993 - Dropping the engine

From pcarworkshop

This article is on dropping a NA 993 engine. Some of the procedures have alternative methods. For example, its possible to jackup the car's rear enough to clear the engine so removal of the rear bumper is not required. Other methods include lifting the rear of the car from above using a hoist to achieve the same goal. However, the bulk of the procedure, including all the disconnects/connections is still valid.

Tools:

TJ90 comment: Below is a picture that Toga posted on RL. I found it helpful as a guide on how high the car should be. Ive also included a front wheel pads that I created by screwing 2x4s in an H pattern with 2 2x6s as stops to prevent the wheels from falling off. There is a piece of 3/4" plywood on top screwed in for complete strength. Instead of driving my car, I first positioned the wood blocks under the front wheels by jacking both sides of the car from the jack point. Once the blocks were under the front wheels, then I proceeded to jack up the rear of the car. My car is lowered so the front wheels needed to be that high off the ground so that I could get the 16" jack stands under the car at the rear without the nose bottoming out on the floor.

Bumper

So to start, remove the rear bumper in order to have a better clearance from the ground. This will be important when trying to pull the engine below the car. The removal of the rear bumper is not a hard job, but if you don’t know where to look to find the screws and bolts that hold it in place, then it can take a certain time. The workshop manual is not very explicit about that job.

Start by removing the 2 side markers (hold by a visible screw).

To remove the central reflector: - remove the plastic cover (4 plastic screws) see pict. above - then you have access to 3 alen screw (n°4) see pict below

Put the car on jacks and remove the rear wheels.

Remove the rear half of the wheel arch guards (4 screws each) You have access to 3 hexagonal head screws (8mm) and 2 screws (bottom)

On my car, there were 2 rivets in each side marker location. Those rivets were holding a aluminum protection inside the bumper. I drilled them out. (EDITED BY TOGA: those rivets hold a heat protection which can be removed with the bumper. Those rivets don't have to be removed)

go under the bumper. You will have to remove 3 screws that holds the heat protection with the bumper cover. On US models, there are 4 screws that sit behind the catalytic converter that hold the bumper.

The last thing to remove is the registration plate lighting. 2 screws hold each lighting. Pull the light out. Disconnect the wires underthe rubber cover. The aim is to be able to push the rubber with the wires through the bumper cover to free the electrical line. That line has also to be freed from a few clips on the bumper cover. On US models, there are 2 8mm hex bolts that must be loosened to remove the bumperettes.

The bumper cover is free. Pull gently taking care not to scratch it. If it hard to pull, check at the markers location. That’s probably where the cover has a difficulty to make it’s way out. [markers? not sure what this means]. Now you see the 2 aluminum shieldings in each markers location. I took them out.

Now to remove the bumper itself…

Remove 5 6mm bolts (US/1995 models are 8 mm, deep socket required). Hey hold the alu shield.

Here is it removed with the screw lying on it.

To access the two hex bolts that hold the main bumper support, remove the 4 outer lower heat shield screws. This will provide enough movement to access the main bumper support bolts. You now have access to the two alen bolts (8mm) [10mm for US 1995 models] which are the main bumper support.

Remove the bumper.

A new heat shield may be required

DISCONNECT THE BATTERY

Now I’ll spent a few lines about the jacking up!

The 2 front wheels were driven on wooden blocks with a stop to prevent the car from moving forward when lifted. And to be sure that the blocks are not slipping on the floor of my garage, they are equipped with two rods that are introduced in holes drilled through the floor. The blocks are 9cm height (3.5”) My hyd jack is a AC DK 20 Q…. Ilifted the rear in 2 steps to have it high enough. As you see it on the picture, The lower part of the rear is 85 cm from the ground (33.5”). From what I read on the forum, I think this should be enough to clear the engine. The ATV lift is 9cm high when completely folded. If I put a wooden layer of 3cm (1.2”) this will give me a height of 73cm (28.7”) free to roll the engine on the ATV lift free from the car.

