Land Rover Repair: 2002 Discovery oil pump, land rover discovery, oil pan

Question
I am replacing my oil pump on the 2002 Land Rover Discovery and have all of the bolts off including the three nuts on the bottom. It is still tight so I took all of the bolts out of the oil pan except for the two on the passenger side that connect to the trans (they are hard to reach) and the oil pan still won't budge not even enough for the front to drop to let out the three bolts on the pump. Any advice on why this thing wont budge and whether I need to drop the pan entirely?

Thanks
Vince

Answer
Hi Vince,

Typically the pan has to come all the way off to remove the front cover, since you've gone that far may as well remove and clean it, and inspect the bottom of the engine.

It's sealed to the block, you have to carefully break the seal to get it off, if you damage the lip you'll need a new pan or you'll never get a good seal again.