How hard is a DIY engine swap? Special tools needed?

C@lvin · Post by **C@lvin** » 18 Oct 2009, 20:01

Is this possible to do "at home"?

What kinds of tools and equipment (other than the normal DIY mechanic tool box) are needed?

How much does an engine weigh? How does a used engine ship - how is it "packaged"?

Just pondering........

Post by **micah861** » 18 Oct 2009, 20:35

a cherry picker and a chain. and an engine stand if your intending to rebuild.

C@lvin · Post by **C@lvin** » 18 Oct 2009, 20:38

micah861 wrote:a cherry picker and a chain

I assume that's some kind of a frame with a hoist? Can you rent them? How much to buy vs. rent?

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 18 Oct 2009, 21:07

You can buy an el-cheapo engine hoist from Harbor Freight for around $150.00. They rent from the rental stores as well but I don't know the rate. It is the kind of thing I would buy but then again I can't walk through my garage for all of the tools I have bought and used once instead of rented.

It is very doable with no real special tools, just a lot of patience. Taking a lot of pictures along the way helps when you get the the, "where the hell does that line go?" part at the end.

I'm not real sure what a motor weighs, I'm guessing between 350 and 400 lbs (the book spec is 153 kg but I think that is the motor only without the flywheel). They will ship a motor on a pallet. If a lift gate is delivering it you can maneuver it around by setting out a series of pipes (at least 3) that are wider than the pallet. As the pallet rolls off of one pipe move it back to the front and keep pushing.

...Lee

Post by **jblackburn** » 18 Oct 2009, 21:52

Years ago, my dad and I swapped a BMW 2002 motor (still ORIGINAL) into a donor body car. That thing weighed probably close to 500 pounds if I had to take a stab at it, and it's a tiny car. It took us 3 people to pick up and move across the garage, and about a week to get everything hooked up and working; then again that is a VERY basic engine & no vacuum lines or electronics like any new car has. All I can say is: 1) HAYNES MANUAL...big help and 2) Take pictures of EVERYTHING!!! You'll never know when you need them when you can't figure out where something goes. Get a nice wrench set, floor jack & stands while you're at it too; it will make your life much easier.

Post by **renns** » 18 Oct 2009, 22:12

Engine R&R can be a DIY job if you have the right equipment and skills/determination.

I'd recommend pulling the engine/tranny together as one unit, and splitting them once out of the car. In that case, you will be hoisting a weight of something well over 500 lbs. Also, when pulling the engine, consider leaving the wiring harness in place, and remove the engine harness from the ecu box instead. That's much easier than removing the connectors from all sensors and actuators on the engine.

An engine hoist is nice if you can find one to borrow or rent for cheap. As I don't pull engines that often, I've mounted a chain hoist to a beam across the rafters in my shop, and pull engines up and out that way. It works fine as well, but you need a tall ceiling to get that to work for you. My workspace is also large enough to allow me to roll the car back once the engine is up and out of the engine bay.

While the engine/tranny is out, it's a good time to do a bunch of maintenance - tranny axle seals, RMS, timing belt/tensioner/water pump, and others I'm surely forgetting.

As for engine packaging - that will depend on where you buy it. If it's shipped, it may be strapped to a wood pallet, hopefully with some shrink wrap protecting it from the elements.

One last item - in case you weren't aware, the hood doesn't need to be removed for this job. Flip the opening stops at the hood hinge to their alternate positions, and let the hood open to its full 90 degree vertical position. This provides lots of access space.

Good luck!

C@lvin · Post by **C@lvin** » 18 Oct 2009, 22:30

Great information you guys - very encouraging.

Keep it coming!!!

9394volvo850s · Post by **9394volvo850s** » 19 Oct 2009, 00:48

me and a friend can lift a volvo 5 cyl in and out of the trunk of my 850. for install and removal your gonna want a hoist. leave the tranny bolted up.

C@lvin · Post by **C@lvin** » 19 Oct 2009, 07:17

So, do you say to leave the tranny bolted up because it's easier to change out the tranny out of the car? How do you do that? Doesn't seem like you could do it on the ground, but an engine stand wouldn't hold the engine with the tranny bolted on would it?

Post by **schigara** » 19 Oct 2009, 07:58

The tranny is much easier to seperate while out of the car. You leave the engine/tranny suspended from the hoist while you carefully reach under and remove the splash plate that covers the flywheel. Next remove the 3 or 4 flywheel to torque converter bolts and then the bellhousing bolts and leave one bellhousing bolt in place and lower the hoist until the engine/tranny is just an inch or so off the ground and remove the last bellhousing bolt and wiggle the tranny away from the engine.

C@lvin wrote:So, do you say to leave the tranny bolted up because it's easier to change out the tranny out of the car? How do you do that? Doesn't seem like you could do it on the ground, but an engine stand wouldn't hold the engine with the tranny bolted on would it?