I raise it at the bell housing with a pole jack that has a curved saddle that fits the contour of the housing. of course I have the car on a lift, not jackstands or ramps. but it's about the only place you can use and have clearance for the pan.

 

ok guys, I think Im about there, I loosend up the alt and ac bolts but did not completely take them off because It looks like I have enough room to take down the pan now all thats left is to lower the stearing gear and raise the engine. Im a bit stumped on lifting the engine, I don't know where is a safe place to attach the chains. I was thinking of wrapping them aroung both exhaust manifolds but wanted to ask If this is a bad thing to do because Im worried I might break some thing by doing it this way.

 

David, I removed the front exhaust manifold bolts (first bolt on each manifold), feed the chain through the bolt and screwed back in. BEWARE of the cam postion sensor, when raising the engine make sure the chain doesn't rest against them!



Are you taking pics to share?

 

So I don't have to worry about those first two retaining nuts breaking off as I lift the motor? And yes I will be taking pics.

 

if you have the car on jack stands, then use the jack and maybe a block/s of wood to jack up the motor and trans where they meet undr the car at the bellhousing

 

I don't recall those, I also just looked at Joyces and I cannot see the retaining nuts.


So brutal it is ok to put all the engine weight onto this area? I was wondering about that the first time around...

 

I thought you where talking about the two exhaust manifold bolts. theres one that holds the dipstick in place and there is one on the oposite side of the engine.

 

rick if it's possible could you send me a pic of the bolts that you fed the chains to?

 

I was wondering about that when Beuregard mentioned it.

If it doesen't put too much stress on the bell housing it sounds like the easiest way to go.

 

uhm, thats the strongest part of the whole assembly, we do it daily.

 

brutal I tried it with a jack and peice of wood but the jacks did not rase it high enough. what do you recomend I do now? I was thinking of wrapping the chain through both exhaust manifold and lifting it from there. other than that I don't see another way. will I risk breaking the exhaust?

 

YOU meen you ran out of jack lifting height?? I guess you dont have a jack saddle extension either what about cutting a 4x4 off to make an extension, you only need to jack it up to get the pan on/off. And as I mentioned earlier, the trans upper bell housing and cats hit the tunnel and underbody so you cant lift the engine/trans higher. But this is enough to get it out, that is if youve also dropped the steering rack away from the frame cause the back of the oil pan hits it if left attached

 

ok guys so I lifted the engine up but now I cant realine one of the engine mounting brackets on the stud. the bracket is resting on top ot the stud but I can see half of the stud through the bracket hole. Can any body give me an idea how I can get it down? I lifted it back up but still having a hard time getting it right on.

 

It's all good then I was thinking about the engine being cantilevered on the bell housing bolts.
It doesn't always pay to think too much.

The mountings are flexible, you will need to use a lever of some kind to pull it into line.

 

Use a pry bar to push it over and do not get your hands or fingers anywhere close to it no matter how much you think you can just reach up and push it over...youll loose a finger

 

thanks for the tips guys, ok so know I have the pan off and i'm looking at the connecting rod bearings because I stated before in another thread that I was hearing some sort of ticking or pinging noise. What exactly should I be looking for? I felt all rod bearings caps and I can wiggle them just a little and by little I mean VERY LITTLE. Is this normal? all of them are like this.

 

yes they move. you need some side clearance between rods, and oil film clearance

 

Thanks brutal, If I had a rod bearing problem how would I know just by looking? I've watched many videos on youtube on spun rod bearings and they all seem to have up and down movement, mine do not. So does that mean I don't have to wory about it being a bearing problem? I also looked for metal pieces and did not find any chunks but some tiny flakes like much much smaller than a grain of fine salt but It's not like the pan was full of tiny metal flakes I REALLY had to try and find them by sweeping my finger around the oil pan but didn't find much if none at all. Is this just normal wear or indication of a problem. Thanks

 

To be sure the only way to know is to pull the caps off 1 at a time and them the mains and inspect the bearing halves. Since most bearing loading is to the bottom shell thats would be where the first signs of damage will be. But youre asking questions that i know if you take down the caps youre gonna need to take pics because youll not know what is normal bearing wear and what is a problem. Some are very obvious, others are well, maybe i should put back together and sell. Personally i doubt you have a issue, there are lots of things in the engine that tick and are not an issue

 

Idk I don't think it's normal at all in my case. It didn't make the noise when I test drove it or drove it off the lot. If I did I would not have bought it. noise started like a day or two after changing the oil. Then one night I noticed a very light tick noise but it was very hard to hear at first so I didn't worry about it. as I drove it 300 miles more it has become more noticable. the noise follows the crank until it goes over 1500 rpm, over that you can still hear it but it is vary faint and starts going tick tick tick as soon as I take my foot off the gas. I cant help but think the worst right now, honestly I think I have a bearing that is about to go but just hasnt spun yet. I found this today. it's a metallic shard I don't now if it's bearing material but with the research I did on my symptoms it seems to come together. I might just have to rig it and trade it in before it gets worse. But I hope that I'm wrong.