Engine Removal
 

Hi to everyone. Its been awhile since I have been on this forum. I finally have the money to rebuild my engine and am in the process of taking it out. I have removed the intercooler, the plastic parts in front of the engine, the tranny guard pan?, apexi air filters and drained the oil and coolant. I am having issues with removing the power steering and a/c. Also I have read some old posts, I might have missed some but is there any detailed instructions in what order to remove parts from the engine before removing it?

Those parts are very straight forward look for the bolts holding them on and remove them haha , the AC has 4 long bolts that go at it from the side , the Power steering has I believe 4 bolts holding it from the front you have to remove the pulley to get at them easier.


Good luck

Best bet is to download the FSM and follow that, it has directions for removing an engine =)

4 bolts on the side of the AC compressor hold it on (12mm), unbolt it and leave it in the engine bay.

There are 2 hoses going to the power steering pump - it's easier just to remove the 2 hoses and pull the pump with the engine. Suck the PS fluid out with a turkey baster type device.

Make sure to disengage the pull clutch, go ahead and drain the coolant and oil. For the wiring harness, disconnect it from the ECU, pull out of the firewall, and pull with the engine. The starting/charging harness on the driver's side can stay in the car, it's more work to remove it.

Just go slow and take your time, it's really not too hard to get the engine out. I can pull a motor and have it broken all the way down to rotors and seals in 2.5 hours :).

Take LOTS of pictures and label EVERYTHING too. Put stuff in labelled bags, bolts that can thread back in their hole do so, just keep organized. You'll be amazed what you'll forget in a few months.

Oh, don't forget to disconnect the oil cooler lines, little spring clips, they can be a little tricky but they're not too bad. Cross brace that the battery and IC bolt to comes out, radiator stays in the car, also you can easily pull the motor with the hood on.

Dale

Thanks guys! Yesterday I got the A/C and P/S off the engine. I didn't have a pully puller and kinda broke the P/S pully, so I guess ill have to replace that pully. Now ill be working on the oil cooler lines, ECU, clutch part, engine mounts and should be able to remove it. Is the Apexi Power FC ECU the same to remove as the stock ECU? And is it easier to remove the bolts that connect the engine to tranny then disengage the clutch? One last question, is there only the two motor mounts under the car? (the two bolts?) and yes I have been taking some pictures and labeling stuff. When all finished I will try and post some pictures. Thanks again!

That's why you leave the PS pump on the bracket, you don't have to futz with that plastic pulley :). Now ya know.

The PFC plugs in just like stock. Unplug the 4 yellow connectors to it, there will also be a blue and a white connector coming from that harness. With those undone it can be pulled through the firewall.

I also remove the ABS heat shield, makes getting the harness easier and removing the downpipe easier. 3-4 12mm bolts, pull up on the pump a bit and wiggle it out.

I would disengage the throwout bearing first before undoing the bellhousing bolts. If you haven't done it, watch the Youtube video on it. It's like chinese finger cuffs, you have to push in first, then you can pop it out.

There are only the two rear motor mounts, undo those 14mm nuts and they're off.

Go slow, the engine will want to hang up on junk on the way out. Also make triple sure you got all the wiring disconnected so it will come out easily. I always like having a friend help when pulling an engine, have one person working the hoist while the other spots and checks everything.

If you don't have a Pineapple engine stand adapter and an engine stand, think about it. Makes working on the engine SO much better. I assemble the entire long block on the stand, it's so nice to sit there on a stool working on it instead of bending over the car. A 3-wheel stand from Harbor Freight is cheap, and that adapter is very reasonably priced.

Dale

This isn't going to be fun... looks so much more overwhelming than when I removed the engine out of my BMW.

^it's not that bad. just do it in sections and break everything down. how far you're going with the rebuild depends on how much you want to break down.

Thank you DaleClark and everyone else. I was planning on sending my engine (FD3S) to a guy who did engine rebuilds for rx7store.net. I was going to do the stage 2 street/port build, single turbo borg warner, unknown which one at this time?, front mount intercooler, koyo radiator, and a few other little things.

Ok I have watched the video's and attempted myself already and I am not having any luck with disengaging the throw out bearing? is it better if the car is in gear? in neutral? am I missing something? I feel like I'm going to break the ring....

Sorry about the last post, I was able to get it with a crowbar.

Once you've done it a few times you'll wonder why it was such a big deal. On the lift and with the inspection cover removed it takes me less than 30 seconds now.