engine in and out - COMPLETED INSTRUCTIONS

[turbo pete]

Seeing as alot of you seem to be talking about wasting your hols working on your engines I thought I would complete the instructions I wrote for the topic. So, as promised here are the full instructions made from my own notes and experiences. Hope they are of use to someone. If any of you disagree with anything I have put or thinkl you could improve on them please forward suggestions to me and I will try and update them again in the future.
Cheers boyz and girlz
Merry christmas
Turbo pete

Tools.

You will need

Socket set ranging from about 6mm up to 20mm with extension bars and universal joint for reaching hard to reach bolts.
Pliers normal and snipe nosed.
Screwdrivers slotted and Phillips.
Spanners 6mm up to 18mm.
Clutch alignment tool.
Hammer
Drill
Tap and die.
Files.
Punch.
Impact driver.
Scissors.
Long reach engine hoist.
Lifting tackle.
Engine stand.
Mole wrench.
Hack saw.
Vice
Masking tape
Pen and paper
Camera. Preferably digital.
Drift and bearing puller.
Manual. Download off the web if necessary.
Selection of wire brushes for drill.
Emery paper.
Hundreds of rags.
Jack. Four axle stands.
Torch.
Toothbrush.
Blankets.
Large clothes pegs.
Two assistants at times.
WD40
Blowlamp. Plumbers type.
Para cord

Suggested other materials.

Electrical tape.
Metal polish.
Back to black polish.
Black hammerite.
High temp paint in spray form.
Black hammerite sill paint.
Underbody seal.
Waxoyl and spray assembly + 360 hose spray attachment for box sections.
Filler.
Brake dust remover (Halfords is cheap enough)
Gunk.
Paraffin.

Environment.

You will need a well lit dry area with power points. I certainly wouldn’t recommend attempting this job on the drive since the car will have no bonnet on and you will, according to sods law, get rained off. I put carpet down on the floor so it was comfortable to lie on whilst spending hours on the floor. A good bench and vice is essential as well. I also covered my car with polythene since it was really clean and I didn’t want it covered in dust and s*** by the time I’d finished.


Other comments.
Electrical connectors.
Most of the electrical connectors on the Nissan have clips to stop them coming apart. Some require a squeeze with the old fingers before pulling apart. Others such as the injector connectors have a metal wire. Be very careful with these since to disconnect these you have to slide the wire assembly off or prise them off. The manual has a page showing how these fit and it is a good idea to check how they work before you butcher them. The plugs attached to the top of the engine are especially brittle since the heat affects the plastic. If you do break them you will have to use tape to secure them when reconnecting or replace the plugs if you can find a scrap with decent seconds on. Some of the connectors are very stiff and I found snipe nosed pliers very useful for removing some of them.

Seized bolts nuts.

You will at some point come across awkward nuts and bolts. Don’t panic and don’t rush. I actually left some of the ones I came across if I had been working on the car all day and saved them for first thing in the morning. That way I was fresh and full of patience. Here are a few tips for getting seized bolts out.

1. If you’re not in a rush spray them thoroughly with wd40 and leave them overnight or at least 10 mins.
2. Make sure the spanner or screwdriver is the best fitting tool you have. Posidrive heads will shear if you use a screwdriver which is too small.
3. Make sure you have got good access to the fitting where you can get some purchase on the fitting without danger of slipping off and damaging yourself. I did this on the alternator adjusting bolt. I thought my arm was never going to wake up I hit it so hard.
4. Apply pressure gradually at first.
5. If no joy try heating it first with a blowlamp.
6. If you still have no luck you will have to start butchering the fitting. If it is a bolt try a pair of mole wrenches. Wrap a rag around your hand in case you slip.
7. Use an impact driver. These are especially good for pozidrive fittings since the screwdriver ends is firmly placed into the slot when you smack it with a hammer. Some of these come with attachments for sockets so you can use them on nuts and bolts as well.
8. If the head shears off or there is no where to put the screwdriver (due to it being mangled) try cutting a slot in the head using a hacksaw. If you don’t have access with a hack saw you can buy a useful tool (my dad has one) which is basically a handle which fits over a hacksaw blade allowing you to wield just the blade. Now use the biggest screwdriver which will fit in the slot.
9. If the bolt shears off and you still have an end sticking out you can remove it with a stud extractor. This is a tool which comprises a hole, cam and bolt head. You put a wrench on the bolt head and slip the hole and cam over the stud. When the bolt head is turned the cam squeezes the stud allowing it to be turned. The harder you turn the harder the cam squeezes the stud.
10. Finally if the head has sheared off completely you can drill the fitting out. Use a centre punch to make a mark centrally on the sheared end. Now use a power drill and a hardened drill bit to drill through the bolt. Work up in size until you are drilling out a hole that is wide enough to be touching the existing threads in the hole. Small bolts can sometimes be knocked out with a punch at this stage. Otherwise use an intermediate tap to clear the threads out.