Then I followed the Workshop manual procedure. Starting with tha AC compressor. 1 electrical connection and 4 bolts (13mm) Here take care to hold the bolt with you hand or it will fall somewhere in the engine bay… Invest in a good magnet to hold the nut while loosening the AC compressor bolts. It will save lots of frustration!

Here you see the bolts and the frame which is under the compressor:

Then the air filter box. 2 clips for the cover. Then 1 screw (10mm) on top of the fix part and an electrical connection (air T°). (For 95 US models, there is a 3rd clip in the back on the top of airbox. Remove lower hose clamp holding inner cover.

When pulling the box out of the manifold, take care not to loose the rubber gasket!

To remove the rear blower, I first removed the left part of it. 2 bolts (10mm) The rear blower is also hold in place by 2 bolts (10mm) See picture for their postion:

When it’s removed you have a “nice” view on the electrical compartment on the left wing. See picture for the connections. There are 3, and each one is connected differently! The lower plug has a side release clip that unplugs toward the front of the car. Dont forcefully pull on the wires, once the plugs are unlatched, it should come out without gorilla force.

The connections on the left side are shown disconnected on the picture. Follow Worshop Manual.

On the right here are the electrical connections:

there are also 3 breather connections on this side:

Then we disconnect the power steering lines….oil spilling! Think about it. Then plug the openings. Disconnect the fuel line on this side

then the fuel line on the left side

At this stage, I still don't have the throttle cable disconnected. As advised by others, I'll do it when the engine will be a bit lower.

[2wd owners, dont do this step. Only applies to carerra 4 owners] We leave the engine compartment and go inside the car. We remove the rear “oddments tray” like the manual says. So at the rear of that tray there is a small plastic cover. You remove it and introduce a screw driver (cross) as shown on the picture. You need a bit of feeling to find the screw. When you have it, lift the rear of the tray and remove it.

you remove the yellow sound insulation, then the rubber cover and there you find the 2 bolts (out of 4) holding the transmission.

Then we take off the mufflers. I found a lot of rust here and had to cut some bolts off. The mufflers are hooked to they support. When the harness and the ball clamp are removed, lift the muffler to free it from its support

Under the car again to release the shift rod coupling. Take off engine and transmission trays. Under the rubber protector, there is the bolts to remove to free the shift rod…easy. 2wd owners - ignore the following sections...

Then we remove the rubber cover on the tube behind the shit rod. Here is a good surprise for the 4 wheel drive owners!!! Of course the 2 alen screws are not in front of the holes from where you have to unscrew them! The car is its tail up with the two front wheels pushing on the shocks. But to make the the shaft turn, you have to make one front wheel turn…..I did’nt take any risk and put the car back on it’s rearl wheels before lifting a front one. Do as you like! In fact for us ( 4X4 owners) it would be better to start the movie by that first! Nice to know! But of course if you car is on a lift…no problemo!

When the sleeve is free, push it backward to free the shaft.

OK, now the 2wd owners need to wake up and continue here! Then I removed the air heater tubes (1 left, 1 right) 4 bolts 15mm

1 5mm hex on each side. 10mm nut opposite 5mm hex bolts. The cross bracket holding the tubes can be removed by pushing on each side toward the front of the car. The member has a yoke on both sides that prevents from dropping once the 15mm bolts are gone.

1 collar to release at the car side

1 collar on the heater flap side

you can pull all the tube out of site!

Here I remove the stabilizer bar: on the link rod, you need a 17mm open wrench between the bar and the rubber from the link rod to block the bolt, and a 16mm to unscrew

then we remove the silent block (?) with 2x 13mm wrench.

we release the toe arm from the inner mount. MARK THE POSITION OF THE INSTALLATION before touching to the eccentric. (That’s one of the points they use to aligne the wheels).

