I am taking out the engine to do a rebuild. I will probably have questions later so I'll put them all in this one thread and post some pics at the end or maybe along the way. I have just about everything out with almost no problems. What I'm looking for is the starter motor? I feel like it's a stupid question, but I can't find it. The haynes manual does a bad job of showing where it's at.

Also any general tips on keeping the A/C in the car and not letting out the freon would be awesome. Thanks you.

 

the starter is bolted onto the transmission...with the engine in the car it would be on the driver side towards the bottom.

 

Thank you. That was very much what I needed to know.

 

You really can't take out the engine without removing the AC compressor, thus venting the freon.

 

I think you can just unbolt the compressor and leave it dangling, thus preserving the system integrity.

 

yep.

 

yup

 

If you take the engine Harness OUT with the engine it make things a Hell of alot easier than heving to remove the Upper intake assembly to get at all the Injector and Sensor connectors,Etc,,
Take the Carpet up on the Passenger side Floor,and you will see the Engine ECU.it is behind a Floor plate,,held on by 10mm bolts.undo that and you get to the ECU,Unplug the Harness and there is another Sensor on the Passenger Side Kick panel to disconnect too,.(follow the wiring).
After that you can just POP the Rubber Grommet from the Firewall(put a screwdriver on the Rubber inside the engine bay/firewall,push down and the Grommet will become free) and the Whole harness will slide out From the Firewall(inside the engine bay)..and Voila..Engine AND Harness OUT as one Unit.
Oh,you have a couple more sensors on the inside of the Engine ay to disconnect(like TPS and the MAP sensor) but they are all accessable.

 

yup thats what i did took the whole harness out it was way easier now im just struggling to remove that flywheel nut its a PITA

 

Well... that would have been nice to know two engines ago, when I had A/C.

 

Thanks guys. I will keep you updated when I get the engine out and all. I have the flu right now, which sucks, but when it's gone I'll be out there asap.

 

Lol an air compressor and a impact gun work wonders on that nut

 

Oh yes. I borrowed one from my friend thank god. He said he might even have the 54mm socket for the flywheel, but he didn't look in his garage yet.

 

get the socket from Sears, use it, then take it back. Repeat when you are reassembling the motor.

 

+1 to "borrowing" socket from sears

 

Good advice, thank you. Okay, I spent some time on it today. I am ready to pull the engine, except I still need to undo the electrical harness that goes to the ECU. I looked in the passenger floor area, but I'm not sure what the "Floor plate" is. Is it in the bottom, under the carpet? Like I have to pull back the carpet and not just the floor mat? Also, the sub-zero starting fluid reservoir and that charcoal canister thing can be removed and aren't needed except for emissions, correct?

And one last thing. I have a one ton hoist I bought now, but I don't have an engine stand. In your guys opinion, how strongly do you suggest an engine stand compared to say blocking it up on a wood pallet.

 

Have not had to rebuild mine yet, but I would imagine it makes things a whole lot easier when putting the pieces back together.

 

it depends on if you are going to rebuild it yourself or take it to someone else to rebuild. If you are gunna do it yourself, it makes life really a lot easier if you have the stand with the correct stand adapter, like from mazdatrix.

 

Yes,the ecu is under the carpet and padding as the passenger floorboard rises towards the firewall. You need to remove the scuff plate and kick panel on the passenger side to have access to the metal plate which covers and protects the ecu box.

You don't need the sub zero assist device, but you need the charcoal cannister, I believe, because w/o it your car will smell of gasoline routinely.

 

Haha, i'm liking that sig no love for pistons. I'm going to look around for a stand. You really need that adapter? I have the bruce turrentine video and it looks like his stand attaches right to the block? I'm going to be rebuilding it myself so I guess I better shell out the cash to get the stand, unless someone near Berks county PA wants to help me out hehehe. Trying to do a budget rebuild sucks... so much more stuff I wish I could afford to replace/upgrade.

And satch, thank you for that info, it's very much what I needed to figure that out. Hopefully I will have this thing out tomorrow!

 

I got the engine out today! Everything went well, but on to bigger things next. I noticed that the transmission has an open slot in the back?? On the passenger side. I've never seen this before, what is the purpose of that? And there's a ground to top of the transmission. It's a small wire with a plastic connector, but it wasn't plugged into anything and I never unplugged it. Does anyone know what that is? BTW I will post pictures tomorrow probably.

 

Update. The engine is out and I bought a stand. I was having a hard time getting the stand to bolt up to the engine. Do you think it will be okay like this? Any suggestions? (besides buying the 60 dollar adapter)


Here's some pics of the engine out.


I guess I'll find out tonight if that stand will hold. But, I have another problem. I stripped the nut on this engine mount and it won't come off now, it just spins and spins. I am mostly a shade tree mechanic and I'm not sure what to do about this. What's the procedure? Cut the nut and try not to mess up the mount?

Thanks everyone. This club website is so helpful and perhaps the best forum I've come across yet .

 

Just so if anyone comes across this thread later, the way I have the engine attached to the stand seems to be holding fine. I got this engine stand at harbor freight. (BTW if you head over there this week it's only 34.99 I believe until 8/18/09) So you can mark me down as another person who found a way to use this stand without making an adapter.

I had time today to get the pulleys, UIM, and engine harness off, but I need to pick up a small wrench to get some oil lines off before I continue.

 

Ya I did the same thing with my harbor freight engine stand.... It works fine!

And hey check out my myspace page its myspace.com/apostle_7

Go to my thread called bought got shot rebuild... there will be more pictures and details about pullin your motor than you can handle lol

And Im here to help too so you can PM me if you have any questions

Im in pittsburgh so im a pa guy too!

Good luck with everything!

 

correct me if im wrong but dont you bolt the motor on the trans side???

and holy crap i forgot about the 54mm....