So it's time for me to remove the dead engine on my FB. It's basically going to be me doing it on my own. I have the FSM and wondering other than "don't drop the housing" any tips from you all who have pulled engines before?

Thanks

 

make sure you have plenty of light. unplug the wiring harness from the two yellow conectors at the right side of the firewall instead of unplugging each connector from the whole engine. this way you just swap the harness over and plug it back in. take plenty of pictures. you'll want them for memories and in case you forget where someting goes. make sure you have a suitable hoist. you may find it difficult to seperate the engine and the trans(unless you are pulling them together) so make sure you have something suitable to pry them apart with(and make sure you are very careful when doing so). when you remove a component, thread the bolt/nut back where it goes without the component in place. this way you'll know exactly what bolt goes where and what nut goes where. replace everything you can while the engine is out. make it as new and reliable as possible. if i think of anything else i'll chime back in! hope this helps for now.

 

Thanks bro, I should have added that I am also pulling the transmission, my plan is to swap it with a turbo 13b and a transmission to match.

 

ok, just make sure you have a good undertanding of angles and loads. it can be a little trickey to get the trans out at the same time. a lot of people prefer to do it that way. i like just pulling the engine unless i'm swapping or rebuilding the trans. in your case, i understand why you are pulling the trans as well!

 

Don't forget to remove the clutch slave because I did.

 

Noted... and i appreciate it.

 

Hose every nut and bolt you can find with PB Blaster a couple of days ahead of time (especially exhaust fittings). And don't forget to drain the coolant and oil.

 

It's going to be a real PITA to to remove the engine and trany together by yourself w/o scraping/damaging anything IMO.
I would suggest getting someone to help you or remove the engine and trany seperately.
If you remove the engine seperately the bolt holding the engine/trany together by the beehive oil cooler is easiest to remove if you remove the oil cooler. To do this I find it easiest to remove the clutch slave cylinder first to give you some room then remove the oil cooler then you sould be able to get at the engine/trany bolt.
Everything else is pretty straitforward.

Like Kentetsu said soak all nuts and bolts with penetraiting oil. The heat shield nuts around the exhaust are all probably rusted on and will be hard to get off w/o penetraiting oil and or grinding.

remove the rad and the metal dohikki the rad bolts onto to give you maximum room.

It may take a little longer but it would be a lot easier to remove the engine/trany sepertaly if your doing it by yourself IMO.

 

I have to disagree with that, actually. Taking them out in one piece is much simpler, if you lay the groundwork properly. When removing the radiator, leave it attached to the sheet metal that it is attached to. Just remove the bolts that hold the "surround", with the radiator still attached to it, so it comes out in one piece. Pretty simple. Once that is out of the way, you will have plenty of room to pull the engine with the tranny attached.

Also, mating the tranny to the engine is much easier when it is out of the car. This way, you can put it together, then install in one piece again.

The only difference between pulling just the engine, or the engine/tranny combined, is the need to remove the radiator in order to have enough room. I think this is a lot easier than laying on your back trying to unbolt the tranny from the motor, then repeating the process when you install. Sometimes the tranny can be a real bitch when trying to mate it to the motor again.

Just my opinion. Good luck man.

 

I'm with carl, removing the rad gives you that much more room to work on it. When you take out both the engine and transmission, when reinstalling thingsto hold up the tailshaft of transmission so that you can make the engine more level to put it in its spot and put the 2 front bolts on the corss member, what you want to do is grab an old belt, or a looped chain or anything of the likes, and what you want to do is feed it through end of the tailshaft, and then the bit that you're holding and lifting the end with, you want grab a wooden block or something to jam it in there to keep the tranny up. this will make it easier for you to place back the bottom transmission bolts too.

 

Thanks all the advice guys...

The good news is I have no intention of keeping the engine and transmission, they are being donated to my local scrap heap, (the engine is seized), so I'm not worried about damaging them at all.

 

Bribe a friend and remove the engine and trany together.

Yes, taking them out together is simpler but not necessarily easier.
Just remember when your doing ALL BY YOURSELF you have to balance the engine/trany and while hoisting with one hand guide it out with the other and also move the hoist back without scraping/denting anything (the car).

You can prep everything but when everything is diconnected, grab a friend to help you, easier and faster.

 

also don't forget to prop the driveshaft up because it will fall to the floor when you remove the tranny.

 

Yeah the more I think about it the more I am thinking about introducing myself to a guy up the street who has a hoist, and then get another friend just in case ya know?

 

Another tip when removing the engine and trans together is to make sure you have 4 sturdy jack stand and get the car a high as you can safely. This gives the engine/trans move room when taking them out. Make sure to have something to catch the trans fluid or put a plug in the end of the trans. Some small item that I sometimes overlook are speedo cable, trans slave cylinder, shifter.

 

Good choice on engine and trans as one piece. We did that for Eric's car and were amazed at how easily it worked. It does help to have a friend around though, to guide things.

All I can suggest is take your time and keep checking for things that are attached.

I'd put the car up on 4 jackstands, just so that you have all the room you need when you're dealing with the tail end of the tranny. You might as well drain your trans fluid first, and all your fluids really.. you don't want to have to deal with it afterwards and fluids are comparatively cheap. I once bought a 12a and the guy forgot to tell me that he didn't drain the oil before pulling it from the car, so when I put it into the trunk of my sunfire to take it home, 4L of oil spilled all over the place.

An impact wrench helps. Seriously. Even one of those $50 electric ones is perfect for this kind of job. And get a swivel end, a 4" extender and a set of sockets. Whether you're renting or buying, it will make the job so much easier. We did it without one and I wish now that we'd taken the time and grabbed one.

Seriously, with two people, a rental engine hoist and no impact gun it took us 2hrs to pull engine/tranny together. That's it. And it was our first time ever attempting an engine and/or tranny pull on any car. So rent or borrow an engine hoist, get a friend, and go nuts.

Jon