AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

Last summer I blew the engine during a track day @ VIR. After months of procrastinating and/or hobbling around on crutches (mostly procrastinating), I finally got off my *** and decided to pull the engine this weekend. Intake manifold, headers, and heads were removed a couple months ago, along with all the accessories. I'm now at the point that the engine mounts are removed, and the 8 bolts that hold the engine and bellhousing together are all removed, but the engine won't come free from the bellhousing.

Is there some trick to disengaging the engine from the tranny? Does the engine have to come out with the bellhousing / clutch housing still attached? (The FSM procedure for removing the engine has you remove the engine and tranny together out the bottom, then remove the tranny from the clutch housing, then remove the clutch housing from the engine. That makes me wonder if there's no way to do what I'm trying to do.) I think the issue is that I need to disengage the slave cylinder, which is bolted to the front of the tranny inside the clutch housing, from the clutch. I have a feeling that I'm fooked, and that the only way I can do that is by sliding the tranny back so I can unbolt the slave cylinder from inside the clutch housing.

I would much appreciate some help from those who have pulled their engines.

liqidvenom

iTrader: (2)

I havent pulled my ls6, but i have taken out the trans and i think it might be easier for you to pull the driveshaft, trans, bell housing then pull the motor out.

01_SuperSlow

iTrader: (7)

I haven't pulled my LS6 either, but I would do it the same way that venom said ^^^.
Your problem might be that it's still hanging on to the "pins" that are around the bellhousing, not sure if its one or two, and these have to be released or pushed out with a pry bar.

raven154

iTrader: (14)

Pull all the exahust and then pull the drive shaft. Then pull the trans off the bellhousing leaving the clutch and bell housing on the engine. Pull the radiator and fans and then pull the engine out the top. Easiest way I promise!!!

raven154

iTrader: (14)

Also, the slave has a quick disconnect. Pull the clip and just pull. No need to unbolt the slave. You wont clear the bell on the fire wall if you try the trans and the bell together. The input shaft has to slide out of the clutch and there isn't enough room.

liqidvenom

iTrader: (2)

Thats how i would do it

whisler151

That sucks. Do you know what let go in the motor?

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

Is that the only way to do it? The tech I spoke to at Lindsay said if I'm leaving the tranny and bellhousing in the car, that I shouldn't need to touch any of that. He could be wrong, as he said they do it per the FSM (pull the tranny, then drop the engine on the cradle out the bottom of the car). His advice was the same as 01_SuperSlow's, that the bellhousing is probably hung up on the 2 dowel pins, and that I need to break it free from those.

If I don't need to pull the exhaust/driveshaft/tranny, I'd really, really rather not do so. I guess the knowledge gap I have is that I don't know how the slave cylinder engages the clutch. Is it connected in such a way that the clutch (still bolted to the flywheel, of course) can't just slide off the input shaft of the tranny?

07CTS-V

iTrader: (6)

That's how I pulled mine.

TexVette

iTrader: (2)

The slave setup is identical to how it is on F-bodies. Once you disconnect the transmission from the bellhousing, as long as your slave line is disconnected and everything from the tranny is disconnected including the driveshaft it should slide backwards until the input shaft clears the clutch fingers.

If you're pulling it our of the top, gonna have to remove exhaust/driveshaft/tranny (to the bellhousing).

If you pull it out the bottom, see my recent posts regarding this. I just pulled tranny/motor down. It was pretty easy IMO. I left the tranny attached and the driveshaft was left on, but only because I was pulling rear subframe too.

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

No idea how F-bodies are.

Why? What is preventing the engine from just coming off the front of the bellhousing like the other engines I've played with?

DMM

The Bellhousing is probably seized on the dowel pins that locate the bellhousing, since the engine and bellhousing are aluminum and the dowels are steel. That's why it should be easier to pull the trans from the bellhousing, aluminum to aluminum, although it may still be tight.

The trans in my Silverado was seized on the dowels, took almost an hour of letting it soak and yanking on it to finally break free...and I have a lift.

raven154

iTrader: (14)

It may seem like more work and it is, but it's easier work if that makes sense. You can pull the motor out the top with all the accessories off an the radiator out if you can knock the bellhousing loose from the engine. A lot of people have issues with this. You also have to think about supporting the trans when the engine is out as well.

