Well most of you know that my timing belt went last week. Well I took the head off and found that three valves were broken and that 2 of the 4 pistons were destroyed. Now my question is; can you remove the block without taking the tranny out? The block and tranny are still in the car and I really don't want to take the tranny out. So is this possible or do I have to take them both out at the same time? Thanks again guys.

Hey Man!

No you don't have to remove the tranny. Specially if you don't have any problem with it. This way it will save you lots of work as you need to drain it, remove both wheels and both shafts ya di ya da!

BTW; I think it would be a good idea for you to consider if you want to remove both Balance Shafts. Michael Hamilton could a good reference for this one.

I know I'll be taking them off whenever I rebuild a "new" bottom end.

Hope this helps.

Ghislain.

Sorry to hear about the damage Gavin

However, it seems I may be missing something here (and this is only my .02) but how would one go about pulling a block and leaving a tranny in a DSM?

But in order to pull the block out you would have to be able to slide the clutch assembly from the tranny, and there just ain't no room in our configuration (or for any other standard transversley mounted engine that I'm aware of) You would need a good 8" to slide the engine towards the driver's side to clear the tranny, and the front of the engine clears the frame by like 2", no? I know that this method works with front engine rear drives... but with a FWD?

Now, if you were able to pull the engine (and please somebody correct me if I'm wrong in what I typed above) there would only be one bracket supporting the tranny (the other 3 are on the block), and I know that the rubber bushing in there doesn't have the strength to support the tranny on it's own.

Sorry Gavin, but to do the job properly, I think you should be pulling the whole thing (tranny first, then block)

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Temporarily Busted 93 Talon Tsi AWD
having fun in the mud - instead of on the street (for now) www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Street/1125/

Hmmm.... What to do? I guess I'll have to take the whole thing out huh? Which means I have to buy a couplr of jack stands and some other stuff. Hey is there anyone in the mississauga area who has removed their engine before? If so could you lend me hand. I'll pay for the beer and lunch and whatever. I'm not saying I can't do it myself but I'd rather do this with someone who has experience doing it before. MMMMMMMMM..... BEEEEEEERRRRRRR!!!!!

If you're just looking the piston removal and replacement, you don't even have to take the block out of the car. You just drop the driver's side crossmember, then the oilpan, and just work on the pistons from underneath.

Since I was doing so much else, I just took the engine out of the car. You can leave the tranny attached to the block to do this if you have a proper engine hoist, but I'd recommend just getting the axles completely out of the way and dropping the tranny. I tried it with the axles in place, and it's more pain than it's worth.

What are you planning on, Gavin? I'm going with '95 pistons and '90 rods and bearings(probably from Conicelli, but the rods I may be able to get cheap from UAP/Napa), a Total Seal ring set, and probably new rod bolts. I also took the chance to remove the balance shafts, and I took the crank out to get the block cleaned and checked. I found some gouges in the crank bearings, so I replaced those and got the crank polished. I'm also getting the head mildly race ported.

Troy I plan on just throwing in a new motor. I will probably sell the old one for parts so I can get back some of that money. Or I might rebuild it with some of the stuff you mentioned. Don't know yet. Anyways thanks again.

Get an engine lift and remove/install the engine and tranny as one unit, much faster and less chance of damage to the components.

I chose to replace, because my shortblock was a 'new' one with only 75k kms on it. You could get a used engine for around $1000 in reasonably good shape. Most people I ask, though, say something like, "It's in awesome shape! Except for that huge hole in the side of the block." You'll have to watch yourself, unless you just go with a racing block from Buschur or something. (:

Gavin,

I'm in a similar position, and hope to be replacing my engine before the summer is out.

Be sure to let us know how it goes, and what steps you had to take, or anything you wish you knew before going through with the process.

Thanks.

Will Do. I will keep you guys(those interested) informed regularly as to how things are going. Right now I'm taking the drive shafts out. does the transfer case have to be removed too along with the center drive shaft??

Sorry to dump this here but it'sd late and I got to getsome Zzzz. Anyway just found this on the Talon Digest, might be of interest for somebody. http://www1.rider.edu/~danik/talonpage.html

Night.

Ghislain.

I would remove it anyway, it makes things a lot easier to get at, and only takes a few minutes.

Thanks for that link, Ghislain. I read it before, and I'm just hoping that I won't have to go through that kind of hell. (:

WEll I have officially given up. I can't get the drive shaft bolt off. The rotor seems to turn with it a bit and I don't want to ruin the tranny. Looks like I'm going to have it towed to a shop and have them take over since they have the right tools. Probably go to Marco unless you guys have a sollution.

By all means, give it to someone to save yourself a lot of hassle. Unless you're like me, and too poor to be that lucky. (:

You must mean the crankshaft bolt. Hmm, I got the four for the pulley off with no real trouble. The bolt itself we got off with the block out of the car. We braced with something, and then used a large socket.

Isn't this the bolt that people loosen with the starter trick?

That is, brace the socket/breaker bar against something and turn the key momentarily, to get the starter to break the bolt loose?

I could be wrong, best to check the archives...



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S.
1000 AAQ: 1000q.dsm.org
ECU Primer: members.home.net/costall/ECUprimer/index.html

That's the one. Getting it off isn't so bad, it's getting it back on that's the real trick.

No No No. The drive shaft bolt. The one that goes to the wheel hub and is kept in place with a 1-1/4 inch nut, followed by a cotter pin. You know.....

Put it in 5th gear, remove the cotter pin, put on the 34mm axle socket you borrowed from Canadian Tire's loan a tool program, add a 3' or 4' extension to your socket wrench and yank with all you've got and it will come loose.

Oh THAT one. Mike got it right, but you need to brace it with something, like a friend standing on the brakes with all their might.

It's not so bad with an air impact wrench, but if you're using the 4' breaker bar method I use another 3' bar or so wedged between 2 or 3 of your wheel studs. This will distribute the force evenly enough so that the studs won't snap, and wedge against the floor so you can apply the 150ft/lbs+ of torque needed. Hope your hub is nice and loose so you don't have to press the sucker out... (:

Its not that hard. I droped a valve on my 92 talon NT and destroyed the head. It was going to cost me 1500 to rebuild the engin and 2000 for a used one. So I went with a used one. I pulled the engin with the tranny still in the car(never trying that again). But the hole thing was pretty easy. Dont give up to easly. Once you get the drive shaft bolt off it is easy going. I had never done anything like this befor, and all i did was follow Hans manual. It was quit easy.

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Need For Speed

Thanks guys.

If the tranny is in 5th gear with the parking brake on it will hold the car enough to crack the bolt. Don't worry about the transmission, it's nothing compared to the clutch drops that I see people doing everywhere. You'll spin the tire on the other side of the car before you damage the tranny.