changing an engine

[HeWhoKillz]

Ok, so I'm changing the engine on my nissan sentra 1993 1.6 5 speed. I'm not going to be able to borrow an engine hoist so I'm gonna rent one for two days. I know I have to pull it out after undoing the rest of the mounts. Then take the bolts off the transmission that hold it on and seperate the two. I don't know how the clutch comes off but I have to take it off and use my fly wheel on the new engine as well. I have been hearing alot of "Be careful putting the tranmission back together on the engine. Make sure you line everything up when you go to place the transmission on or you will mess alot of stuff up." Anyways, after that you drop the new engine in, secure the mounts, and put everything back together. (along with that damn power steering pump) Anything else I need to be aware of or do?

[Mavrick14]

Judging by your technical knowledge, your better off buying an engine crane because you will not finish this job in two days.

Standard transmissions require a pilot bearing or bushing in the crankshaft whereas an automatic will not. If your new engine is an automatic, then you will need a new bearing or bushing.

The clutch pressure plate will be held on with 6 or 8 bolts, and you want to remove them equally 5 turns or so at a time so the springs are released equally. When installing the clutch pressure plate on the new engine, you will need a clutch alignment tool to ensure that the disc is in the center. Without centering the disc, the splines will not mate up with your tranmission input shaft and you will not be able to mate the transmission up to the engine.

I'd recommend finding a friend with some automotive experience/knowledge to help you with this task, because its a big one.

[curtis73]

Truthfully... on a 5-speed, its usually easier to pull them both together. The input shaft of the transmission sticks into the clutch about 4", so you have to move the engine 4" to the passenger side to clear the tranny. I'm sure you don't have 4" to do that.

Once you disassemble the engine from the tranny, its pretty easy to get it back together. The problem is clutch alignment. When you pull the clutch off the flywheel you'll see what it needs. The splined part in the center (the disc itself) has to be centered when you bolt it back up or the transmission shaft won't slide "home" all the way. Clutch centering tools are available that make it easy, but I've never had any trouble "eyeballing" it.

[Moppie]

Originally Posted by HeWhoKillz

....... and use my fly wheel on the new engine as well.

This could cause a problem.

You need to find out of the crank is balanced seperatly from the flywheel on your particular engine.

If it is, you can change them easily, if not then you will need to get the crank on the new engine balanced to match your old fly wheel.



As Cutis said, pull the engine and box together, then seperate them when they are out of the car.

This is much, much easier.

Unless things go very, very smoothly, taking 2 days to pull the engine out, change things over, and put the new one back in might be a bit optimistic.

Once you have the old engine out you need to sit it beside the new one and check everything is the same.
And I do mean EVERYTHING!.
If not then you may need to take parts off the old motor and put them on the new one.

[vgames33]

As far as I know, all modern Nissan engines are internally balanced.

[HeWhoKillz]

Originally Posted by curtis73

Truthfully... on a 5-speed, its usually easier to pull them both together. The input shaft of the transmission sticks into the clutch about 4", so you have to move the engine 4" to the passenger side to clear the tranny. I'm sure you don't have 4" to do that.

Once you disassemble the engine from the tranny, its pretty easy to get it back together. The problem is clutch alignment. When you pull the clutch off the flywheel you'll see what it needs. The splined part in the center (the disc itself) has to be centered when you bolt it back up or the transmission shaft won't slide "home" all the way. Clutch centering tools are available that make it easy, but I've never had any trouble "eyeballing" it.

What happens if the transmission shaft doesn't slide "home" all the way? When do I find out if it did or not? Before I even bolt it back up or after its back in the engine bay?

[Mavrick14]

If your transmission input shaft doesnt line up with the pilot bushing in the crank, then you will not be able to bolt the tranny up to the engine. If you can bolt it up, then your good to go.