When the toe arm is released from the inner mount, do not force it down. At the bottom of the shock absorber, you will have to release the bolt using a Torx 140 and a 18mm wrench as shown:

Then 4 bolts to remove the crossmember (bolt 16mm nut 18mm)

Under the car unbolt the drive shaft from transmission. They are very tight. I used the best tool available on our European market, just to be sure not to round the screws and be in deep s...! No problem here. Use the hand brake to prevent the shaft to turn. Then we have access to the starter. Remove the ground wire with a 10mm hex wrench. Then disconnect the other wires. One is held by a 13mm nut, another one has a small plastic cover over a 10mm nut. (those 2 are not visible on the picture)

Now I should remove the slaver cylinder from the clutch. I delay this until the engine will be a few cm down. Look at the picture and will understand why!

So now the lower side of the engine compartment looks quite empty! One more tube to remove, and it will be time to finally remove the engine! Pressure is coming up!

To remove the oil return tube, we need two open wrench: 1 x 32mm and 1 x 36mm. Big ones! Ok I fly to the shop to buy those wrench. I really need to show you that engine tonight! Unfortunately, I got the 32 but the 36 is not in stock! And the worse to come: they need a week to have it. There I’m close to the heart attack!

I'm stuck gentlemen! ( time for a well deserved BEER!)Tomorrow morning, I 'll give a few phone calls and I hope I'll find that wrench!

On that last picture, I have a question: do you know which one to unscrew? the outer one or the one closer to the engine case?

When that line is out, the way is free for the engine to come down.

All you comments, and advises are welcome

Hi guys I’m back for another session! Yesterday I left you stuck on the oil return line which needed a 36mm open wrench! Lesson learnt, never run to the shop, ask your neighbor first!!

Following an advise received yesterday, I started by heating the nut with an electric paint striper (?) Then I took an adjustable wrench open at 36mm to unscrew the outer nut while trying to maintain the inner one with the 32mm wrench. I say trying, because the wrench is a bit too thick . And surprise it was easy going!

I did not separate the other end of the tube from the oil tank. I just left the end you see on the picture in a small plastic box to recover the oil and put it under the right side of the car.

On the right side of the engine there is another oil line I disconnected. Starting from the oil tank I disconnect the first half:

then under the car

and finally the rest of the line out of the engine:

From now on, there is nothing left on the path of the engine!

I placed my chopper lift well centered on the engine, and far enough to hold the gear box at the same time. I used some piece of wood not to have metal/metal contact which could be slippery. And doing this, I built my wooden spacers to be as tight as possible to keep the tilting of the assembly when every thing will come down. I think this will be then easier when replacing the engine and tranny back to place…But that’s another movie!

So this is how it looks before releasing the transmission cross member and the engine mount:

The front shaft was maintained in position by a piece of wood

I put the engine and tranny under light pressure from the lift before releasing the bolts. To find the engine mount bolts, go back to the back in the engine compartment. Remove the cover shown on the picture by simply pushing on it:

then under the car you’ll find the engine mount to unbolt. BUT you will need a long socket 19mm to do it. (Here I ran again to the shop!).

And when everything is free, that’s the moment! Gentlemen at 13:00 Z I opened slowly the hydraulic lift release button and the engine moved slowly down. I this point I noticed I forgot to unbolt the engine mounts from the car. So I did it. Then I pulled the engine a little bit backward to release the tranny from the front shaft. During all the descend process, go very slowly, because the two drive shafts are on the way! I attached the left one in a maximum possible forward position and it stayed clear all the time. But on the right side, the starter is really hard to turn around. So I went down by just a few centimeter at a time.

here you see the gearbox disconnected from the front shaft. Notice the point to position it correctly back to it during reassembly:

I still had to disconnect the clutch slave cylinder, and the throttle cable. Here is the throttle cable mounting:

the small cylinder you see was "clipsed" in the openig shown by the arrow. It’s hard to explain how to do it, but really easy to release the cable from the mounting. Then I followed the cable and pulled all the rubber seals I saw to allow the cable end to pass through. One plastic clip on the gear box, and the cable was free. On the next picture you see the cable still attached to the gearbox.

here you see the cable free, and notice all the rubber parts I took with it.

