i'm up to step 18...the big day is tomorrow morning. A couple of things i'm not sure about,
- it sounds like I only need to hang the engine off 2 bolts (green) where the top mounts attach either side. Is there any particular reason why we don't use all 4 mounting points (green + red) at the top to hook up a hoist too?
I think I have done it both ways, and I don't think it is critical, but use your best judgement on what you think is safe and secure. Here are a couple of pictures:
- is it ok to rest the engine flat on some soft wood? will it stay upright?
Yes definitely.
thoes straps look ideal. The engine leveller i bought off amazon looked like crap so i'm returning it.
Do you know the length of those straps? as they look to be the perfect length with little slack.
In the picture it looks like you've used 2, one for the front mounts and then you've put another one diagonal, correct?
ignore that...figured it out.
My only final problem is now i need to get some rod long enough so i can actually punch it through, in the absence of a slide hammer. Wish i'd thought about that earlier...
Any rod or long screwdriver will do. Also, lifting the engine just a little to take weight off the pins will help free them.
thanks for all the input, super helpful. I got the job done in the end.
I used a single sling strap. I can see why you used a 2nd strap going diagonal. I came across a number of issues during my removal event!
- the manual confused me completely because it says on step 19 :
well there are 2 M12 nuts on either side for the top pin, and 2 diffuser mount nuts for the bottom....so at first I wasn't sure from which side I'm supposed to tap out.
I had already removed the GDU, but assuming I hadn't, presumably you'd want to tap out from the RHS, because that's where my spacers were, so therefore the procedure I think is to tap through from the RHS so that the spacers drop out, this allowing for moving the engine towards the right to uncouple from the GDU..... ????
- didn't have a suitably long enough drift so after some initial tapping through with some steel bar i found randomly, i had to resort to pulling the other end using molegrips and twisting the pin clockwise/anti clockwise.
- adjusting the load helps but for the top pin I had to use my right hand to keep the RHS Of the engine parrallel so the pin could come out easier.
Overall super pleased that I attempted it myself and have learnt a lot in the process. The job took me a long time because I just wasn't sure what to do for certain things and had to churn through it in my brain! things like
- unplugging the injectors...a 2 step technique which is easy when you know how!
- exhaust springs...using a gopro steel cable loop to pull at both ends was the most effective thing to remove these.
- i could not remove the exhaust secondaries from the primaries at all, they were properly stuck together (tried penetrating fluid etc.) - so instead removed the primaries off the head first and then somehow with a series of combination moves, twisted and turned until I could remove the whole section out.
- paddleshift actuator - wasn't sure which bolts i was supposed to remove before realising it was simply the 2 that hold the actuator to the mounting plate for the engine.
- probably an hour of headscratching trying to figure out how to get the pins out without an appropriate tool before i worked out the molegrip technique.
All in all....took me 10 hours across 3 days, from rolling the car out the garage to engine on a pallet. I'm sure I could do it in half that time now.
Looking forward to a newly rebuilt engine in 3-4 weeks time!
- didn't have a suitably long enough drift so after some initial tapping through with some steel bar i found randomly, i had to resort to pulling the other end using molegrips and twisting the pin clockwise/anti clockwise.
I think I may have left the nut on one side, and then gently tapped on the nut with a drift to move it all the way out. It has been a while since I have done an engine swap on an SR3.
@davidf i did think about doing that but was worried i'd ruin the thread if I was tapping on the nut. I was probably overthinking it and the tapping would be gentle enough to not cause any harm, but anyway....tapping back in will be a lot more fun!
