Question on subframe

Post by **oragex** » 08 Jun 2016, 12:32

I'm trying to lower the subframe to get access to the transmission pan. Is there a risk for the lower engine mounts? Do they stretch?

01_Nautic_V70 · Post by **01_Nautic_V70** » 08 Jun 2016, 13:14

When lowering the frame, I supporte the back flywheel side of the engine with an engine hoist. Removed one bolt from under the front (of the car, intake side of the engine) mount and the two nuts off the trans torque mount. Loosened rear subframe bolts about 2 turns. Remove left hand side front subframe bolt entirely and right hand side front subframe bolt all but 2-3 turns. Place a deepwell socket or similar between the left hand side frame and subframe to keep it spread.

Post by **oragex** » 08 Jun 2016, 13:43

01_Nautic_V70 wrote:When lowering the frame, I supporte the back flywheel side of the engine with an engine hoist. Removed one bolt from under the front mount (of the car, intake side of the engine) and the two nuts off the trans torque mount. Loosened rear subframe bolts about 2 turns. Remove left hand side front subframe bolt entirely and right hand side front subframe bolt all but 2-3 turns. Place a deepwell socket or similar between the left hand side frame and subframe to keep it spread.

Thanks Nautic, do you mean the bolt from the 'G' mount?

01_Nautic_V70 · Post by **01_Nautic_V70** » 08 Jun 2016, 14:02

Yes, remove the bolt from the underside of G. I did this about 2-3 weeks ago. Currently the V70 and subframe aren't even on the same side of the garage as each other, though.

Post by **oragex** » 08 Jun 2016, 15:18

Great, I got the G bolt out, I'm working on the pan bolts now, some are very rusted, almost can't put the torx socket inside. Are they very tight?

01_Nautic_V70 · Post by **01_Nautic_V70** » 08 Jun 2016, 15:27

Yes, take your time. It appeared as though mine had threadlocker on them, hard to tell as the form-a-gasket is reddish pink and it could have been that. Also, they are all at least the same size so that's one error avoided.

May the gods of valvebodies look upon you with favor, just disassembled, cleaned and reinstalled mine.

Post by **oragex** » 08 Jun 2016, 15:29

Thanks for the encouragement, will report back on (hopefully good news!)

Post by **oragex** » 08 Jun 2016, 20:52

I went to undo the pan bolts. The four upper ones that are not rusted came out very easily. The others are completely stuck. I put the locking pliers on the lower one and it wouldn't move! Are these the same bolts that secure the plastic cover on top of the engine?

01_Nautic_V70 · Post by **01_Nautic_V70** » 09 Jun 2016, 07:14

I can't say whether they're the same. Looks like the previous owner of mine lost the plastic cover bolts and bought some non-matching hex head screws. They work, but they're not stock.

Can you get any rust penetrant on the VB cover bolts down below? Mine had a little white rust on them, but not too bad. They all came out with a torx socket on a 1/4 inch drive ratchet.

Post by **chrism** » 09 Jun 2016, 09:50

Here's a trick that might help you get small machine screws loose:

It requires straight-on access to the screw head. Take a punch or drift that is narrow enough to fit loosely in the torx head and sit all the way at the bottom of the hole. Wallop it good and hard two or three times with a hammer. This will tend to minutely "stretch" the screw shank away from the head and relieve some of the tension on the screw threads. Then it will hopefully unscrew more easily.