alright so bad apex seals for me so i decided to pull the motor on my 86 rx7 n/a automatic. This is my first time ever pulling a motor and am just looking for some quick tips or things that are quirky rotary specific. Best way to get the wiring harness out? thanks guys anything helps

you can also email me at jcarlson546@yahoo.com
thanks again

 

http://www.rotaryresurrection.com/2n...e_removal.html

pretty much step by step. Pictures too.

 

Biggest tip for first time remover:

Take pictures of every single thing to disconnect.

It will help you when you go to put it back together.

Next biggest tip:
Memorize the factory shop manual or have it very handy. The removal order in it is there for a reason. It is the quickest way to remove the engine.

 

^^ either take pics or do what i did. Label everything your pull out with a strip of scotch tape and your written discription on it.


Front primary injector, Front secondary inj. ----- rear prim. inj.

 

For your wiring harness question, disconnect it at the ECU and push it through the firewall and coil it on top of the motor as you're pulling it. It's alot easier to disconnect and reconnect everything outside of the car.

 

When the motor comes loose from the transmission, make sure you have a 2x4 or a bar of some kind to support the bell housing. If not, you'll be putting unwanted stress on the transmission crossmember, output shaft & driveshaft while it hangs there.

 

Swap to a 5 speed while it's out. It will make your life easier and you will enjoy the car more.

 

make sure to label all the bolts you remove

 

Buy quart sized ziplock baggies and scatter Sharpies around the garage. Whenever possible, put the nuts and bolts back where you got them while disassembling. Otherwise, put them in a ziplock, label the ziplock with one of the nearby Sharpies and duct tape the ziplock to the source part.

This is how we organized the parts that came off our racing engines during tech inspections. After a long hot day racing and it's late and night in a poorly lit tech inspection area, it's easy to end up with "extra" or "missing" parts.

See Dick look at his "extra" parts in confusion.
Dont be a Dick!

 

thanks guys you have definately got me pointed in the right direction i had already been labeling and bagging most of the parts i think i should be alright for the most part...didnt get much done today cause the jack broke but will be working on it sporadically throughout the week hopefully have it out by next weekend. Any ideas on best bet for new motor? by a new one? have mine rebuilt? do i dare attempt rebuilding it myself?

 

Biggest help would be to pull the engine as a long block. The first time I pulled an engine I took the upper manifolds off to unplug the EFI wiring at the engine end. I then realized that I just wasted LOTS of time and could have just unplugged the harness at the ECU and pulled the harness through the firewall.

- Pull the transmission and engine as a combo when replacing as a set.


- When reinstalling a new engine ALWAYS use new gaskets and make sure everything is torqued to spec to prevent leaks.

-Place a board of plywood over the radiator to ensure that you don't dent the fins. You may need a second person to help you guide the engine/transmission out safely.


- Also take note to use common sense and be safe. Don't be getting under a car unless it is properly suspended on jack stands.

 

My first removal took 2 of us (both 'virgins'!) 7 hours to pull the engine+trans, so maybe that's a bit of a 'benchmark'. I could do it a second time MUCH quicker...(and will have to in the next few weeks to get my n/a vert running again)...

 

Drain All Fluids First!

 

get a bunch of ziplock bags, masking tape, and a magic marker. label which end of which hose goes where. when you pull bolts out, put them in the part removed (like starter bolts) and then ZIPTIE them in place so they don't get knocked out. for other just put the bolts in bags. this will take twice as long as just pulling it out but you will be way more organized when it goes back in, especially since you may have the motor out for months.

 

Get a decent hoist and proper chains to secure the engine too that hoist....

 

Dont drop it on your foot! It makes a splat/thump noise if you do.

 

Another tip, once you have it unbolted and lifted up a few inches, give it another good look around to make sure you didn't miss any wires or hoses. We almost ripped the wire out of the oil level sensor when we were pulling my friend's motor.

 

Plug any open hole where somthing could possably fall in and it will .
You always here someone dropped somthing in somewhere

 

Good point. I dropped a copper washer in one of the primary ports of my LIM and had to take everything back apart to get it . Luckily it wedged itself in the primary port of the engine and I was able to just grab it, I don't know what I would have done if it had fallen into the motor ...

 

be sure to drain the oil.. and the coolant.. tape off the fuel line's and most important.. take the bolt off the main 1st.. not the flywheel..lol.. also.. the bolt's was not born there.. they do come off.. take your time and do it right.. you don't want to **** the thread's on either end of the shaft up.. use the chain on the lift to stop the shaft from turning.. run a bolt threw your flywheel and the chain to hold it in place.. but watch your thread's...lol


chris

 

@_@!!!! I wished I had known that about disconnecting from the ECU instead of from the EFI........... T_T

 

Man not too long ago a kid i know started a 347 ford engine he had for a stang poor sombitch dropped a wing nut in the intake while it was getting put in.That piston is now a nice paper weight

 

Pull the trans with the engine(pull the shifter and the drive shaft out first) since it is a pain to line back up. Also on the driver side harness you can disconnect most of it from the fuse block, the ground strap on the frame and all the connectors by the brake master cylinder and that whole harness on the engine to the trans will come out as one saved me alot of time. Take your time and make sure everything is disconnected and be easy pulling it out just incase.

 

Just did this last weekend .. took me 2.5hr
dont forget to unplug all the little wiring like ps,ac main fuse box connectors,oil cooler lines ect..
Drain rad,oil,trans,remove exhaust,driveshaft,starter,slave,throttle cable,shifter surround and its preety much a cake walk from there..

 

Great post. I followed all of this advice and pulled my motor in 3 hrs.