I assumed (not sure why) that you were pulling the trans anyway. This way is by far easier if you have to pull both.

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

I'm going to fight with it some more after work today and see what I can accomplish. I jacked the rear up last night and doused the Magnaflow clamps with penetrant and left them to soak, since the first one I tried to remove laughed at me. Since I couldn't get the exhaust off, in the meantime I went back to trying to separate the engine from the bellhousing. The passenger side dowel pin appears to no longer be stuck - I have a gap on that side. Driver side pin is still not cooperating.

JimmyHemroid

Why would you want to leave the trans and bellhousing in the car? How are you gona put the new motor in? You gona stab the tranny/bellhousing/slave all together and while its still in the car? I highly doubt it. You have to mount the bellhousing on the motor first anyways, then stab the tranny. So why not just pull the trans now from the bottom and then pull the motor with the bellhousing still attached out the top? This is your answer....Now go, complete your task my son..

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

Because they're not broken. The engine is.

Stabbing the input shaft of the tranny into the clutch has worked just fine on my other two cars, and for bazillions of other engine installs that mechanics and DIYers have been doing for decades, so my entering assumption was that I could do it that way on this car.

Which brings me back to why? Why do you have to mount the bellhousing on the motor first? I'm not trying to be difficult, I'm just trying to understand what is different about how the clutch/tranny/slave/engine all fit together.

Cadzila

If you are going to argue with every bit of advice you get then and have at it. You ask for help and bitch folks out who try and help you.

STAGEUP

1. Remove exhaust
2. Remove driveshaft
3. Remove slave line
4. Remove trans mount
5. Remove trans
6. Remove headers/manifolds
7. Remove fans
8. Remove radiator
9. Unbolt a/c compressor and leave to the side on the cradle
10. Disconnect the wiring harness from every sensor And electronics
11. Attach engine hoist
12. Unbolt engine mounts
13. Start pulling the engine and watch for anything that may get yanked on
14. engine removed. Call for pizza

Oh yeah, don't forget to disconnect the battery

Cadzilla

iTrader: (3)

It's all sandwiched in there. I've pulled the ds, trans, and clutch once, and the trans a second time, and I don't see how the engine can come out without pulling the trans back about 6 inches, especially if you have a stock clutch... Unless you could get enough forward clearance after pulling the rad and all accessories/pulleys..

The bitch, if you don't have a lift, is getting to the trans bolts, not to mention the bellhousing bolts. There would be a bit more work involved but I'd pull all of it as an assembly and put it back in the same way. More initial work, but way less headache along the way.

If not, I think you'll definitely have to separate and pull the trans back, the input shaft would bind otherwise.

There's no easy way out. No shortcut home.

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

Made some progress last night, but in the end I think I found the answer to my "Why?" question. It appears to be a matter of oil pan vs. crossmember space. With the help of a 3" wide flat scaper/chisel thingy, I was able to get a gap started on the driver side, and then pryed a bit on each side and eventually got the bellhousing off the dowel pins. I've got about a 1.5" gap or thereabouts. However, I can't move the engine forward far enough to fully clear the transmission input shaft, because the sump of the oil pan hits the crossmember. I can't jack the engine up any farther because the bellhousing hits the top of the tranny tunnel at the firewall. The bellhousing isn't bolted to the engine anymore, but obviously everything needs to stay aligned until the input shaft is clear of the clutch.

(If one were to do this the "normal" way, the bellhousing would be tight to the back of the engine, and since the bellhousing slopes down a bit, as it comes forward with the engine you can jack the engine higher to get the oil pan over the crossmember. Hopefully that makes sense.)

So, I think I could drop the front crossmember just a bit - maybe an inch or so - and accomplish the mission. I'm guessing the crossmember bolts are torqued to 8 million ft-lb by the factory, though, so that may be easier said than done. Plus I'd have to rearrange my current jack stand and jack configuration, since the jack stands are under the crossmember as it sits now. If I have time to get at it tonight, I'll take a look at that route vs. the remove everything route and decide which path I want to take.