How to pull a motor?

All of my engine pulling experience has been with aircooled VWs. Totally different beasts. Tonight I got the hood off my truck and started cutting off the welded on fire service bumper from the frame. I looked into the engine bay and felt kind of overwhelmed. That is a BIG lump of iron.

Is there a good "How To" article on how a novice should pull one?

I have a hoist.
Clearly the hood, bumper and radiator need to come out. But what about all the other stuff?
Do you have to take the front wheels off (is the vehicle too high for the hoist to work with the front wheels on).
Is there a step by step thread?

Zach

Are you going to reinstall a 230 or do a swap? Exhaust manifold can be taken loose and wired off to the side to keep it out of the way, or sawzalled off and removed completely if not going to be used. Take all the linkages hoses and etc off, pull the four bolts that hold the trans to the bell housing, motor mount nuts, just the one on each side, the whole mount need not be removed.. Radiator should be out, along with the fan and it's pulley. I never bothered pulling the lower pulley and balancer...but that's the real tight spot when pulling a 230 without removing the radiator support. You have to have the engine tipped WAY up in the front to get it out.

Seems easiest if you do it in two stages... lift the engine level and moving it forward to move the motor mount studs over and ahead of their holes, then rehooking to the chain 3/4 of the way to the front... Should have said to begin with, I cross a chain from one side of the engine on the back to the other side on the front. Chain should have no more slack in it than possible, Slack will just decrease the final height with to hoist all the way up. Not a bad idea to pull the carb if you wish not to damage it.

Another wise move is to use a good ratchet strap to sling under the trans to keep it supported. Being able to use it to slightly raise/lower the trans helps in disassembly and reassembly. I once removed and replaced a trans in the campground using nothing more than ratchet straps to drop it out and lift it back in....just keep your melon and anything else you wish not to flatten out from under it.

With the engine tipped so far, a typical hoist is not tall enough to get the engine high enough to clear, but I was able to muscle the back half of the engine up high enough to get it over the radiator support. Pushing a hoist with an engine that high is spooky business, doesn't take much of a hiccup in the concrete to make the hoist want to tip instead of roll. I prefer to get the engine up and roll the truck out from under it.

It's been a few years, but for a while I was blowing up and installing one every year/ year and a half. Also parted a couple trucks. I'm sure I didn't cover everything involved, but this should at least give you a vague mental map of what all has to happen... just enough for you to form your own plan in your own mind.

Don't over think it, it's all just nuts and bolts. Not a terrible job, matter of fact, my 15 year old pulled the last 230 for me when he was 9. Did everything except the muscle part of forcing the engine level to clear the radiator support while rolling the truck backwards out from under it. No kidding, I was in the house working on something else while he did the job with occasional coaching and help breaking loose a tough bolt.

Ask specific questions if you have them, I'm sure some others will fill in a few of the blanks too.

I have a standard hoist, and with the core support (grill panel) in place, it is too high, but taking the front wheels off and setting the front axle on stands as low as possible should do it. You will do well if you have an adjustable engine sling to tilt the engine so the front end is higher than the back as you come out. I needed to remove the front wrap anyway, so it wasn't an issue for me. Hope you have a good smooth cement floor, because in addition to being a big piece of iron, . it is heavy. Be careful moving it with it up high on the hoist as it is going to be top heavy.

Not knocking Moose as there is always more than one way to skin a cat, but the engine leveler is the same as having too much slack when using a chain...decreases final height. As he said, it's a tippy situation and I prefer to use the chain and be able to roll the truck out instead of rolling to loaded hoist, but it can certainly be accomplished either way. In reality one way is a toss up over the other. Personal preference mostly. I'm more speaking up to clarify that if you go my route, don't use the engine leveler as the 6" or more it hangs below the hook is going to make it harder to clear the rad support.

Front end loader makes it real quick. If you have a couple of trees about 10 foot apart, cut a little hickory tree thats about 10 inches in diameter. Lash it up about 10 foot high, come-a-long, your in business. I usually replace the cross piece every 3 years, we must be safe!

You don't have to mess with the radiator support, etc. if you just remove the whole front clip. You can also clean them up and paint them while you have it off.

I did mine with an engine hoist, load leveler and had to let air out of the the front tires to get it all out.

Did the same when my class did the engine pull for Pistolnut.

We have the front clip off for work on the truck for Sermis. Much better. You seem to be the kind of person that wants things really right. Pulling the front clip is the way to get there. You can paint the firewall, inner fenders and such a lot easier. Paint the jams where the cab and fenders come together, but not the entire pieces since chances are you will scratch something going back together.

Better access to wiring, brakes and basically everything when you can sit on the tire and do the work. Easier on the back too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Barrman

I did mine with an engine hoist, load leveler and had to let air out of the the front tires to get it all out.

Did the same when my class did the engine pull for Pistolnut.

