2000 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 oil pan removal

Is it a major project to remove the oil pan

 

Define "major" lol...

Since the front diff is in the way, that'll need to be moved/removed. but other than that it's just a few bolts for the pan itself.

While I've never done it myself, I hear some people have had success simply by removing the diff bolts so the diff can slide out of the way just enough, but it's been my experience with other jobs that you usually end up spending 2 hours struggling with clearance issues trying to "save time" by not entirely removing the thing, when removing the thing would have been an hour job.

I know people have written about it, so it's worth doing some searching.

 

You didn't specify 4 or 6 cvl so I'm simply going to give you the FSM page for the 5VZFE (6 cyl).

Torque specs for both are also included. I'll emphasize it now - torque spec is in INCH POUNDS, not ft. lbs.

Obviously, drain the oil first before removing any bolts

 

why the need to remove it in the first place, if its because its leaking then your leak is probably somewhere else

 

Agreed, Mine is 98 and no pan leaks. I was chasing leaks from about 100k miles to 200k miles and finally got them all solved.

Valve covers + cam plugs (First time I changed valve covers w/o cam plugs and it didn't help)
Oil cooler (easy).
Front crank seal and cam seals (do when replacing timing belt)
Dipstick o-ring
Oil filler cap gasket
Rear crank seal (mine was Ok but changed when doing clutch)

 

My leaks came from rear mail seal, valve covers also