How to pull a motor?

[vacca rabite]

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

[Doug]

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.

[moosejr]

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.

[Doug]

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.

[white433]

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!

[kwai]

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.

[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.

[syzygy]

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.

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.

[Ronner]

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 )

[Tomahawk715]

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