I need to do my first engine change can anyone offer advise?
Discussion
Now although i may sound very inexperienced with the title i have actually removed 3 engines before but they were all from crashed cars and this meant i could angle grind the front of the car off and slide the engine out on a trolley jack.
Now i've foolishly offered to change a mates mg zr 1.4 s
t box with you guessed it a blown headgasket, however he melted the head as he kept driving it after it overheated and the block is warped also.
Its a lot cheaper to get a new engine so thats what i'm doing. The only thing i'm worried about is the drive shafts. Will i have to remove the front suspension to release them from the gear box? on previous cars i have as they were being broken for spares but on a car i have to put back together i'm not sure if this is necessary.
Other than that its just a case of disconnect and label everything, take the weight, undo the mounts and lift it out......or am i missing something.
All google searches just return american muscle car engine removal etc etc.
Any links or advise would be massively appreciated
Now i've foolishly offered to change a mates mg zr 1.4 s
t box with you guessed it a blown headgasket, however he melted the head as he kept driving it after it overheated and the block is warped also. Its a lot cheaper to get a new engine so thats what i'm doing. The only thing i'm worried about is the drive shafts. Will i have to remove the front suspension to release them from the gear box? on previous cars i have as they were being broken for spares but on a car i have to put back together i'm not sure if this is necessary.
Other than that its just a case of disconnect and label everything, take the weight, undo the mounts and lift it out......or am i missing something.
All google searches just return american muscle car engine removal etc etc.
Any links or advise would be massively appreciated
For the drive shafts, you'll probably have to remove one of the ball joints and twist the upright outwards. That should give you enough wiggling room to pull the shafts out. Be careful though, they have a tendency to seal the box, so without them, oil has a habit of pouring everywhere.
As for everything else, label EVERYTHING including the bolts you take out, although the bolts are often best put in freezer bags with the relevant info written on it. It's quite hard trying to remember what every little wire and connectors does. Also, whilst the old engine is out, and before you install the new one, give the engine bay a good clean. This isn't strictly necessary, but will make your life so much easier when fitting the new one back in.
Oh, and don't forget that engine cranes are just the tool to test the tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.
As for everything else, label EVERYTHING including the bolts you take out, although the bolts are often best put in freezer bags with the relevant info written on it. It's quite hard trying to remember what every little wire and connectors does. Also, whilst the old engine is out, and before you install the new one, give the engine bay a good clean. This isn't strictly necessary, but will make your life so much easier when fitting the new one back in.
Oh, and don't forget that engine cranes are just the tool to test the tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.
Edited by Snake the Sniper on Friday 16th January 20:11
As above really,but you dont need to remove the driveshafts to remove the engine,make sure you take off the front pulley,it will give you enough room to lift it out.done a few myself,easier than the 75 model,same engine.
Bleeding the cooling system is not straightforward on these when you replace the engine,I use a vacuum filler.
look in the MG forum.
Bleeding the cooling system will be well covered in there im sure
Bleeding the cooling system is not straightforward on these when you replace the engine,I use a vacuum filler.
look in the MG forum.
Bleeding the cooling system will be well covered in there im sure
dickkark said:
As above really,but you dont need to remove the driveshafts to remove the engine,make sure you take off the front pulley,it will give you enough room to lift it out.done a few myself,easier than the 75 model,same engine.
Bleeding the cooling system is not straightforward on these when you replace the engine,I use a vacuum filler.
look in the MG forum.
Bleeding the cooling system will be well covered in there im sure
Would it not be easier to put the box back on off the car? I always seem to struggle with getting the input shaft lined up just right. It has taken me a whole afternoon of swearing to get one in before.Bleeding the cooling system is not straightforward on these when you replace the engine,I use a vacuum filler.
look in the MG forum.
Bleeding the cooling system will be well covered in there im sure
As with most modern cars the easiest way is to drop the whole front end out from under the car.
Remove the strut top mounts, gear change linkage and exhaust and unbolt the subframe on a couple of trolley jacks to drop it all out, you may also need a crane to lift the front of the car high enough
Remove the strut top mounts, gear change linkage and exhaust and unbolt the subframe on a couple of trolley jacks to drop it all out, you may also need a crane to lift the front of the car high enough
my lotus manual tells me of a drain plug for the gearbox. As you are going to take the box out, the driveshafts will pop out and would be good to do that after draining the oil out.Other than that, just take a methodical approach to the job.Things like exhaust manifold bolts might be seized,so just undo the down pipe two bolts etc.
Snake the Sniper said:
dickkark said:
As above really,but you dont need to remove the driveshafts to remove the engine,make sure you take off the front pulley,it will give you enough room to lift it out.done a few myself,easier than the 75 model,same engine.
Bleeding the cooling system is not straightforward on these when you replace the engine,I use a vacuum filler.
look in the MG forum.
Bleeding the cooling system will be well covered in there im sure
Would it not be easier to put the box back on off the car? I always seem to struggle with getting the input shaft lined up just right. It has taken me a whole afternoon of swearing to get one in before.Bleeding the cooling system is not straightforward on these when you replace the engine,I use a vacuum filler.
look in the MG forum.
Bleeding the cooling system will be well covered in there im sure
t load of leverage to remove from the gearbox, with hindsight I would have done the job this way when I did a k-series swap.Ben
As well as labelling everything when I did the impreza I took digital pictures of every step and then refered to thing in reverse order when putting the new engine in. Helped me out with a couple of bits that didn't seem as obvious on assembly as I thought they would be.
Another good trick is that if you're taking something off which has a number of bolts holding it on (like the water pump or the rocker cover) get a bit of cardboard, draw round the thing you're taking of and stick the bolts through the card board where they'd go through the thing and then write the name of the thing on the cardboard. Really helpful in making sure the right length bolts go in the right places without experimentation on assembly.
Another good trick is that if you're taking something off which has a number of bolts holding it on (like the water pump or the rocker cover) get a bit of cardboard, draw round the thing you're taking of and stick the bolts through the card board where they'd go through the thing and then write the name of the thing on the cardboard. Really helpful in making sure the right length bolts go in the right places without experimentation on assembly.
Edited by dern on Tuesday 20th January 09:13
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