ok, if you've taken out and put in an engine to a 3rd gen before, i'm hoping you can help.

i've been building this engine for over a year... nothing special it has just taken a while... but now, as i go to put it back in, i can't get it to mate with the gearbox!
(engine was taken out without the box on)

i didnt have a clutch centering tool... but it is dead on centre...
i'm about 1/2 inch off down the bottom of the gearbox, and maybe 2/3 of an inch at the top. the drivetrain rod is running into the clutch fine from what i can see and the engine is sitting on the mounting points.

so what the hell is up? do i need to clip the release switch as it goes back, have it sit a certain rotation? anybody? please help!

also, on the front turbo assembly, the l'bend off the turbo that goes to the airbox... there are two nipples on it, one goes to the ratsnest/solenoids (the one closest to the bend) but the coloured vacuum diagrams don't show where the other one goes... any takers on that one!?

 

For the transmission, just jiggle the hell out of the engine while it hangs on the crane as long as its lined up right. You can also try to spin the eccentic shaft from the main drive pulley or just get under the car and use a long flathead screwdriver and spin the flywheel by its teeth so that it can get inline with the input shaft. It shouldn't have to turn much to get it considering how many teeth there are on the thing, but its a pain in the ***. Also try jacking the transmission a little bit if you can. Its much easier to drop the engine in with the transmission out,..... and it'll punish you for not doing that because 3rd gens are just ******** like that.

On the turbo thing, it sounds like you're talking about the vacuum hoses that go to the hardlines that snake up into the engine. One of those should be for the oil injectors and I can't remember where the other one goes.... I've been without stock sequentials for too long.

 

See the FSM C-96. Both of those vacuum hoses appear to connect to the hard pipes that lead up behind the alternator. I think those hard pipes - one goes to the rats nest, the other one goes to that other pair of hard pipes which is part of the oil blowby(?)

 

Jack the transmission to the top of the tunnel and if you still can't get it lined up then take of the engine mounts if you have them on. I got my engine mated to the transmission with the engine mounts on but it would have been a hell of a lot easier with them off. Also twist and shake that motor like it owes you money as you push the motor back into the transmission.

 

There's an oil supply tube that lays across the top of the engine. it actually is two pipes that have been welded together. Anyway, the one tube feeds the turbos. the other tube is the PCV tube that connects to the oil filler neck. This tube is what that uncolored hose connects to. you have to connect a hose on the other end of the pipe to the oil filler neck.