Cleaning components

Everything I removed was cleaned, polished, painted etc. If bolts look rusty replace them and then dispose of them. Most of the things I took off were scrubbed with paraffin or soapy water or both. Metal housings such as the starter motor were wire brushed and polished with metal polish and painted. I used hammerite for all the pulleys etc. Be as fussy as time, wallet and patience permits. Black plastic and wires were all polished with back to black. The engine was painted with engine lacquer as were the rocker covers and I also painted the chassis members, and steering columns with various paints such as sill paint (easy to spray), hammerite, and waxoyl. I also waxoyled the box sections and under the battery tray. I treated all the rust with wire brush first, then kurust and then some paint.

Removal of engine.

I left the gearbox in the car in the end but if you intend trying to lift the gearbox out as well I will put some additional points in at the end. From here on it is just engine. Also, I took loads of pictures of things before removal to assist me in putting it back together. I also used masking tape to label each pipe or wire I disconnected and wrote on the tape where it went or alternatively labelled it with a letter and put matching tape on each part disconnected. How often you photo your work and how much tape you use depends on your ability so bear it in mind when stripping the engine ready for removal. Everything removed was bagged and tagged, cleaned or repaired or replaced.


1. Attach blankets to each wing using pegs to clip them onto the wings.
2. Attach a blanket to the bumper using pegs. Now you can lean on the car and drop tools without too much trouble.
3. Remove the bonnet. If you are working outside do this last thing before removing the engine. Four bolts top hinge or bottom hinge. It doesn’t matter. Don’t forget to disconnect the washer pipe first. Label the pipe if you need to.
4. Store out of the way on a blanket to avoid scratching it.
5. Start engine and warm it up.
6. Now remove fuel pump fuse.
7. Start engine again. It will stall. Crank the engine four times. This removes the pressure from the fuel lines.
8. Remove oil and filter whilst warm.
9. Remove fan. Four small nuts.
10. Remove fan cowling.
11. Remove under side plastic cowling. All the bolts broke. I had to replace them all. Drilled and tapped the lot. Made new clips for the front using nuts and self tapping fixtures and some glue. You’ll see. Go on and take it off.
12. Remove rad brackets (front top).
13. Empty rad using tap at base TAKE CARE IF IT IS HOT.
14. Disconnect hoses.
15. Remove hoses.
16. Remove rad. Get it flow checked before putting it back on. Cheap and easy.
17. Disconnect all the remaining water pipes including the heater matrix in out pipes.
18. Disconnect the air pipes from inlet manifold and turbo.
19. Disconnect all the electrical connectors. The coil assembly can be removed entirely.
20. Disconnect the throttle cable.
21. Disconnect the two fuel lines. WAIT UNTIL ENGINE IS COLD SINCE FUEL LEAKS OUT AND PETROL IS FLAMMABLE. Just a bit,
22. Disconnect the vacuum lines.
23. Remove auxiliary belts.
24. Remove starter motor.
25. Remove power steering pump. Thread some para cord through the pump bolt holes and tie it to the inner wing around some convenient bracket. Don’t disconnect any of the power steering lines since you will have to bleed the system unnecessarily.
26. Disconnect the exhaust pipe from the turbo down pipe. Heat may be required. Don’t snap the studs off since they are an arse to drill out. Experience speaks.
27. Disconnect the air con pump from the engine and do the same as for the power steering pump. It is heavy and will stretch the hoses so get some help for this.
28. Attach lifting tackle to the bracket at the top of the cylinder head. When standing looking at the engine it is at the front right.
29. Now attach lifting tackle to the steel bar that supports the inlet manifold to the top of the cylinder head. Alternatives would be to use the support struts on the side of the engine which support the inlet manifold. Make sure no fixture will be damaged by the lifting tackle during the lift. Make sure the lifting tackle is secure and sound.
30. Undo the gearbox/engine bolts. Take up the slack using the hoist.
31. Jack up the gearbox where it meets the engine. Put a stand under the gearbox to stop it falling when the engine disconnects from the box. You will have to keep altering this during the lift. The idea is too lift the gearbox a little to allow the engine to slip off the input shaft and come forward in the engine bay without smashing the power steering lines on the steering rack. I put an old jumper around the gearbox to stop it rolling into the side of the gearbox tunnel and damaging paintwork as well.
32. Gently rock the engine to crack it off the box.
33. Be careful of the abs module and all its pipework and avoid letting the engine swing forward into the air con radiator.
34. Once clear, lift carefully and then swing the engine out of the bay and fit to stand or place on carpet and chock it to stop it toppling over.
35. Now you can clean the engine bay easily and strip the engine external components ready for further work.
36. I removed the turbo heat shields and took the turbo off. Had it checked and I also cleaned the oil inlet and outlet pipes as well as the water inlet and outlet pipes. If you have the old oil feed pipe (i.e.: with the brake union type fitting) bin it and get the new version with the banjo bolt attachment.
37. Remove the alternator.
38. Remove the clutch and replace unless it is very new.
39. Remove clutch release bearing. Remove bearing with puller or suitable drift.

