removing the engine from a front wheel drive

rooster · January 10, 2007, 04:54:12 PM

Never done this before but jr has a tranny going out on the 88 olds that his grandmother gave him.
My question is : if you lift the trans and engine as 1 unit, can you still roll and steer the car to remove it from the garage? We need to do this to bring in another car that will be the doner trans ( if possable)

2ed question: The doner car is a 87 buick 3.8 engine would this swap with a 88 olds 3.8 engine both fwd? :?:

tomslik · January 10, 2007, 07:51:04 PM

Quote from: "rooster"Never done this before but jr has a tranny going out on the 88 olds that his grandmother gave him.
My question is : if you lift the trans and engine as 1 unit, can you still roll and steer the car to remove it from the garage? We need to do this to bring in another car that will be the doner trans ( if possable)

i doubt it, you'll need a dolly under the front...
here's what i'd do; pull doner car in, strip it, have it hauled off 1st.
thjen bring in the good one and swap trannies.
can't help ya on the interchange, though....crosley?

2ed question: The doner car is a 87 buick 3.8 engine would this swap with a 88 olds 3.8 engine both fwd? :?:

rooster · January 11, 2007, 11:17:17 AM

I see this post has been moved over here!

The book we are looking at does not give alot of detail, it does say to remove both axels from the trans and then hang them with wire, then basicly lift the engine and trans as 1 unit. Was hoping someone here has done this on front wheel drive.

I tryed to fix him up with my old pickup yesterday, we went over to get it to take it to get a windshild , he steped on the brake and the rear brake line blew, that ended that!

PLAN 2: drive the doner car, until spring.

Jbird · January 11, 2007, 12:51:27 PM

Hey Rooster, I checked in ALLDATA and every Olds with the 3.8 has the engine and trans coming out separately. You have to make a gizmo to hang the tranny once the engine's out. It's not all that difficult, it's just different than a rear wheel drive setup. But, you know what I always say.

"Never do today what you can put off till spring"

If you want I can snailmail you the procedure I got from alldata. PM me.

Jbird

oiler · January 11, 2007, 02:29:49 PM

Quote from: "rooster"I see this post has been moved over here!

The book we are looking at does not give alot of detail, it does say to remove both axels from the trans and then hang them with wire, then basicly lift the engine and trans as 1 unit. Was hoping someone here has done this on front wheel drive.

I tryed to fix him up with my old pickup yesterday, we went over to get it to take it to get a windshild , he steped on the brake and the rear brake line blew, that ended that!

PLAN 2: drive the doner car, until spring.

you're better off leaving the engine in and suspending it while you pull the trans.
The LH side of the cradle should unbolt so you can access the trans
Jeff

rooster · January 11, 2007, 03:33:21 PM

Quote from: "oiler"
Quote from: "rooster"I see this post has been moved over here!

The book we are looking at does not give alot of detail, it does say to remove both axels from the trans and then hang them with wire, then basicly lift the engine and trans as 1 unit. Was hoping someone here has done this on front wheel drive.

I tryed to fix him up with my old pickup yesterday, we went over to get it to take it to get a windshild , he steped on the brake and the rear brake line blew, that ended that!

PLAN 2: drive the doner car, until spring.
you're better off leaving the engine in and suspending it while you pull the trans.
The LH side of the cradle should unbolt so you can access the trans
Jeff

So what you are saying is it comes out the bottom on drivers side after unbolting some kind of cradle. I guess this means the engine supports the trans axel, right? :?:

Is it possable to roll the car out of garage on all 4 wheels after this is done? :?:

oiler · January 11, 2007, 05:51:11 PM

On the older models the LF corner of the cradle will unbolt and come out.
you'll have to set it back in there to roll the car around.
just make sure if you pull the axles out that you support the wheel bearings.
I use a big bolt and nut with washers and tighten the up
Jeff

Dave · January 11, 2007, 06:18:50 PM

HATE TO SAY THIS BUT IM THINKIN SAWZALL SMOKE WRENCH (dam caps lock) or park it on the railroad tracks... after the train gets it it will be just a 2 or 3 piece assembly and easy to work with

Ya I know
Dave

rooster · January 11, 2007, 06:34:19 PM

Quote from: "oiler"On the older models the LF corner of the cradle will unbolt and come out.
you'll have to set it back in there to roll the car around.
just make sure if you pull the axles out that you support the wheel bearings.
I use a big bolt and nut with washers and tighten the up
Jeff

Lets see if I got this right- after removing the trans from a cradle and removing from the bottom, I can re-install the supporting cradle WITHOUT the trans and roll the car around. Is that right? :?:

The grandma car has 54K on it, its like new.

tomslik · January 11, 2007, 07:06:55 PM

Quote from: "rooster"
Quote from: "oiler"On the older models the LF corner of the cradle will unbolt and come out.
you'll have to set it back in there to roll the car around.
just make sure if you pull the axles out that you support the wheel bearings.
I use a big bolt and nut with washers and tighten the up
Jeff

Lets see if I got this right- after removing the trans from a cradle and removing from the bottom, I can re-install the supporting cradle WITHOUT the trans and roll the car around. Is that right? :?:

The grandma car has 54K on it, its like new.

yeah, but stick the axles back in the front hubs (if you care about 'em) otherwise they can come apart...

Crosley.In.AZ · January 11, 2007, 07:56:00 PM

Quote from: "tomslik"
Quote from: "rooster"Never done this before but jr has a tranny going out on the 88 olds that his grandmother gave him.
My question is : if you lift the trans and engine as 1 unit, can you still roll and steer the car to remove it from the garage? We need to do this to bring in another car that will be the doner trans ( if possable)

i doubt it, you'll need a dolly under the front...
here's what i'd do; pull doner car in, strip it, have it hauled off 1st.
thjen bring in the good one and swap trannies.
can't help ya on the interchange, though....crosley?

2ed question: The doner car is a 87 buick 3.8 engine would this swap with a 88 olds 3.8 engine both fwd? :?:

All the posts are the reason I do not work on FWD cars.

A major PITA is there ever was.

Carnut · January 11, 2007, 08:15:41 PM

Quote from: "jusjunk"HATE TO SAY THIS BUT IM THINKIN SAWZALL SMOKE WRENCH (dam caps lock) or park it on the railroad tracks... after the train gets it it will be just a 2 or 3 piece assembly and easy to work with
Ya I know
Dave

I was thinking winch onto a lowboy, wave bye bye, and head for a used car lot.

Carnut · January 11, 2007, 08:17:41 PM

Quote from: "Crosley"
Quote from: "tomslik"
Quote from: "rooster"Never done this before but jr has a tranny going out on the 88 olds that his grandmother gave him.
My question is : if you lift the trans and engine as 1 unit, can you still roll and steer the car to remove it from the garage? We need to do this to bring in another car that will be the doner trans ( if possable)

i doubt it, you'll need a dolly under the front...
here's what i'd do; pull doner car in, strip it, have it hauled off 1st.
thjen bring in the good one and swap trannies.
can't help ya on the interchange, though....crosley?

2ed question: The doner car is a 87 buick 3.8 engine would this swap with a 88 olds 3.8 engine both fwd? :?:

All the posts are the reason I do not work on FWD cars.

A major PITA is there ever was.

It once took me 12hrs to R&R the alternator on my 91 Grand Am Quad 4.

Fortunately I never had to see how far down the learning curve I was in having to change another one.