Triumph Repair: 1976 Triumph TR 7, triumph tr 7, pan gasket

Question
Replace Oil Pan Gasket.  After taking off all of the bolts, I noticed that it seems to have what looks like a motor mount mounted from the frame to the oil pan.  Do I have to rest the motor with a jack before I try to slip out the Oil Pan?  I am taking the Oil Pan out and cleaning it as water got into the oil which tells me that it is either the Head Gasket or Head.  The TR 7 was practically given to me, so I need to trouble shoot to see what busted or broke.

Thank you very much---Victor

Answer
Victor, the water pump (gear driven in the block) is the most common cause of water in the oil on a TR-7. This will usually destroy the bearings if not caught in time. Head gasket and warped head is the next most common cause.

If you had water in the oil you are 100% wasting your time cleaning out the pan. If your oil is colored brown or tan you need to remove the engine and completely tear in down to clean all the contaminated oil out and measure everything to determine how much damage is done.

You should purchase a service manual because this engine is much different than most car engines. I was factory trained on the "7" and I can probably help you as you go but you need to follow the manual as you go and if you run into a problem that the manual does not explain I can help but I can't cover everything in this e-mail program.

Howard