[DML] How to pull an engine out (manual trans)

[Soma576@xxxxxxx]

Hey Group,
 
Like I said earlier, I will now try and list - in order - all the things we  
had to do in order to remove the engine from my car.  I hope this list is  
complete and it might help someone else do the work some day too.  If I  forgot 
anything, hopefully someone will point it out!
 
I'm sure there are other ways to do it (like avoiding removing the rear  
fascia) but this is how I did it as a first-timer, so I worked conservatively,  as 
I assume anyone who can benefit from this would also be trying to  work!!  
Also mine is a manual transmission. Any subtleties with an auto are  not my area 
of experience.
 
Needed tools that you cannot live without:
1. Metric sockets up to 19mm (plus a 36mm) in both standard and deep well -  
in 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" sizes as well as assorted extensions and a long 1/2"  
breaker bar. Swivels weren't needed.
2. Metric wrenches up to 19mm and a 15/16" standard wrench  for crossgate 
cable (or whatever the equiv metric size is)
3. #1 and #2 flat head and phillips screwdrivers.
4. 1/4" and 5/16" nut drivers are handy for hose clamps but not  necessary.
5. 6mm allen wrench for removing clutch from transmission.
6. Floor jack and 2 jackstands
7. oil change pan, preferably wide diameter
8. engine stand (found at harbor freight on sale for $29) and 10M bolts  
(they have a 17mm head on them) for mounting the engine to the stand. More  on 
this later.
9. Propane torch may be necessary on the exhaust, hammer is useful  too.
10. utility knife and wire snippers for cutting zip ties
11. PB Blaster!
12. Plenty of light. I wound up installing fluorescent lights in my garage  
as well as buying a 1000 watt halogen work light on a tripod which was a VERY  
smart idea.  A trouble light will probably be needed too.
13. Of course an engine hoist/cherry picker. I rented one for $40. If you  
are doing a lot of work on the car you might want to rent it for one day to  
remove the engine and then rent it again when you are ready to put it back in.  
Why pay for it while you aren't using it? They disassemble and the parts will  
fit in a minivan or pickup truck.  A load leveler on the hoist may be  helpful 
but is not necessary. 
14. At least one other set of hands to help maneuver the engine once you  try 
taking it out.
15. A couple of ice cube trays to put fasteners into and you can make a  
chart to keep track of them.
 
 
On to the engine removal - 
1. Remove battery
2. Remove axles
3. Drain coolant from main lines under car by separating the rubber link  
hoses from the metal pipes. 
4. Remove louvers and engine cover w/ cover stay
5. Remove taillight lenses, the harness for the taillights from the  
bulkhead, the engine cover release latch and cable, then pull fascia off after  you 
remove the two bolts per side that run front-to-back. You don't have to  remove 
the sideways bolts that go into the pontoon.
6. remove starter wires
7. remove belts
8. remove alternator wires and alternator
9. remove exhaust muffler heatshield
10. remove the three muffler brackets. muffler will stay on cat  pipe.
11. remove muffler from cat pipe by removing the U-clamp and sliding  muffler 
off cat pipe.
12. remove air filter box and air intake hoses from black plastic pontoon  
adaptor. Also remove the hose that goes up from the heatstove.
13. Remove coolant self-bleeder if equipped. 
14. Remove throttle cable from spindle and pull the sheath out of the  
throttle guide. Position out of the way.
15. Remove A/C compressor and try to get it on top of the pontoon. You can  
get it up and out of the way of the engine w/o removing it.
16. Remove coolant hose from left side of water pump, and remove the hose  
and metal pipe all the way down to the rubber hose under the car. Don't forget  
to disconnect the otterstat wires and now is a good time to disconnect the  
impulse coil wire (the yellow connector between the otterstat and wall under the 
 rear window).
17. Remove the coolant hose from the right side of the waterpump. Coolant  
will come out so put your catch pan under the engine. Remove this hose all the  
way to the rubber joint under the car and also remove the hose that goes to 
the  overflow.
18. Try and remove the heater hoses that go to the back of the engine. One  
goes to the valley of death, another to the heater control valve. The clamps on 
 these were so bad I had to cut the hoses off.  Remove the vacuum line from  
the heater control valve. Remove the hose that goes to the radiator cap  vent.
19. Remove the main vacuum line from the back right side of the intake  
manifold.
20. Remove the evap emission vacuum lines.
21. remove the ground wire that goes just underneath the ignition  resistors. 
22. remove the ignition coil, the coil wire, and unplug all the connectors  
to the bulkhead junction.  
23. unplug the white connector in the center of the firewall along that  wire 
loom. it supplies wires to the advance solenoid, the frequency valve, and a  
couple other parts.
24. remove the cross brace from behind the engine.
25. Get under the car and remove the lambda sensor, the wires to the  reverse 
switch,  the clutch linkage, the shifter cable (by unscrewing the  nuts that 
hold it to the bracket all of the way) and also the clutch line from  the top 
of the tranny.  Catch the fluid with your drip pan and a  towel.
26. remove the two bolts that hold the transmission mounts to the  frame.  
27. remove the three bolts that hold the tranny mounts to the  transmission.  
the transmission and the engine will now rock back slightly.  Remove the nuts 
and washers on the engine mounts as well as the engine to frame  ground from 
the motor.
28. remove the two main fuel lines from the back of the fuel  distributor.
29. position the cherry picker over the engine and attach the chains to the  
rear pull eyelets
30. begin lifting the hoist until the chains are taut.  Make sure the  chains 
aren't hitting anything like the idle speed motor.  once you are  sure 
everything is ok, start putting some more force on the engine until the  body starts 
to come up just a touch with the motor.  At this point the  engine is 
probably stuck in the motor mounts and if you keep pulling up, you  will either break 
the mounts, the rubber, or the engine casting (not good). Take  your trusty 
hammer and keep hitting the mounts from the top until they start to  slide up.  
After the engine has come out a little, put more pressure on and  repeat 
until the engine is free of the motor mounts. 
31. Look around the back of the engine for any misc. wires or hoses you may  
have missed.  Perhaps a PO did something funky that I cannot account  for. 
32. lift the engine up and pull it forward until the crankshaft pulley  is 
close to the frame.  watch out for the exhaust crossover pipe and it's  
heatshields.  As soon as you get those clear of the firewall, you might get  the 
bracket that holds the solid clutchline to the top of the trans stuck under  there. 
Maneuver as necessary.
33. To get the engine and trans out, the idea is to tip the tranny back and  
the front of the engine up so you are at about a 45 degree angle.  Here is  
where the 2nd person really comes in handy. one person can lift up on the engine 
 while another cranks the hoist. Continue cranking until the transmission is  
clear of the firewall and remove from engine compartment.  You will see  that 
the engine balances from the rear chain eyelets with the transmission  
connected to it.
 
