Write-Up: 3800 Series II SC Engine Removal & Installation

Update for today...







gone



new trans in... Not too bad to do



hey people need fuel too
I thought this was kind of a neat picture

great shot!

Looking awesome. Is the LIM also ported to match the blower casing?

Keep going..it's going to pay off very soon.

I am very close to being finished now. The blower is on. Waiting on a new injector to come tomorrow afternoon to finish the rest. I tried removing the o-ring at the bottem of the first injector and broke the plasticy seal retainer thing. I don't know of a way to remove the old o-ring and put a new one on without breaking those little shits so I guess I'm not replacing any o-rings pretty much. The rail-side o-rings are no problem but I see no reason to pull the injectors off the rail just to do that. The bottem ones looked like they were doused in septic waste when I pulled them off the manifold. I don't like the idea of having grit and junk sitting right in my intake runner...

So I did everything else without a hitch and now when I'm practically done, I break a nearly $100 injector. yaaaayyyy

Looks like I'm going to have some competition awfully soon.. great work. I really like the header wrap and wished I did mine up that way too.

BTY.. I'm planning another weekend Chicago trip here in the next month or so. Your not too far away...

Oh..it might be easier to realign the tensioner with the hoses removed. I've tried to line up the elbows etc w/o pulling the hoses and sometimes it fights.

Today, it has been raining on and off all day. I've been a bit busy setting up stuff for school so I couldn't quite finish it. By the time it stops raining, daylight will be long gone so I'll try to finish tomorrow. I just have to put the accesory belt on, hook up the ignition wires, and get a couple bolts and nuts for the rear exhaust manifold to crossover flange, at least for temporary. I couldn't find the OEM studs for it and I couldn't get new M8-1.25 bolts to thread in. Pain in the ass...
Then add fluids and such and I think thats about it.

I bet you are excited at this point.

It runs!
I pulled the fuel injection fuse and cranked it for 2 10sec bursts to attempt to prime the oil up a bit. Then I restored the fuse and cranked it and it fired right up.

Something pretty much scared the shit out of me for a minute. It was ticking really bad but I didn't particularly see or hear it coming from the exhuast. As far as I can tell, it is the block off plate I put onto the EGR flange from the rear exhaust manifold. I half expected that to be an issue but I've just now applied a bead of copper RTV to the plate and tightened it back on.

We'll see how that works..

It seems to have done the trick. EGR block off leak

Thanks Codith for posting the engine removal pics. I am pulling my engine today, and will be taking photos along the way. This thread may get split into two write-ups: 1) Engine Removal/Installation and 2) XPCam & Valvetrain Install. I may use your removal pics, combined with my own, to create the Engine Removal/Installation thread.

Wow I'm looking forward to this! While youre there DO port the heads and port the water ports too!

I'm not sure if that will happen, since I need the engine rebuilt and back in the car by end of next week.

Today I got the oil and coolant drained, belts, intake & throttle cable detached, ignition and fuel system off, headers & crossover pipe out, STB bar removed, alternator & wiring harness disconnected except for one pesky wire under power steering pump. Removing the hood and hopefully the engine tomorrow, then it's off to Detroit.

Here's a step by step of the progress:

Fluids drained. The engine has not been started in 2 weeks, so all the oil should be down in the pan. I let it drain out for several hours. Collected a sample to send for analysis. Results should be interesting.



DexCool out:



DISCONNECTED BATTERY!

Remove coolant hoses and intake:



Belts off:



Disconnect injectors, sensors, and part of wiring harness:



Ignition wires and coil packs removed:



Front header out:



Primaries were remarkably clean inside. Hardly any soot:





Fuel lines:



Power steering pump (two screws):



Alternator remove:



Btw, here are some of the tools I've used thus far. Actually not a whole lot is needed to tear apart the engine, and all screws, nuts and bolts loosened without trouble - no penetrating oil needed! I notice a fastener trend for the engine: 10 mm, 13 mm, and 15 mm are VERY COMMON, with 18 mm used a couple times. Although I own an air ratchet, I found myself not using it a lot. My trusty long handle 3/8" ratchet, sockets & extensions and ratcheting wrench set were most useful for this job.



Question for Codith or anyone who's pulled the motor from the top: should the trans fluid be drained before separating the transmission from the engine? Also, can the drive shafts remain installed when the motor is pulled?

Thx

You have to remove the drive shafts.It's possible but why not remove them?ya have to anyway!
draining the tranny can be done afterwards.The fluid wont flow out.Easier to drain while on bench anyway.

Drive shafts? Are you talkin about the CV axles? Those don't have to do anything and the trans will be fine in fact better than because it won't have to hold up the engine lol. Just make sure obviously to remove the flexplate to torque converter bolts so you don't start to pull out the converter.

btw thanks AA for pulling this thread out of the grave because it has a post by billboost about the alternator hitting the genV causing KR. I need to take a close look at that again I think...

Yes, I want the transmission and axles to remain in the car. Only trying to remove the engine from the top. Can see several bolts holding the engine and trans together - plan to remove those, and then what? Will the engine separate enough to access the flex plate bolts?

Will trans fluid spill everywhere when I separate the engine/trans, or would this be minimized if I drain the pan first? I know about half the trans fluid stays in the coverter. I don't want to make a big mess.

Thx for help.

There's really no reason fluid should leave the transmission at all from pulling the engine. There's the 5 bell-housing bolts including the bitch bolt, the little brace that connects the diff area of the trans to the oil filter area of the engine that can come off right away once you have access to it (not a critical weight carrying point), the one engine mount on the passenger side, the flywheel-tc bolts which you remove by taking off the starter and plastic access covers - there's no moving anything except turning over the engine by hand to get each bolt. As you loosen the bolts, the torque converter will actually pull its self away from the flywheel a tiny bit since it's kind of floating so there's really nothing to have issues. The tc doesn't want to come out.

THANK YOU! (+)

This little ground wire is the last thing connecting the wiring harness to the engine. It is located behind the power steering pump, accessed from the rear of the engine bay:



Loosened 4 screws connecting the engine to transmission:



The backward/bitch bolt is evading me. Is that it in center?

That picture looks like the diff/pass. side output housing. You need to go another 6-8 inches deeper. Should be an 18mm head IIRC.

One Of these? (looking staight up between trans & oil pans)

The pic there between the engine and transaxle is just the knock sensor and its shield. The bitch bolt is the bell housing bolt closest to the firewall but instead of threading into the engine block like the other 4, it threads the other way into the trans so you have to get it from the back behind the engine - hence its name. Conventionally, you'd have to have a long-ass extension to go across that whole area pictured above but something gets in the way. (the knock sensor IIRC) The last time I had my engine out I got to the bolt from the trans side, reaching over the way the exhaust crossover goes and I was able to remove and install it that way. If you take the heads off, for removal, it's easier still.

Oh but yeah that first pic of the diff area is that bracket. I believe 3 bolts hold it to the diff and 2 connect it to the engine.

Okay, so that bracket needs to come off. The bracket is shown below. I think the B-bolt is in the background.



A closer look at the suspect B-bolt. This has to be it!

Yup

Okay, got it. The B-bolt is actually accessible from driver side, or from atop the engine. Here's a picture taken from the area where the throttle body and EGR are located.



Took out the engine mount, belts, and rest of wiring harness. Cooling hoses all disconnected.



With a little leverage with a pry bar, the block separates from the transaxle!



Now working on AC compressor, planning to leave it connected in the engine bay.