Replace oil pan gasket in 1988 2.9 Ranger? not coming out!

SOURCE: 1988 ford ranger

Though it's a bit late from when this question was asked... But... I replaced my timing belt before it broke. Like anything else on my 88 ford ranger it was the easiest thing! If your really carefull and remove the plugs! You must remove the plugs because of the compression that's there waiting to fire when you next start the car. Dissasemble the fan, fan cover, and the pulley and the plastic cover. Not exactly in that order, just what you need to access the belt. Score or mark or paint where one or two teeth of each pulley is in reference to a non moving part of the truck (you can rotate the whole thing to a convient setup by hand) make sure when you rotate the assembly it feels somewhat free you can see and feel that there is no tension on the belt in ANY area. When you have all the marks set up loosen the bolt holding the tensioner use a bar to move the tensioner out of the way just enough then tighten the bolt on the tensioner, that will keep it locked open while you simply and carefully slide out the belt then slide in the new belt keeping the marks 'still', just go slow and keep your eyes open. Maybe I just got lucky...But the theory is sound and worked for me.
Probably could use a diming light to make sure but I don't have one and the truck still runs fine. Oh and by the way... if you ever need to replace the heater core it'll take you all of 20 mins if you have even the basic of abilities and the right screw driver :)

SOURCE: Oil pan removal problems on my 89 F-350 w/7.3L Diesel

remove the cross member then you can drop the pan

SOURCE: Replace heater core in 1988 Ford Ranger

allow the system to cool down

take radiator cap loose to release pressure

once pressure is released tighten cap

loosen clamps on the heater hoses in the engine compartment on the pass. side of firewall.

plug or cap off the heater core tubes to prevent spillage when you pull it into the truck

place a trash bag on floorboard in case spillage occurs

remove the five screws holding the heatre core access cover, three on top and two on bottom

carefully pull heater core back and down and remove it from the dash

install is reverse

Hope this helps

SOURCE: Trying to drop the oil

done this on several i-6 f-150s. slide back or remove transmission, remove motor mount bolts from frame(not motor), jack motor up as far as possible without damaging egr valve or wiper motor when they hit, shim under motor mounts so that when you drop the jack the motor does not come back down any(the motor is well balanced on the mounts, it will not fall out of the truck like a v8 will), then remove the oil pan. you May have to remove the pickup tube(usually not), and you May have to rotate the crankshaft so that the lobes clear the oil pan. this is a common problem with these trucks due to the size of the oil pan(Huge), and the minimum pan to crossmember clearance

SOURCE: Can you replace an oil pan gasket on a 1995 Ford

my opinion is to do an oil change while you are at it to save some stress. draining the old oil will help from having to hold the pan full of oil and tipping it over, etc. then simply take off the bolts, which should be anywhere from8-12 or so. make sure you clean both sides of the pan. the lip and the side thats on the block. place the new gasket on the pan and put four nuts [corners are best] finger tight. then insert the rest of the bolts and make sure you dont over torque!!!