But in this case he needs to pull the trans too - to get at that rear seal. Dropping the crossmember too (while that does work - I replaced an oilpump with the motor in the car doing that before on my 145E) with the trans off leaves the motor unsopported on either end. I guess you could always pull the trans, replace the rear seal, replace the trans, then drop the crossmember to get at the oil pan, but that just sounds like (to me) more work than just pulling the engine. And it is so much nicer to work on engines out in the open, not cramped and jammed underneath a car.

Of course, if you don't have an engine hoist, I dunno. I used to pluck engines out with a cable hoist ('come-along') and a sturdy tree. Heh - a literal shade tree mechanic.
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I'm JohnMc, and I approved this message.