How do I change whole engine?

[micker]

Hi Everyone,
Lost the engine in my 97 Riviera last week . It's like knocking REAL bad and shop said its probly internal. They are sooo smart.
So I'm thinking of getting complete used motor and doing it at home. Could someone give me a quick note on how to start? I'm fairly familiar under hood.

THANKS

[grcore]

Put front of car on stands, remove all bolt on stuff, hood, wiring harness, hoses, exhaust, power steerning, starter, battery, throttle body, radiator etc. Remove the flywheel cover and unbolt the torque convertor from the trans (make sure engine and trans is supported properly).

Unbolt the engine from transmission (support enging & trans!), lower vehicle from stands, hook hoist to engine, remove motor mounts, lift engine out. Dont try to hoise the engine out while its on the stands.

Wash, rinse, repeat in reverse...

[spinne1]

To give more advice to piggy back on the excellent advice given by grcore, before you start get a legal pad or notebook. As you do each step write down what you do and give a brief diagram if you need it and also list the size or type of tool used to remove it. For example, my book might start:

1. Drain oil
2. Drain anti-freeze
3. Remove alternator (long bolt to left, 13mm x 2)
4. Remove power steering pump bolts (13mm x 2)
5. Tie power steeing pump to stabilizer bar using wire to get it out of the way

Etc, etc, etc.

As you do each step that requires removing bolts or nuts or parts, use ziplock bags and a black marker to match the step with the parts (my alternator bolts in the example above would be in a bag marked "3"). Get quart bags for the big parts and sandwich bags for the smaller parts.

It is very important to note relationships immediately when you remove things. For example, when you remove the fuel lines, one has a slighly different plastic fitting and will need to go back to where you removed it from. Noting the exact shape of the fitting and which side you got it from is extremely helpful (ex: draw fitting and then write "driver side")

The nice thing about doing it this way is that your parts are organized, and that you can simply reverse the order in your notebook or legal pad to put it all back together.

[Alibi]

A trick that I've found useful is to tape all associated bolts and screws to each particular part as I take it off. This way, you know for sure what goes with what and (if you use enough tape) you don't loose bolts.

Another trick is to label parts with a sharpie marker. Seriously, who cares if you mark directly on a part how it fits to another if it just sits in your engine bay anyway?

Oh, once you get to the transmission, there is a bell housing bolt towards the top of the engine that is easily missed. To reach it, you will need a fairly long extension (close to 2 feet, if I remember right). I just bought a cheap set of three varying lengths at Sears (champion brand) and used the two longer extensions together to be able to reach the bolt.

Otherwise follow the other advice and if you run into problems (and you most likely will) just post here and expect a timely reply

[kok328]

so we don't have to remove front tire, strut and CV to gain enough clearance to back the trans off the motor before the motor will clear for hoisting?

[spinne1]

Originally Posted by kok328

so we don't have to remove front tire, strut and CV to gain enough clearance to back the trans off the motor before the motor will clear for hoisting?

No, you don't. The trans won't move, the engine will as you are hoisting it. You simply separate the two by wiggling and carefully prying and by pushing the hoist toward the passenger side slightly as you are separating them. You will have to maybe remove completely the motor mount on the passenger side (if this car has one), and also the stabilizer bar across the top of the engine bay (if this car has one).

[ilgoldstein]

Get yourself a good manual too.

[Alibi]

Chiltons are slightly better than haynes... If you can, try to find a real GM service manual on Ebay.