engine lowering

[drellis]

Hi people,
am in process of taking out a leaking passeneger (UK) petrol tank. Was hoping to get tank out without moving engine, but this is no possible. Any one got any tips? or ideas as to how best lower the engine.

any help much appreciated

dave s4

[lotusguy]

drellis said:

Hi people, am in process of taking out a leaking passeneger (UK) petrol tank. Was hoping to get tank out without moving engine, but this is no possible. Any one got any tips? or ideas as to how best lower the engine. any help much appreciated dave s4

Dave,

Not sure how much you feel you need to move the engine, but from the S3 model onwards, the engine can only be lifted out. You may be able to lower the engine slightly if only an inch or two is needed for tank clearance, but you'll first need to disconnect the tranny and the S3> subframe will eventually be a problem w/ the manifold, exhaust and other ancillaries.

You might be better off trying to raise the engine slightly using a floorjack after loosening the engine/tranny mounts, or slightly rotating it to the right. Be very careful in doing this as the engine is definitely weight biased to the passenger side of your car and will want to rotate in that direction.

Instead of all this, you may find it easier to simply remove whatever engine part is obstructing your clearance, whether it be the manifold or the exhaust cam tower, even though these are horrendous tasks in and of themselves. If going to those lengths, it may be wise to consider additional maintenance such as adjusting valve clearances, timing belt etc. while you're in that deep, you'll need to make that call.

But, I suspect you are going to have problems if you try to lower the engine, only to have to do some of the things I describe anyway. Give it some really good thought before you proceed to avoid unecessary work. Good Luck! Happy Motoring! ...Jim'85TE


>> Edited by lotusguy on Monday 5th July 21:20

[dr.hess]

There have been several people who successfully replaced the tanks without removing the motor. There are some web sites documenting the feat, but I don't have the bookmarks here. If I recall, the trick was to completely remove the motor mounts, thus allowing the motor to be lowered considerably more. The cam towers and/or exhaust manifold may have to come off as well. Of course, the axles have to come off, etc. Good luck.

Dr.Hess