964 Engine Drop - Can it be done without reoving transmission, too?

Can the engine be dropped from an '89 C4 without also removing the transmission as well? Any tricks, cautions, or hints?

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Steve
'89 C4

Originally posted by sms1305:
Can the engine be dropped from an '89 C4 without also removing the transmission as well? Any tricks, cautions, or hints?

i suppose you could, but getting that release fork shaft out would be a royal P.I.T.A. they really need to come out together. big tranny jack with a plate, unbolt slave cylinder after lowering engine for access. don't take it's hose off, unless the hose is leaking.

Thanks for the tip. Will a large tranny lift be enough to drop both the engine and tranny at the same time? Do I need any of the special tools or jigs called out in the manual?

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Steve
'89 C4

Steve:

Are you really going to try this by yourself? Where do you live anyway?

Bill Wagner

the large jack suggestion is a safety thing. those eng/trans units are heavy and awkward. i attached a 1/4" plate to my trans jack and installed two 3" pins that go up into the rear heat exchanger holes. you can reef it all around and it'll never slide off. just use your manual and lower unit slowly, repetedly checking for stuff hanging up. sometimes a slidehammer is req'd to get the release fork pin out. careful not to throw your back out wrestling the tranny off. a separate jack under it is helpful. i use a cherry picker with a nylon strap.

Thanks for the additional detail, but I still don't have a clear picture in my mind about the rigging. Are you saying that you use the cherry picker from above the engine compartment to suspend the engine while you use the tranny jack to support the transmission, and then lower everything together?

Bill: If it can be done, I will try. I live in the San Francisco area, but will be moving to Boston soon. My suspicion is that I should try to get this done while I'm still in the hot bed of Porsche country!

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Steve
'89 C4

other than a bunch of hand tools, the only special tool req'd is a lineup spline to center clutch disc. maybe a shop will loan you one with a deposit. i use an old 928 front sliding torque tube spline.

no, lower eng/trans out and away from car, then remove trans either by muscle power or use another jack under it or a sling from a cherry picker if you have one. they're kind of heavy, especially rassling them back on. you can do it!

Thanks for being patient. I'm only trying to drop the engine so that I can get at and remove the heads, valves, guides, and studs. If the engine comes out with the tranny, I'll just leave them together until the heads are back on and it goes back in the car.

So, what I was really hoping could be explained is just how you handle the engine/tranny combo while dropping them out of the car? I'm just confused. Once everthing is disconnected, do you drop them both using just one tranny jack and the extension bar you mentioned?

I'm not afraid of it. I just don't want to create more problems than I solve! I definitely don't want to damage it on the way out.

[This message has been edited by sms1305 (edited 03-08-2001).]

when everything is disconnected, and the jack is positioned under eng/trans, firmly, and positioned so it's balanced and you're sure it won't slide off due to one end being too heavy, remove 4 engine/trans bolts and begin to lower jack slowly. lower 3 or 4 inches, recheck to see if you missed anything. lower enough to remove 2 nuts on slave cylinder and set aside. lower a bit more and when cv joints want to hang under starter, lift left axle up over trans and slide jack/eng/trans to left and to the rear a bit to clear everything and continue lowering/sliding until it's out. voila! getting heads off while on a jack would be a *****. you really need to pull the trans off and put engine on a stand. there's a lot of crap on a C2 engine, and under it, that needs to come off before you can pull the heads. the jack would be in the way.

sms1305:

If you were local I was going to offer assistance if you were local, but since you're thousands of miles away now, and probably at least 500 miles away in the future, I guess all I can offer you is good luck.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Bill Wagner