Pulling Engine: Tips or Tricks?

[bmwman91]

So, since my M42 is at the end of its life and I am getting a big present from Metric Mechanic in a few months, I want to square-away some of the swap details. Mainly, I want to know if people here have been able to pull the motor & tranny as one unit (tranny still bolted on)? I always have a hell of a time getting the tranny back on the car from underneath, and I really don't want to risk damaging the pilot bearing on my nice new motor! I have a cherry picker / engine hoist, so it would be sweet to get everything in & out all at once!

I pulled the motor & tranny on my first 318iS in 2005, after I wrecked it, and it is a very straightforward thing to do. The only things I forgot at the time were the reverse light switch & the vacuum line that connects the charcoal canister...the engine hoist made short work of those items! I'll be a bit more careful this time though, since the car isn't a pile of wreckage.

[318kid]

I read metric mechanic and stopped reading! I have no experience removing an engine yet, but I will be removing one from our parts car in a month or two so this thread will really help out.

When I was reading earlier some were raising the rear up high on jack stands, and dropping the front of the car as low as it can go. That may help.

[wazzu70]

Pull it as one unit (engine with trans bolted on) this helps keep the nose of the engine up to clear the radiator support. Another good thing to have is a load leveler to change the pitch of the engine. I have the one from harbor freight and it really sucks. Spending the extra money for a leveler with the acme threads is well worth it!

The 4s are really easy to pull since the engine bay is made for the 6 which is a tight fit.

You can also remove the lower oil pan and the pickup to get some more clearance.

[rob_e30]

I agree, easier to pull them together.  We got it down to less than an hour, but that's a race car.  Also, a good load leveler is good investment.  Make sure you have plenty of clearance above your hoist too.  Finally, we seemed to run into challenges with the power steering pump and getting that to clear the core support.

[bmwman91]

Awesome, I am glad to hear that they can be pulled as one unit. I really hate those top two Torx bolts...gotta futz around with 4' of extensions to get at them!

I'll have to look into a load leveler. What are the advantages of using one? Man, that sounds like it is probably a real noob question.

[b_cyrus]

Awesome, I am glad to hear that they can be pulled as one unit. I really hate those top two Torx bolts...gotta futz around with 4' of extensions to get at them!

I'll have to look into a load leveler. What are the advantages of using one? Man, that sounds like it is probably a real noob question.

harbour freight or sears. They're good so you can pitch the front of the engine up or down whenever you please to have the correct angle to come out of the engine bay. Good investment.

[rob_e30]

I'll have to look into a load leveler. What are the advantages of using one? Man, that sounds like it is probably a real noob question.

A load leveler attaches to the hoist and is about 18" long with chains to attach to the engine at each end.  It has a long jack screw that allows you the change the pitch of the engine as you move it in and out.  For instance, you can start with the engine level, but as it's ready to come out of the engine bay you need the front of the motor much higher than the rear.  Remember, depending on the pitch you need, you don't have to start with the lift point in the center.  Putting it farther to one end gives you more adjustment in your angle of attack.

[rjcaptsean]

That's the Harbor Freight unit.  I agree that it is not top quality, but if you make sure you grease up the rollers and the threads prior to use, it isn't half bad.  I left the power steering unit in the car and removed the radiator when I pulled and re-installed mine.  Definitely turn the handle on the unit to be facing forward.   I ended up having to set the motor down and turn it around from this picture because it hit the firewall on installation.  

Took me about 30 mins total to re-install by myself.  The master mechanic in the picture got distracted by Sponge Bob.  

[d.hitchcock]

We pulled and installed an M20 and Getrag 260 as a single unit out of my other e30.

One thing that made it super easy for us, relatively speaking, was to disconnect the harness from the ecu, push it through the firewall, and remove it with the engine/tranny.

Put a piece of thin plywood in front of your AC condensor to avoid bashing it with the motor during the process. I think we clamped it loosely in place with vice grips.

I believe we also dropped (not removed, just lowered) the front subframe/suspension for clearance. Far easier than it might sound.

Metric Mechanic, huh? I'm jealous too!

d.hitchcock

[bmwman91]

Thanks for the tips. The load leveler looks SUPER handy. Anyone here in the Bay Area? Since I don't pull motors too often, borrowing one would be nice. Since Harbor Freight is sort of nearby here, and the LLs are $25-$38, I guess it wouldn't kill me to grab one either.

I plan to leave the power steering stuff in the car and just move it out of the way. Since the AC hardware was totally removed a number of years ago, I don't have to worry too much about smashing up the condenser since it isn't in there!

[DesktopDave]

Nobody mentioned removing the hood.  Make sure you do that first... ;-)

I pulled an M20 with a 4HP22 last year...it's a lot longer than the M42/Getrag combo...made it a very tight fit.  I also bounced it into the condensor.  Made a deep crank-pulley-shaped dent.  I pulled the DME harness out of the cabin along with the main relays, C101 connector, and positive feed wires (bungeed all to the intake manifold).  I left the exhaust manifold on as well.  Speaking of the manifold, get some penetrant on those nuts for a good long while before the big day.

I jacked the front of the car up to make the hoist easier to connect, then dropped the chassis back down once the motor was fully rigged on the hoist.  I also unbolted the compressor and the P/S pump.  Mishaps included one motor mount arm snagging a power steering hose on the way out (very messy)...then the other motor mount arm cracked one of the hoist locking pins as I set it down.

I didn't use a load leveler, but I'd definitely recommend one.  I used a light-duty HF come-along instead.  It worked well enough.

[bmwman91]

Good tips. I'll look into pulling the wiring harness out through the firewall. It might be a little tricky just because of the wide-band O2 sensor system I installed, but everything is on spade-plugs so I think it will be manageable. Worst case, I disconnect everything from the motor and bungee-tie it out of the way.

I will definitely need to be mindful of the PS hoses. I will probably get the engine onto the hoist and then remove the big mount arms from the block to get them out of the way.

[willworkfore30s]

When I removed my m42 I did it with a hoist, 1 chain to hold most of the weight and two ratchet straps that I could tighten or loosen to angle it.  It came in and out pretty easy.  I did it in a parking lot.  You got this.

[rjcaptsean]

No need to pull the harness out of the firewall.  You can just disconnect the miscellaneous sensors/switches/leads and move the box and harness up out of the way.  You can see it in the top center of this picture.

[bmwman91]

My next order of business is to see if I can find a steam cleaning sprayer. I want to de-gunk the engine bay. A pressure washer seems like a bad idea...anyone have any input there? High pressure water + electronics + old paint seems risky.