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Pulling a 96 Motor?

8Mud

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Central Germany
I've never had the engine out of my 96. Any special tips or pitfalls I should watch out for? I'm tentatively planning to take the engine, tranny and trasfer out as one unit, the way I usually do with the Renix.

My youngest son just came home and said I just touched the curb with the right front tire and the motor started making a bunch of noise. The list is, the right motor mount, radiator fan blade and intake/exhaust manifold, so far. Gee Dad, really, I just barely bumped the curb. I haven't really checked out the front end parts yet.
 
Bumped the curb, lol

Nothing special on the 96, just be sure to remove the fuel line bracket from the intake manifold
 
I found the tensile.strength of that plastic line when pulling mine.

Couple bolts tying.the line to the manifold. Not sure if renix has it as well.
 
The renix bracket is much more obvious, as its on top of the intake manifold. The h.o. bracket is harder to see, as it is on the side...

Are we over complicating this? sure... but thats what the OP asked about.
 
I've pulled both REnix engines and a '96. No major differences, just slight component changes.

If you're not messing with the transmission and transfer case I would leave them in place. It's not tough if you're using a load balancing hoist, I've done most of my engine swapping work by myself that way.
 
I've pulled both REnix engines and a '96. No major differences, just slight component changes.

If you're not messing with the transmission and transfer case I would leave them in place. It's not tough if you're using a load balancing hoist, I've done most of my engine swapping work by myself that way.

I always R&R the engines by themselves, without removing the header panel, which some people recommend.
 
Most every time I take a motor out I forget at least one connection someplace, especially bad when you'll never pulled that particular model before. There is most always something pretty well hidden in there someplace you are going to overlook unless you go looking for it.:) Or some little trick that can save you some time or aggravation.

Like I learned the hard way I can't tilt the engine tranny and transfer (as a unit) at a steep enough angle without raising the Jeep to get it to clear (the ground), then learned that I have to drop it back down again with the engine hanging so my engine hoist goes up high enough to finish the job. I also learned my snatch point is as close to the firewall as I can hook up to.

I'm more worried about breaking something trying to get it apart and/or forgetting something and breaking it during the engine pull. Prior planning prevents pizz poor performance :).

Getting the broken bolts, for the motor mount, out of the block is going to be a whole other can of worms. Anybody got a tip on what type of bolts to use as replacements? OEM or is there something better?
 
I have swapped many XJ engines. I have found it best to remove both front motor mount brackets from the engine and drop the engine down to get to the two reverse torx bolts at the top of the bell housing. Breaking them loose like this is easy. Then raise the engine back up, support the tranny, drop the motor to take the pressure off of the bolts and loosen the rest of the bell housing bolts. If you have the radiator out, condenser laid over to the pass side resting on a chair, A/C compressor laying in the battery tray then you don't have to evacuate the freon and the engine will come forward and out with ease with all of the accessories still attached.

I've done enough of them that I can r&r a XJ/MJ 4.0 in less than 6hrs and have it running, by myself. Its really not bad at all.
 
Most every time I take a motor out I forget at least one connection someplace, especially bad when you'll never pulled that particular model before. There is most always something pretty well hidden in there someplace you are going to overlook unless you go looking for it.:) Or some little trick that can save you some time or aggravation.

Like I learned the hard way I can't tilt the engine tranny and transfer (as a unit) at a steep enough angle without raising the Jeep to get it to clear (the ground), then learned that I have to drop it back down again with the engine hanging so my engine hoist goes up high enough to finish the job. I also learned my snatch point is as close to the firewall as I can hook up to.

I'm more worried about breaking something trying to get it apart and/or forgetting something and breaking it during the engine pull. Prior planning prevents pizz poor performance :).

Getting the broken bolts, for the motor mount, out of the block is going to be a whole other can of worms. Anybody got a tip on what type of bolts to use as replacements? OEM or is there something better?

All of the engine hardware is standard. The motor mount brackets use a 3/8"x16 grade 8 bolts. Not sure of the length but most likely 1" or 1.25"
 
Lets take a vote, just the engine our the whole package? I Pulled the first one, just the motor and it was a real pain, the guy I had helping me was a tool.:) I've pulled the others as a package. My motor hoist isn't the load balancing type, I thought about it but found I really need all the height I can get to clear the front brace with the header panel removed. It will come out of there eventually, it always has in the past. I just want to do as little collateral damage as possible.
 
I always R&R the engines by themselves, without removing the header panel, which some people recommend.

Do you mean the upper rad support? I always take that out and the whole front end for that matter. Its only a few bolts/screws and you don't have to worry about cracking that panel when the engine swings into it.

