RedZ32

Okay so long story short, a barely noticeable engine knock in the high end turns into a bunch of engine clunks and engine is pretty much dead. Had to have it towed back to my house.

Im guessing it's either a rod bearing or a main bearing, but having no experiences dealing with either of these going out on me its really just a shot in the dark.

Im assuming with this kind of work the engine needs to be pulled, no big deal. I bought the car as a project and that all I ever expected out of it. Just looks like the TT swap will be needed a little sooner than expected.

I've never pulled an engine but I am confident in my ability to take it apart and put it all back together. The only question I have is if there is a method that you guys go about when pulling an engine?

I don't know if I should disconnect the tranny first after fuel lines or if I should disconnect all electrical first or what. Maybe I have it all wrong but all input is appreciated.
This could either be a great learning experience or a horrendous nightmare but either way I feel it has to be done!

KSpakes87

Pull the motor and tranny together. Much easier that way. This motor is one of the easier ones to pull.

Just a basic run down of the pull:

Remove intake pipes

Upper & lower coolant hoses, fan shroud, fan and radiator

Disconnect wiring harness, fuel lines, power steering hoses and heater hoses

Disconnect A/C lines

Remove all necessary vacuum lines

Remove drive shaft

Unbolt exhaust

Unbolt transmission mount with the transmission supported with a jack

Hook up your engine hoist

Remove 1 nut on both motor mounts

Pull motor


Just a word of advice since this is your first pull get you some masking tape and lablel every vacuum hose and wiring harness connector. Also get you a box of sandwich baggies and put your nuts and bolts in them and label them.



Edit: Also if you are planning a TT swap it gets much more in depth than just swapping a motor into your car. I suggest getting a front clip from somewhere such as conceptzperformance.com and swapping motor and tranny. They come with everything you need to do the swap except for ECU. You have to remove the front bumper of your car and swap in all the intake duct work and intercoolers. I'm an experienced mechanic and it took me 8 working days to complete the swap.

RedZ32

Thanks this will really help me out a lot!
Yeah I'm still looking into the whole swap idea so it's not set in stone yet. If I can affordably fix the NA then I'll keep it but since "affordably" might not be possible, instead of dropping $1000+ or so to fix whatever is fudged up inside I would just invest in a new engine eventually and swap it right in there.

I'll definitely be doing more research to better acquaint myself with the whole process of swapping these engines.

KSpakes87

You will definitely be looking at more than $1k to do the swap. Average swap is about $5k and that's doing it yourself. If you pay someone you are going to look at another $1k-$3k in labor depending on their experience. Most shops will probably give you an outrageous estimate just so you won't bring it to them or just tell you no they aren't going to do it.

It's easier for me to tell you that it's not that hard of a swap, but depending on your mechanical ability it might get extremely confusing knowing what you need to swap and what you don't need to swap over.

If you do decide to do the swap yourself I will be more than happy to help you with any questions you have along the way.

RedZ32

Thanks!

Although I've never pulled an engine or swapped an engine or anything to that degree, I'm confident in my ability to do something like this. It might take me a while longer than someone that has already done a swap but as long as I can find the money for the parts and get questions answered when I find a bump in the road I know I can (eventually) get it done lol.

I've gotta start somewhere!

Like I said before I'm really just pulling the engine now to find out exactly whats wrong with it and if it can be fixed without paying enough for another engine. Once I get that figured out I can make my next move.

KSpakes87

Well like I said before, pull the tranny with the motor. The upper bell housing bolts are near impossible to get to while still in the car. Plus this makes it easier to line the tranny back up to the motor during reassembly.

I've only separated one of these motors one time while still in the vehicle and it was in an Infinity J30. It wasn't as bad as it is in our cars, but still a pain in the butt.

KSpakes87

Oh one thing I just remembered...When pulling the motor and tranny you need to unhook the shifter.

RedZ32

I want to see what you guys think it is before I actually get into this...

I've had a knock at high rpms - about 4k+ to be precise.
Went driving after replacing knock sensor. It seemed to be hesitating really bad on and off at every stop sign so I'm assuming the knock sensor was doing its job.
Go down highway a few miles cruising at 55 mph. Turn off onto smaller road doing about 45-50mph and all of sudden about a mile down the road I hear a loud metal clunking sound. I lost all oil pressure and engine died. Coasted to the edge of the road and popped the hood. No oil dripping from what I could tell and when I turned the key to see what would happen loud clunking noise and will not start. After sitting for a few minutes calling a tow truck I try again and it starts but loud clunking continues so I kill it pretty quick.

I've never been in a car when there was a major engine failure so I don't know exactly what to say the problem is. I was told the knock was a rod bearing just from a mechanic listening to it when I had a brake job done a couple months ago. Could this be it or is it something else? Either way I'm assuming the engine will need to come out for either repair or swap.