So, I have a lot to do, and have my motor basically disconnected from my car....any write up or anything on how to drop it from the bottom?

 

well theres always taking the front end of your car off (which i heard from a friend who did this was easier) and pulling it through the top like always.. or youll have to get the car lifted and drop the axle and then engine. (dont quote me on it but thats what i hear being done.)

 

hey... ive recently done this a few times... done it taking the engine and tranny out the top and both out the bottom.

I didnt like taking it out the top because it scratched and blent alot of the engine bay, and you ahve to take your intake off once i got away with leaving the hood on and the other time i had to take the shock off to let it up another inch... it also requires a few strong ppl to wrestle it around and out of the hole.

if I ever do it again I am going to take it out the bottom leaving it attached to the k-member and unhooking the main harness..(of course taking all the other wires off.)


1. remove tires and driveshaft (remove shifter and clutch line if 6m and linkage and oil cooler lines if a4)
2. get a jack or some support under tranny, remove crossmember.
3. remove exhaust manifolds or headers unplug O2 sensors (or just loosen them so they can be moved around)
4. Unhook fuel lines(requires special tool) remove steering shaft.
5. unhooked lines from power steering pump (mine were a pain I took off the slip on line at the resivoir and then one of the threaded lines on the steering rack.)
6. trace down some of the brake lines (front brakes only and unhook them. )
7. loosen brake booster, and then remove shock tower bolts.
8. take off bolts holding sway bar in place.
9. then there should be 3 bolts per side. I believe 18mm to let the K-member down. Make sure it is supported really well. I used a big jack and jack stands and took my time.

this is all off the top of my head I might have missed something but I'm pretty sure these are the mojor points.

 

Awesome, I have 90% of that done already! I just need to disconnect the main harness(where...?) and then the brake lines, power steering to the rack, and unbolt the towers and k member, sweet. Any tips?

 

edit: before you start make sure you break the balncer bolt loose first. Its a PITA if its out of the car. Also it help to have the front and rear on jack stands for the prep work. Also remove the front wheels



1.disconnect battery
2.drain coolant
3.remove maf, lid and bellows as one peice
4.remove upper radiator hose
5.remove throttle cable
6.bleed off fuel pressure through pop-it valve on the front of drivers fuel rail
7.disconnect fuel line
8.remove brake booster rubber hose
9.disconnect purge selenoid hose (runs right next to fuel line) you may have to disconnect the wire connector to get room
10.disconnect brake lines from ABS module (should be etched RF and LF) only need to disconnect those
11.using 15mm socket, remove 2 nuts on brake master cylinder, you then have to slid the brake booster to the side for a few minutes, it wont move much but its enough
12.this allows access to the torx-50 bolts for the driver shock tower
13. use a 7/16th socket and remove the bolt on the lower steering knuckle (right above steering rack)
14.on the passengers side shock tower there are several weather pack connectors. Disconnect them all
15.disconnect the wire bundles going to the PCM. remove the PCM
16.remove the PCM bracket
17.go inside the car and pull the passengers side kick panel. With that removed you can access the 2 connectors inside the car. If you have trouble finding them just look in the engine bay behind the PCM area. There is a rubber gromment on the fire wall, pull the wires some and get the grommet out. That should help you find the connectors inside (they are on the same wire bundle as that grommet) disconnect them and feed them into the engine bay
18.next remove the AC compressor. Remove the top 2 15mm bolts from the top of the car. Then you can get the other 2 mount bolts from underneath. Have some zip ties/coat hanger handy to hang it off the lower radiator support.
19.remove the starter (2X 13mm bolts) and remove the wires on the back of it)
20.remove the ground cable that is anchored behind the starter. that will let you pull the positive cable and the ground toward the front of the car. I simply tucked near the cooling fans
21.release the front sway bar (4x13mm bolts)
22.on the drivers side, near the alternator is another grounding strap. disconnect that.
23.remove the constant power wire on the back of the alternator (thick wire with a rubber boot)
24.disconnect hydraulic lines for clutch or remove shifter cable
25.remove y-pipe
26.remove drive shaft
27.remove torque arm (single bolt, i think its 15mm, on the top of the mount, fold mount to side and push torque arm up and out of the way)
28.disconnect front wheel speed sensors (its a wire coming from the center of each front wheel hub and running along the back of the lower A-arm) disconnect it near the end of the a-arm, not the hub
29.remove the shifter (m6 only)
30.pile the wiring harness on top of the engine
31.slid a cart, or something to move the engine around on after you get it out
32. lower the car onto the cart/dolley and shim the engine/transmission level
33.unbolt the remaining shock tower bolts and swing shock towers down, careful though because it will try and put the weight on the rubber brake lines
34.remove the transmission crossmember bolts
35.remove the 6x18mm bolts (3 each side) from the front k-member
36.everything is now disconnected, slowly raise the car and make sure nothing is hanging up, you might have to wiggle the steering wheel to get the knuckle undone

the engine should now be out of the car. If you need clarification on anything shoot me a pm and I'll take a pic to show you what Im talking about

 

or if you have the time grab "How to build high-performance ls1/ls6 v-8s" by will handzel. I got mine at autozone. Everything i told you is in the book, with pictures for the important stuff. Its a nice resource to have

 

 

Any reason I can't roll it out on the wheels. I am in the middle of a cam/stall install....so I have 90% of that done already!

 

no you cant, without the strut towers connected the wheels will just fold up and could damage something. chances are good it would bend the tie rods and make contact with the sides of the engine. Do you have a strut tower brace? if so you could maybe reconnect that and roll it out.

so if oyu can find a moving dolley somewhere. thats what I used and it worked great. A local home depot might have something you could use. Or an auto parts store might have vehicle dolleys. you could put one of those under the k-member to support everything. I would suggest something with a capacity of atleast 500 pounds. My mover dolleys are 1000 lbs cap and I used 2. But I did set the whole front end on the doleys when I removed it.

 

Yea, I have a dolley...guess I will use that. This will make things easy ahha. While the motor and trans are out...anything I should do that would be a bitch witth hem in?

 

Great info. Would make a good Sticky. And I love the picture. True shade tree wrenching

 

Why the hell are you pulling the motor? Just for the oil pickup tube or did some other bad stuff happen?

 

I remember reading somthing about a penmagnet breaking off on the lifter then having issues with the converter.

 

Yea I read that to but you dont need to pull the motor for either so I was wondering what else went wrong.

 

rod bolts?
spark plugs?
plug wires?
clutch?

 

I have everything off(intake, headers, driveshaft, suspension, etc.) and have to pull the heads, and do the oil pump ****...I am so close to having the motor mout already, no reason not to just pull it, do all the work I need easily......(being pull heads, oil pump, cam, get stripped stall bolt, and motor mounts)

 

That cam install took a pretty quick ****. You really sure you wanna pull the motor? Im not the one there doing the work so i dont really know what youre going through, but it just seems very unnecessary.

 

I literally have everything off......I think it will be quicker to pull the motor and do the work then to do the work in the car. As well as much easier.

 

While you have it out you can touch up any scratches in the engine bay. You are gaining a lot of experience here so it's not all bad.

 

Haha yea I have done all that with the motor still in the car, it's really not that hard, just takes another set of hands to do some of it...I pulled mine becuase I have a new motor going in.