Engine removal and driveshaft questions

[Andrew]

I've usually done it with the driveshaft off, but you're right that you don't want to go hitting the rear of the shaft on the ground and over-stressing the donut. I generally remove it at the donut to avoid this. Again, if you get the car's rear way up in the air, you already have some relative angle, and need angle it less on the way out.

It's not a big deal to remove the driveshaft at the donut; use a factory donut clamping tool (no not Homer Simpson) or a big hose clamp to compress it. Then the big bolts come out easily; otherwise it can be a struggle. Mark all your hardware, including nuts, bolt, and washers, and return them to the same orientation.

Andrew

[GTV4EVR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew I've usually done it with the driveshaft off, but you're right that you don't want to go hitting the rear of the shaft on the ground and over-stressing the donut. I generally remove it at the donut to avoid this. Again, if you get the car's rear way up in the air, you already have some relative angle, and need angle it less on the way out. It's not a big deal to remove the driveshaft at the donut; use a factory donut clamping tool (no not Homer Simpson) or a big hose clamp to compress it. Then the big bolts come out easily; otherwise it can be a struggle. Mark all your hardware, including nuts, bolt, and washers, and return them to the same orientation. Andrew

[genericwood]

Do be careful with the driveshaft bolts. On the 2L cars, they are a rather odd 9mm size that is getting harder to find. Of course you could always drill them to 3/8" if you had to.

I usually pull the motor, tranny, donut and short shaft as a unit. With some care, it really isn't hard to do that way. As described by Gary, it helps to lower the front of the car and raise the rear. Just make sure you have enough room under the front for the legs of the engine hoist. And to prevent gouging the lift strap, you can use a short axle tie down strap instead of putting the hook directly on it.

Unfortunately, when you are as hard on engines as I am, you get lots of practice!

Erik

[Andrew]

Yes, the picture above is the way to go, in my experience, for smoothest ingress and egress of the engine/trans as a unit. Raising the rear is not needed if you're pulling just the engine by itself.

Andrew