Now you can either do what I did and send the engine off for repair work or do it yourself. Remember if you are doing a rebuild you will need to consider pricing up the following.

New valves, tappets, head skim, valve regrind, valve seals, cam wear, piston wear, rebore, crankshaft regrind and new shells, cam belt and tensioner, oil pump, water pump, replacement gaskets, conrods and finally labour.

Refitting.

1. Is basically a reverse of the above procedure. Here are some pointers to help though.
2. Build the engine up as much as possible whilst it is out of the car.
3. Start with the turbo. Fit the down pipe (the short stub with a bend). Use decent nuts and some locking washers. Split washers will do nicely. If these babies come loose one of them is impossible to get to when the engine is in. Prime the turbo with some oil by pouring it through the oil feed port. Spin the turbine with your finger until you see it spilling out of the oil outlet port. Fit the oil feed pipe to the top of the turbo. Use new copper washers since this fitting must work first time. Once the engine is fitted you will not be able to get at this bolt without removing the manifold. In fact, the turbo on this car is such an ar*e to get to I used new gaskets & washers for all the joins. It isn’t worth risking a 3-4 hours back braking session when you discover a leak after fitting it.
4. Now fit the turbo to the manifold. New gasket. Four nuts.
5. As you attach the turbo to the manifold you should get the oil feed pipe to fit to the block as well.
6. Now attach the water inlet and outlet pipes.
7. Fit the heat shields and check all the fittings for tightness.
8. Now attach the oil outlet. Fit the sump end first and slide the turbo end into place. You should have a little give in the rubber tube at the sump end. New gasket as well.
9. Now the clutch. Clean the flywheel with a piece of emery paper to remove minor scoring. Wipe clean with meths or petrol.
10. Put the clutch plate up against the flywheel. Springs face out. You can’t put it on the wrong way, it will only fit the right way.
11. Slip the pressure plate onto the studs and secure with nuts. Tighten each in turn one turn at a time until all are tight. Remember, when you fit the clutch to use an alignment tool so that the clutch plate is perfectly central. If you do not do this you will have difficulty mating the engine to the gearbox. To use the alignment tool you are in effect trying to make up a dummy shaft like the one on the gearbox which will slide in to the engine when it is in place. Select the tightest fitting bushes which will fit in the clutch plate and slide on to the dummy shaft. Now pick the tightest fitting bush which will fit into the recess in the flywheel. Secure the bushes to the tool. Slide into the clutch plate and recess before you tighten the pressure plate bolts. Keep checking that the shaft will slide in and out.
12. Attach the fan using the four small nuts.
13. Re assemble the alternator. Leave it loose though.
14. Now prepare the gearbox for mating. Make sure you have cleaned out the bell housing. If you haven’t already you will need to sort out the release bearing. Sit in front of the gearbox. Grap the lever (looks like a two pronged fork. Slide it out of the gearbox to the left. You might need to remove the rubber gaitor on the bell housing. Now pull the release bearing off the shaft.
15. Clean the shaft and regrease. Not too much though.
16. Remove the spring from the release bearing. Remember how it goes back on.
17. Use a drift or a large socket to remove the bearing off the relase bearing housing. I placed mine over the vice so that the bearing was sitting on the jaws. Then I placed a socket of the same diameter as the shaft on the shaft and knocked the housing out. Clean and fit the new bearing onto the housing. You will need a larger drift or socket. Take care to make sure the bearing goes on straight. You will have to hit it quite hard.
18. Refit the spring. Grease and slide onto the shaft.
19. Insert the lever into the gearbox housing and slide it back on. Refit the gaitor and check the slave piston is fitted and seated correctly if you have removed it. The lever should operate the release bearing smoothly without coming loose.
20. Check all the fittings on the engine are secure before refitting. Now would be a good time to make sure that you have put the engine back together properly. Put a socket on the main pulley and crank the engine over. Turn the pulley twice round. If you have made any serious mistakes building the engine you will find out now without causing any damage.
