan gasket on my 99 ranger. It's kind of hard to see in the pictures but there is a metal plate that seems to be blocking the oil pan from sliding forward enough to change the gasket.

I've tried my best to highlight where the plate is by outlining it in green but I don't know how big the plate is, what the plate is called, or what bolts I have left to remove to get it out.

Does anyone know what that plate is called and how to remove it?

99 ranger v6 3.0L automatic. enter image description here enter image description here

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    Two questions: The photos are of two different edges of the pan; which photo has the plate you are talking about? In the bottom photo, it says, "was covered by small plate". Is that the plate you are talking about? "Was" is past tense so it implies you successfully removed that one. – Zach Mierzejewski Nov 1 '16 at 13:34
  • Top photo is driver's side. Bottom photo is passenger side. The plate is on both sides. Where it says "was covered by a small plate" there was literally just a little plate there. It looked like it was covering up a hole that other models had a use for. You can more easily see the plate I'm trying to describe in the picture on the bottom. If you were to put your thumb on the bottom green line and pointer finger on the top green line you would be pinching the plate. The plate itself is only a few mm thick and I can pull it away from what it was bolted onto but there's still bolts I can't find. – dolphone bubleine Nov 1 '16 at 13:49
  • Gotcha, thanks. From my research, this is going to be a difficult job if you don't have a hoist. You're obviously under the truck and know better than me, but ,from my research, it seems like you either have to unbolt the transmission from the engine or take apart the front suspension to slide the pan either way. I don't think removing that plate will be your last obstacle. Good luck! – Zach Mierzejewski Nov 1 '16 at 13:56
  • Thanks. There are no instructions for just changing the gasket in my Haynes manual but it really does feel like that plate is the last obstacle for what I need. The oil pan slides around but it's blocked from coming forward by that plate. With the plate removed there still wouldn't be enough room to change the whole oil pan but I think that would give enough access to change the gasket. – dolphone bubleine Nov 1 '16 at 14:16
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You have one option on the 3.0 Ranger. You need to remove the exhaust y-pipe, separate the transmission from the engine (including removing the driveshaft and crossmember.), remove the flywheel/flexplate, then you can remove that metal plate, lift the engine and drop the oil pan.

You'll probably need a cherry picker and plates to bolt to the engine to lift the engine.

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  • That's what I was afraid of. Any idea what that plate is called? – dolphone bubleine Nov 2 '16 at 9:54
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    @dolphonebubleine a spacer plate I believe. – Ben Nov 2 '16 at 10:28
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A guy on craigslist fixed this for me. He didn't have to remove the exhaust or anything like that. He dropped the drive shaft and disconnected the transmission from the engine. That gave him enough play to get the new gasket on. It took two people and one of them was an expert. We had to jack up various parts of the transmission. It wasn't easy and if you're looking to me for help you need a professional too. But if you hire someone on craigslist its a win-win situation for both of you.

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