Sequence shots of pulling the RENIX in our 89 MJ. We evacuated the AC since I went with a R134a system from a 96XJ when we went back with the engine.
0619111204.jpg

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0619112006.jpg

0620111905.jpg

0622111901.jpg

0625112056.jpg

0625112058.jpg

062611144901.jpg
 
I have swapped many XJ engines. I have found it best to remove both front motor mount brackets from the engine and drop the engine down to get to the two reverse torx bolts at the top of the bell housing. Breaking them loose like this is easy. Then raise the engine back up, support the tranny, drop the motor to take the pressure off of the bolts and loosen the rest of the bell housing bolts. If you have the radiator out, condenser laid over to the pass side resting on a chair, A/C compressor laying in the battery tray then you don't have to evacuate the freon and the engine will come forward and out with ease with all of the accessories still attached.

I've done enough of them that I can r&r a XJ/MJ 4.0 in less than 6hrs and have it running, by myself. Its really not bad at all.

Sounds good to me, maybe I'll try it your way this time, it will sure cut down on the number of connectors, linkages and whatnot I have to mess with.
 
Lets take a vote, just the engine our the whole package? I Pulled the first one, just the motor and it was a real pain, the guy I had helping me was a tool.:) I've pulled the others as a package. My motor hoist isn't the load balancing type, I thought about it but found I really need all the height I can get to clear the front brace with the header panel removed. It will come out of there eventually, it always has in the past. I just want to do as little collateral damage as possible.

I prefer just the motor unless I'm parting the Jeep out and not worried about banging into stuff on the way out. I will tell you, the motor/tranny/t-case is a LOAD! And a tight squeeze!

1315170084.jpg


Finished engine swap pic on the MJ just for a teaser:D

1122121245.jpg
 
Engine only. Take the motor mount bolts out that go from the motor mounts to the frame. Leave those big cross-wise bolts in. Be sure to loosen/remove the upper bell housing to engine bolts before any others.The socket size is E12.
 
Most every time I take a motor out I forget at least one connection someplace, especially bad when you'll never pulled that particular model before. There is most always something pretty well hidden in there someplace you are going to overlook unless you go looking for it.:) Or some little trick that can save you some time or aggravation.

Like I learned the hard way I can't tilt the engine tranny and transfer (as a unit) at a steep enough angle without raising the Jeep to get it to clear (the ground), then learned that I have to drop it back down again with the engine hanging so my engine hoist goes up high enough to finish the job. I also learned my snatch point is as close to the firewall as I can hook up to.

I'm more worried about breaking something trying to get it apart and/or forgetting something and breaking it during the engine pull. Prior planning prevents pizz poor performance :).

Getting the broken bolts, for the motor mount, out of the block is going to be a whole other can of worms. Anybody got a tip on what type of bolts to use as replacements? OEM or is there something better?


Here's why the motor mount bracket bolts break and what you need to do.
From Jon Kelley aka 5-90 @ www.kelleyswip.com
 
 
This is a known issue.

1) Unless you're going to get silly with the skinny pedal, 2xSAE8 screws on one side won't be a huge problem. You'd be better off with three, but if you don't get silly you'll be okeh.

2) The Brown Dog engine mounts use two or three additional holes on each side, and spread the mount/clamping force over more of the block. This is invariably a good idea, and I'll probably be doing it as I refit my 88.

3) The primary reason that the screws snap is because, sometimes, the screw holes in the block aren't drilled & tapped deeply enough. This causes the screw to bottom out in the hole, so you end up torquing against the bottom of the hole instead of stretching the screw (as you're supposed to do. Not your fault - you aren't doing anything wrong.) The screw is not stretched properly, and the head is not butted up against the bracket, so there's some room to move there. Vibration then causes wear cycles on the screw, which generally leads to rupture.

The easy/cheap fix? When you replace the screws (3/8"-16x1.25", as I recall,) put two flat washers under the head before you screw it into the hole.

The check? Take a feeler gage (.003" to .005") and try to slide it under the head of the screw. You'll be able to get under the corners (look at the hex head, and you'll see that the surfaces curve toward each other slightly) if it's a standard hex head - if it's a flanged hex head, you should not be able to get under the head anywhere. If you can slip the gage under the head, you have a problem. If you can touch the shank of the screw, you have a big problem!

In no case should you reuse the screws after you take them out - they'll be stressed under the head, and you'll have a significant reduction in strength. Replace them outright, putting washers under the head as I mentioned before. The washers will make up for the slight lack of depth in the hole (two of them will be about 0.125" or so,) and allow the screw to be preloaded properly.


 
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