We have the front clip off for work on the truck for Sermis. Much better. You seem to be the kind of person that wants things really right. Pulling the front clip is the way to get there. You can paint the firewall, inner fenders and such a lot easier. Paint the jams where the cab and fenders come together, but not the entire pieces since chances are you will scratch something going back together.

Better access to wiring, brakes and basically everything when you can sit on the tire and do the work. Easier on the back too.

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What he said. The front clip comes off really quite easily. Working with one other guy, we had the whole front clip off in no time... maybe 30 minutes? Then we took out the engine and transmission as a unit with a standard hoist.

As others have said, other than it being larger/heavier than what you've worked on in the past, it should be straightforward.

While it is a LOT easier to take the whole front clip off, I never seem to have a helper when I need one. I pulled mine out straight up & over with a plain jane HF 2t with the boom all the way out.
BTW, pull the transmission at the same time - the t98/230 combo is supposed to be a pain to separate. - If you do this make sure you remember to remove the gear shift lever first because at 3:00am when that is the only thing between you and removal you will cut it off with a sawzall in 1 hand and steadying the motor with the other (don't ask :) )

x5 Just take the front clip off in one piece--on these trucks its wayyyy to easy to do to not justify it. And has already been stated its a good time to clean everything up --clip frame etc and repaint. Plus makes is so much easier to install later. Oh and I found my front brake line was on the way out because I could see it better.

But if you are pulling a motor in any other vehicle and not removing the front one of those engine load levelers is the cat arse--you can adjust on the fly if you need more tilt etc--if installing a motor or removing yourself I wouldnt be without one for the price

I have started taking the front clip off.
All the farking bolts on the fenders are rusted beyond reuse. I am thinking about getting an air hammer and a cold chisle and just cutting them. The one that I have been able to remove so far only got out and the bolt sheared. Either that or hitting them with my angle grinder.

Can coolant be recycled? I know my local auto zone will not take oil if it has coolant in it.

Zach

I can bring my coolant to work to be recycled. I believe it is the local oil recycler that picks it up. Maybe try a local recycling company in the Yellow Pages.

If in doubt I give the bolt head a good smack with a hammer--then try to turn in just a touch and then turn out. Usually hit them with PB blaster the night before too. Same with trim screws--always put the driver in the grooves--tap it--then same deal.

I don't know.
I am digging out the mud to find the nuts. they are corroded tot he point where you can't tell where the nut stops and the bolt starts. Its like one object.

I'll try it though. Why not?

Zach

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BBM715

While it is a LOT easier to take the whole front clip off, I never seem to have a helper when I need one. I pulled mine out straight up & over with a plain jane HF 2t with the boom all the way out.
BTW, pull the transmission at the same time - the t98/230 combo is supposed to be a pain to separate. - If you do this make sure you remember to remove the gear shift lever first because at 3:00am when that is the only thing between you and removal you will cut it off with a sawzall in 1 hand and steadying the motor with the other (don't ask :) )

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The other morning when I was pulling an all-nighter trying to get my diesel conversion done in time for an event I was working by myself at about 3am, fighting with the transfer case lever bracket and getting nowhere, I decided I needed a break from that so I tackled re-installing the nose by myself. I wish I had it on video or had taken some pictures. In any case I just used a rope tied to either side of the brush guard and then hooked to the engine hoist to lift. Got it all reinstalled nicely without damaging anything, a lot easier than even with two guys lifting it off manually.

(P.S. I didn't quite get it done on time. Darn. I did make a lot of progress though.)

Don't use an angle grinder on the bolts. Drill out the center of the head and it will pop right off. Then just push the bolt out. Not sheet metal damage that way.

Oh, good idea.
Any idea what kind of drill bits will work best on grade 8 bolts?

Zach

If you drill the heads of the bolts off, just don't do that on the ones behind the doors that hold the back of the fenders on to the cab. Those are captured nuts welded into the body, so unless the drill bit pushes them through, you'll then have to extract the remaining bolt left in there.

I was actually able to get the captured bolts off easy. seemed that there was no corrosion there.

I've not been able to move forward with this at all. My 2 weeks off work have been spent on grad school homework and painting my friends CUCV. If it was not for all this heat, it would be done by now and out of my work space. As it is, he is color sanding it outside while I am in taking a homework break. Break in the heat is supposed to happen Saturday, so we will put the last gallon of paint on it then, and I can refocus on pulling my jeep apart.

Zach

Well, I've been pulling and reinstalling engines (both conventional and VW types) for 50 years. I do not have a hoist (wish I did). I always used a chain fall or geared chain hoist fastened to the 8X8 beam in my barn whe I still lived in Illinois. Never had to pull a radiator support or bumper to do it. With a load leveler (I prefer to call it a "slant adjuster") a guy can do it by himself. Otherwise, it's pretty much a 2-person job with one hoisting and the other manipulating the engine position. You can do the same thing with a stout tree limb, if need be. That's how we came to be called "shade tree" mechanics. ;)