New engine this weekend. Tips?

Well it's been a while guys. I almost feel ashamed to say I'm a little intimidated to take this beast out. It's been so long since I've actually done any WORK on my jeep, or any American car for that matter. I can have to motor and trans out of a Lexus RX350 in an afternoon but for some reason this is scaring me a little :eyes:

I also apologize for not searching for everything I'm looking for, but I think it'll be easier and quicker to keep it in a dedicated thread...

So, to start - this is all done in my driveway (carport)

1.) -Should I pull all 3 in one shot? Engine, trans, and t-case. I have a hoist as well as a floor trans jack.

2.) -Should I disconnect any AC lines or the condensor? I have access to an evacuator/recovery machine. If it will make things noticeably easier to have the AC out of the way, I'll grab it.

3.) -The engine going in is essentially brand new. Machine work, new head, complete rebuild. However, are there any smaller things on the outside, or surrounding the engine that I should replace while it's out? I've had it happen a few times where you put the motor back in, and realize you should have replaced an item because it's a royal PAIN to get to otherwise. I'm thinking little sensors or bolts/bracketry that commonly corrode and can cause problems later.

4.) -What are the most common bolt and nut sizes, lengths, and pitches? In the Jap world 10mm and 12mm bolts are abundant, and I find myself replacing probably one out of every 4 bolts I remove. I've got access to nice oem flanged head coated nuts and bolts, just need to know a few common sizes and lengths.

I'm sure I'll think of a few more things as I go. I'm working on disassembly now, but the real transplant is scheduled for saturday. Thanks for the help!

1) nope, just pull the motor. Pick the motor up with your lift and remove both motor mounts/brackets, then drop the engine down and remove the 2 upper bell housing bolts. Raise the engine back up, support the tranny and remve the 2 lower bell housing bolts(remove the torque converter bolts while you have the engine bolted in)

2)Just remove the compressor and lay it over into the battery tray

3)I don't know your year model but if its a RENIX I would install the CTS and on all models its easier to install the intake/exhaust manifolds while the engine is out

4)The only thing you might need are 3/8"x16 bolts for the manifolds

Cool doesn't sound too bad. I like the idea with the 2 top bolts. I've never had any problems with them previously, but it's a lot easier when you have 4' of extensions and a powerful impact gun to get them out... and a lift. Your suggestions sounds like it should make them a lot easier to access on the ground.

Personally I always drop the tcase first because it is light and easy to get to, then I pull the engine and tranny together. If you leave the TC on it is a bit unwieldy. I probably would evacuate the AC so I could replace all the Orings when I put it back together. They tend to leak after a while, especially after having been flexed during an engine pull. It is also easier to do the swap if you pull the radiator, AC coil , and front radiator support. While the radiator and coil are off, flush the radiator and clean out the bugs in the fans.

It is a ton easier to mate the engine to the tranny out of the vehicle.

Not a bad idea to replace the CPS with a new high altitude one and put the old one in a plastic bag under the rear seat for emergencies.

Don't forget an exhaust gasket. The donut should be replaced, but most forget to get one and just reuse the old one, leading to a leak. While you have the engine out, heat wrap the #3 and #4 injectors to prevent heat soak.

Make sure you have bellville washers for the exhaust/intake.

Before putting the bolts through the motor mounts into the block, grind the bolts a touch shorter then use loctite. They tend to bottom and not seat correctly and end up shearing off. Don't bother asking me how I know.

Beware that the bolt into the starter from the tranny side is english while the bolt through the starter into the bell housing is metric.


Good luck.

DanMan2k06 said:

4' of extensions and a powerful impact gun to get them out...

Click to expand...

sounds like a recipe for a BAD tasting soufle! maybe once its got hex bolts... but thats a bad idea on the inverted torx.... ive never had problems loosening that bolt, only stripping it.

irwin bolt extractor set works wonders, should you strip it.

I pull the header panel/radiator and move the AC condensor to the side, then I either pull the transfercase/trans/engine together or drop the transfer case and then pull them.

I've done probably 15 or so engine pulls and only one time I pulled the tranny with the engine, what a pain in the a$$!

I always just pull the engine now. I don't see the need of taking the tranny/T-case out unless you are going to do work to them.

JMHO

Lots of good tips so far! Some of mine have already been mentioned.

· Just pull the engine

· On everything I've ever done an engine swap on, I removed the hood. The XJ hood folds so far up, that step is completely unnecessary.

· The AC compressor, power steering pump and starter can all stay hooked up

· Removing the header panel only takes a few minutes and gives you a lot more access. Same goes for the radiator, battery and air box.

· 10mm is used quite a bit as well as 8-15mm although you will need several additional sizes as not all the bolts are metric and not all the bolts are the same. The bellhousing uses 2 or 3 different sizes plus the top two bolts are Torx E?? They're inverse from the standard Torx T series but I can't remember what size you'll need.

· The hardest part of the whole removal is getting the intake/exhaust bolts out.

· The best tip I've found is, when reinstalling, install the head separately from the block. This will let you install the intake and exhaust manifolds to the head prior to installation. The only additional work will be reinstalling the exhaust bolts at the flanges and that was a cake walk compared to reinstalling those bolts horizontally and blind.

· One trick I've used twice now is to cut the top threads off the drivers side rear-most head bolt. On my 00, it was impossible to get in once the head was in place and if the top threads were intact, I couldn't fit a torque wrench on it.

Almost forgot an important one!

When you're installing the new engine, take your crank position sensor loose so you can't crunch it when mating the engine and trans!

I feel like the crank sensor would be painfully obvious... when it's too late lol. I was originally set on pulling all 3, now I'm just fine with the engine only. After being on the ground last night I'd like to spend as little time as possible down there, and taking out the t-case can be a pain. It's only taken about 4 hours total, and all I have left are the bellhousing bolts and it's ready to come out. I marked all the plugs and labeled bags with bolts, so hopefully it goes back together as quick as it came apart.

Guess I just started to get cold feet earlier. This swap has been a breeze so far. Pretty blown my exhaust manifold has a gnarly crack though, right in between the pipes at the collector so it'd be pretty hard to efficiently weld up. I'll throw up some pictures when it's all installed, but for now here's a teaser.

Oohhh pretty..
When i had my 4.0 rebuilt and put back in i opted for a header i got off of Ebay. AFAIK you cant reliably weld an exhaust manifold on these motors.
Most of the replacement exhaust manifolds have flex points intigrated which is definitly what you want. Thats an easy and pretty inexpensive upgrade as well.

After looking closely at my motor mounts, I can see they're cracked pretty badly. Not excessively broken, but it probably played somewhat of a roll in the cracked manifold. I'm going to reinstall the cracked oem one for now, and after the motor is in get some BD motor mounts, new trans mount, and a new manifold.