A couple of months ago I started up the 7 after it had sat for almost 4 months. After about a week of driving, an oil leak developed. I got some rags and sat under the car for 30 minutes to see where it was coming from, and it's from the oil pan.

I think what happened: the seal around the pan shrank from not be driven, then cracked from the heat when I drove it.

So, how hard would it be to replace the seal with the engine still in the car. Can the oil pan be removed fine, and how would I go about this? Does this even sound like the source of the leak? Thanks for the help guys.

 

Clean the engine down with degreeser and or brake cleaner,let it dry,drive the car let it warm up to check for leaks,

You can ALSO blow baby powder in the suspected areas and see if it gets wet from the oil.

The MAIN leaks on the 7 are,

Oil pan
Oil Metering Pump.
Oil Metering Pump Lines,

Pre 82

Oil lines to the cooler/under the radiator.

Post 82

Oil cooler O rings,UNDER the oil filter pedestal

Changing the oil pan gasket in the car is no diffrent then doing it on a V8 engine,

Loosen motor mounts,jack up the engine,take the front cover braket off,drop the pan..

It will be tight,but if you had an engine hoist,it dont take much to take the engine out.