Next step was to replace the thick wooden block by thinner ones to have the right clearance from the car. And here it goes:

Ladies and Gentlemen, I proud to present you my 3.8 engine

Reinstallation

Put a new or the old heat shield back onto the back bumper:

I proceeded by different steps, because a few things needed to be reconnected during the progress. And I didn’t want to delay until the engine was in place just to have an easy access to them. The first thing I reconnected, was the accelerator cable. Quite straight forward as I only had to pass trough the engine cover, replace two rubber grommets, and place the cable end in place. Concerning the grommets: the one trough the engine cover is easy to replace. The other one needed some silicone grease to slip in place. The cable end is just clipped in place

Next was the clutch slave cylinder. I first put some grease on the clutch fork where the slave piston has to sit. I read somewhere here that this will prevent some noise when depressing the clutch pedal. I had not too much difficulties replacing the slave and the two 13mm bolts. This sounded strange to me, because again on rennlist, I read that to make it easy I should open the reservoir…what I didn’t do! Well when the clutch slave was in place, no possibility to resist the temptation… I depressed the clutch pedal…which went straight to the bottom and stayed there! Gloups!! By hand, I pulled it back in place and made a search on the site to find the reason. Bleeding was the answer. So we went back to the car for bleeding the slave. Monique who nicely proposed it’s help for the day was in charge of the bleeder, when I was lying under the car for the flush. He told me the pressure was at 1.5 bar. I then opened the slave screw and…just one drop came out, no more!!!!! Wouaw the problem was more serious than expected. I came back to Monique to discuss the different solutions we had. Nothing came to our mind, so we decided to disconnect the bleeder and go back to rennlist. Here is a picture of the bleeder:

You now understood that the protection cover can stand a pressure of 1.5 bar when staying perfectly in place. Needless to say that another try without the cover was successful, and the clutch is perfectly working!!! We drunk a beer on that one!!!

The engine was then ready to be lifted up in place. Remembering some problems I had with the starter and the right shaft when bringing it down, I decided to remove the starter from it’s location, letting it sit on top of the gear box while lifting the engine until the shaft was clear from the starter location. That solution looked to be good. I then replaced the starter. The electrical connections gave me some doubts. Again I came back to rennlist, asked my question at 19:04, and at 20:21 I had the answer!!! As Chris Walrod says: is it a great place or what!!!

The cable that looks like its coming from the front of the car is a positive +lead coming directly from the battery and goes to the larger connector/nut on the starter (its the left most bolt on the front of the starter). The black cable that comes from directly above the transmission right next to where the rear shock enters the body is the ground strap and that goes between the lower starter mounting nut and the starter.(Thank you JasonAndreas)

I went inside the engine compartment, to reconnect all electrical connections, rubber tubes, and vacuum lines. Room left was comfortable, and again having place a sticker on each with a number to match with the “receiver”, saved us a lot of time.

Now we were ready to lift to the end, and reconnect the gearbox to the front tunnel. Monique was of great help here.

Look at that shining valve cover! I hope they will proof to be well in place and won’t let a drop of engine oil spoil the pleasure I had to do the job!!!

The last thing to do was to torque the bolts on the engine support. I bought 2 new because the thread of one of them was not good. I noticed that the new one are a bit different with a large base. But more important, those bolts are “pressed” at their end to make them turn tight on the engine mounts. This let me think that we should replace the old ones by new every time we have to remove them. Just to be sure they unscrew with vibrations after a while.

And this is how my 4s looks like now in my garage! Closing in to a big moment of stress: turning the key!

The car started up fine. With the battery having been disconnected for almost two and a half month, I taught the ECU would have forget how to make the engine run.

There was a blue smoke coming out of the exhaust during the first minute. Idle was very stable.We let it run in idle for about 45 minutes, inspecting the engine from below. No leak was noticed.

Original Article Credit : JP (ala Toga)