21. Now refit the engine. Make sure the mountings are secure and no items will be damaged during the lift. Jack up the gearbox to get it at an angle facing up. You will need assistants at this point. Lower the engine. Don’t make any wild movements, take your time. You will need one person lowering the engine, and one either side to manoevre the engine in the engine bay. Get the gearbox shaft to mate with the clutch and flywheel. You will need to lower the gearbox and jiggle the engine until it mates with the gearbox and engine mount points.
22. Once in place connect all the gearbox to engine bolts and attach the engine mounts. Refit the starter motor.
23. Reattach the air con pump.
24. Reattach the power steering pump.
25. Fit new auxiliary belts and tension.
26. Reattach all the electrical connectors. I used tape if they looked damaged and sprayed wd40 on all of them.
27. Reattach the exhaust pipe. Use a new gasket.
28. Refit the radiator. Put the fan cowling over the fan first and then slide it forward when you have fitted the radiator.
29. Refit all the water pipes.
30. Fit the oil filter. Smear some oil on the seal first. Make sure you have fitted the knock sensor which is behind the oil filter.
31. Refit the under engine tray.
32. Reconnect the throttle cable. Loosen the lock nut. Adjust the barrel adjuster so that the slack is removed from the cable. If you look at the throttle assembly the butterfly valve should be closed at rest and fully open when the throttle is fully depressed. Tighten the locknut when adjusted.
33. Check the clutch pedal for free play and operation. Adjust if necessary.
34. Reassemble all the air pipes and vacuum lines.
35. Refit the bonnet. Three man job. Don’t forget to reattach the washer pipe.
36. Reconnect the fuel lines.
37. Put oil in the engine.
38. Put coolant in the engine. If you measure how much you put in you will have a good idea if there is an air lock.. Leave the rad cap and filler cap off.
39. Put the heater controls to max heat and blower on full.
40. Now check everything is in place.
40. Reconnect the battery.
41. Crank the engine. I flicked the starter first to make sure there were no horrible noises due to me forgetting to fit something.
42. Next I cranked the engine for about 15 seconds until the oil pressure warning light went out.
43. Then I checked the oil level again and topped it up. It dropped due to the oil filter being primed.
44. Then I cranked the engine again and confirmed the oil warning light went out immediately.
45. Now put in the fuse for the fuel pump.
46. Switch ignition on. Let the pump prime the system. Do it a couple of times.
47. Now start engine and warm it up.
48. Check oil and coolant levels don’t drop. Massage the water pipes to make sure there are no air locks.
49. After three minutes you should have warm air blowing out of the heater. If not you will have an air lock somewhere.
50. Set your engine up. Timing, idle speed etc…..
51. Run the engine in gently for at least 500 miles. Low revs, no thrashing.
52. Smile at a job well done. Promise wife you will never leave her for 2weeks ever again. Etc….

[Jez]

I'm going to be swaping my new engine in soon - is the above guide still the best way of doing it?

I wondered if it was possible to remove the engine and gearbox still bolted together?

[MeLLoN Stu]

its easier if you leave the gearbox attatched imo. just be careful when lifting and refitting.

[edd]

Originally posted by MeLLoN Stu
its easier if you leave the gearbox attatched imo. just be careful when lifting and refitting.

too right i took two out this year as one unit, piece of piss mate

[Mitch]

Doesn't the 'box end drop and mash the power steering pipes? That was my worry, so took the box off.

[John Bennett]

If you hang the engine from the front sling and the support bracket for the air-intake unit the whole lot should tip back nicely (otherwise you'll have great difficulty getting it out and back in - don't use the rear sling). Slides off the propshaft quite easily.

While it's in the transmission tunnel, support the gearbox with a trolley jack so it doesn't bash off the ground or the power steering pipes - therefore a 2 man job but not that hard with a crane that has a half-decent reach.

[Mitch]

Cheers John. Hopefully won't need to use that tip for a while....

[Jez]

thanks for the advise