OK, so now the engine is just hanging here. now what?  Well you  probably 
want to get the engine on an engine stand. That means removing the  transmission 
and clutch. Here's how I did it:
 
1. lower the engine a ways on the hoist until you can get jackstands under  
the front edge of the oil pan. You may need to shim them up with cardboard or  
something thin and hard so they are the same level along the back of the  pan. 
 you will be putting the stands pretty much right on the oil pan  bolts, or 
maybe between the bolts depending on what kind of stands you have.  This is 
needed because when you remove the tranny, the engine will want to tip  
backwards. The jackstands will keep it from doing this.
2. remove the exhaust crossover pipe!
3. lower the engine so it's weight is on the jackstands, but only slightly. 
4. position a floor jack under the transmission about in the middle of it,  
maybe a little further from the bellhousing. 
5. manipulating the hoist and floor jack, try to get the trans and engine  
perfectly level. watch your jackstands so they don't move.
6. remove the 3 starter mounting bolts from the transmission.
7. remove the 4 main bolts very slowly - have your friend watch the  
jackstands and help watch transmission so it stays level. 
8. before separating (which may take a hammer to jar the trans loose), have  
someone hold the engine steady on the stands. the other person can take the  
bolts out and wheel the tranny away from the engine on the floorjack. 
9. If you did a good job with the hoist, the engine should be able to  stay 
where it is by itself with support from the stands and hoist. 
10. Next we took the clutch off. We had to use PB Blaster, a propane torch,  
and a big wrench on the end of the allen wrench for extra leverage.  The  
other person had to hold the crankshaft pulley with a breaker bar and 36mm  socket 
to keep the clutch from spinning.  Apparently mine was tighter than  normal.
11. after the clutch was off, we had to get the chains repositioned so we  
could lift the engine level by itself in order to get the engine to mate to the  
engine stand. we did this by putting the trans back on the floor  jack and 
connecting it to the engine again for weight distribution (since  there was no 
clutch, we didn't have to be careful reconnecting it).  Then  we lifted the 
whole unit up a bit, took away the jack stands, and lowered the  motor to the 
ground until the engine and trans were pivoting on the floor by the  oil pan. We 
got it as level as possible and removed the tranny again, leaving  the engine 
sitting on the floor. We slackened the chains and moved the rear  chain that 
was on the air filter side to the front eye hook. so the chains went  to 
diagonal corners. Now we lifted the engine again with the hoist off the floor  and 
it was balanced well enough to bolt up to the engine stand. Note that the  
bolts that hold the tranny to the engine were not long enough to go through  the 
engine stand and into the engine more than a 1/4".  We wound up buying  longer 
bolts that were about a centimeter longer, which worked great.  
 
The biggest hang-ups we had were getting the engine to pull out of the  lower 
mounts (took about 30 min of head-scratching and hammer pounding) and then  
it took quite a while to get the clutch off, but that was because my allen  
screws were probably overtightened when my clutch was installed 4 years  ago.  
Exhaust system was easy because I had disassembled that not too long  ago, trans 
wasn't hard because it got a clutch job already, coolant, fuel, and  vacuum 
lines were easy because they were all replaced in the last five  years.  Surely 
this would have taken longer if these parts hadn't been  touched in many many 
years. Total time was about 12 hours.  Now that I know  what to do, I'm sure 
I could do it in 8 next time, and probably 5 or  6 the 3rd time with a helper 
or two.
 
Well, this is probably 99% complete. I may have forgotten one or  two minor 
details here but there is certainly WAY more stuff here than the  shop manual 
has (and it leaves out a lot of important stuff!!).  I  hope this post is 
helpful to anyone who decides they need to pull  their engine out.  
 
Good Luck!
Andy Lien
 
Fargo, ND  
1982 DeLorean DMC12 VIN 11596



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