First engine drop questions
 

I'm having to do some work on the clutch and so down comes the engine. I made some good progress today, snapping pictures so i don't forget what goes where and tagging everything. However, I got a little stumped when the Bently manual says to

-Disconnect wires for speedometer sender. Push through bulkhead.

I'm not sure what wires they are referring to. There are two set of wires and two connectors in the coupler access area. One doesn't even loo like a connector that you can snap off and on.

Any suggestions? Once I figure that out, how do you push them thru the bulk head. Sounds like pushing a rope to me.

Thanks,

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1376965015.jpg

The one closer to your wrist is the speedo. The hole in the tunnel is big enough to pass it through.

Thanks K, which side pulls out the Green/Brown or Brown-Red/Brown?

the 2 brown/red wires run to the speedo sender.

Why not just slide the sender "puck" out of the side of the trans and tape it out of the way. Heck of a lot less trouble!

+1 ^^^

I do that at the transmission side. Take out the sensor pug and hang it off to the side

+2, just remove sensor at gear box, leave those wires alone.

Removing the puck is easy too. Just have to be careful of the attachment on the top of the tranny. It's an attached zip tie. That cable is $100 to replace. In hindsight I would have pulled the puck end and then pulled the loose wire through where your hand is to protect it.

Subscribed.

Might catch up to you tonight. Car is on the hoist, PB Blaster has been liberally distributed. Tea bags stocked.

So you are removing the trans and engine together then? I'm still debating. I seem to have a crank seal oil leak. I'm a little concerned that if I remove the trans it might end up with an LSD in it!

If you look closely, there are just simple male/female spade connectors inside the weird German plastic protector. Just reach in there with a pair of needle nose pliers so you don't pull the wire itself off the spade connector.

I prefer to leave the speedo sender on the trans. Not hard at all to push out the wires since there is a grommet surrounding them. You can see it on the vertical wall of the tub. Since you're already into the access cover to disconnect the trans/shifter coupler, I figure it's no big deal to unplug from there.

Also shove the shift rod boot into the engine bay. You have to "unfold" it a bit to release it from the tube in the tub. The boot is easier to be remove at the tub, not at the trans. It's more of a press/push fit on the trans vs. the unfolding routine at the tub.

Ok, backing up the bus a bit. I'm posting some more pics as requested and will likely have some questions as I go along.

I'm basically following the Bentley guide with a cross reference to Wayne's most excellent 101 Projects book.

Im lucky,i have a mid rise lift. its going to make this alot easier. One of the things I first noticed was that the cross member on the lift interfered with the tranny.

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So I rolled the car a little further backwards on the lift but I wasn't comfortable with the balance of the whole thing. Normally it is rock solid. With the car moved to the back of the lift you could tell it was a bit off balance. So, I going to leave it here but when it comes time to actually do the drop,I'll reposition the car on the lift so it clears.


I did splurge and picked up a couple of Griot's fender protectors.



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The first few steps in Bentley I could skip because upi had already taken the AC compressor out.

Disconnected the battery


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Removed the air filter cover, disconnected the breather hoses and vacuum lines on the right side of the engine.


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Didn't have to remove the cruise (already gone) or large heater elbow and blower since I did a backdate last winter. I did have to remove the cover of on the coil and take off the secondary wire. Also disconnected the fuel lines and the 14 pin harness off the left side electrical panel.


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Disconnected the harness connectors on the left side of the engine. Marked everything with yellow tape.





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Disconnected the harness from the right side.


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I finally got around to disconnecting the speedo sender wires but I'm still not sure how that connector is going to get thru the bulkhead. :confused:


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Along the way I made a stool low enough that I could roll around under the mid rise. The blocks were already around because I use the to support the car sometimes. The roller was found under the porch of a house I owned 15 years ago. Never throw anything away.


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While I was rolling around underneath tonight I disconnected the throttle linkage and heater pipes from the exchangers to the flapper boxes.


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I noticed that the rag I had stuffed into the oil pipe was soaked and had dripped enough to create a decent sized spill. So I took the rag out and stuffed a glove in there and rapped it up with some tape. Except by now, most of the oil that would drip out was probably on the floor.



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Since I was dripping crap all over the floor I started soaking the axle bolts with ATF/Acetone solution.



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Got another question. Why does the book say to takeoff the coil helper spring and the clutch release lever. Seem to me, once you get the cable disconnected there's nothing left attached to the car. :confused::confused:

Picture for post above......

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Along the way, took out the passenger seat to make working on the shift tunnel that much easier.

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Still have to disconnect the shift rod from the coupler.

Yeah, trying not to get too caught up in the, "Gee, what can I do now!" If I get this done quick enough I can make it to Octoberfest at Blackhawk. Given my schedule though, this might stretch into the winter. If that's the case, all bets are off!

If you don't........
 

Jeff,

You are doing great in your first engine drop with all the pictures and labels. To answer your question, you need to remove the clutch lever arm because you won't be able to separate the transmission from the engine without swinging out the release bearing fork. Remove the circlip at the bottom of the shaft, and the short lever shown in your picture would slide down. Thus allowing for the shaft holding the release bearing fork to swing freely. Remove the three (3) 15-mm nuts securing the transmission to the engine.

Now you are ready to separate the transmission from the engine. Keep us posted.

Tony

Great job Jeff. I didn't get much time to work on mine yesterday so am a few hours behind you. Unfortunately I have three weeks before our next race so I better get cracking. BTW how did you undo that oil line nut?

Thanks Tony. That makes sense.

Haven't done any of the hard oil lines yet. Will tackle that tonight maybe. I think if I get a good stretch of time, I can get it ready to go.

If you are talking about the hardline from the case that goes to a flex/hardline to the thermostat.. that was a bear for me. Tried heat, PB Blaster, swearing... what ultimately worked was grabbing the handles of the wrenches with a pipe clamp - the kind with a crank handle to tighten - used this to provide torque and they eventually came undone. Made sure to use antisieze when I put them back together.

My goal is engine and trans on the bench (or my foot) my night fall. SmileWavy

New goal: engine and trans on bench, eventually.

I'm lucky to get home by nightfall! But I will try and got after this line tonight.

I just went through this as well and what worked for me was two 18" lengths of pipe slid over
the wrenches. Gave me great leverage and the nuts
broke loose right away. Are you planning any preventive
maintenance with seals while you've got your engine and trans out?

Like....................?

Jeff - While the engine is out, you want to do a thorough clean. But before you do that, take a look at any oil drips to see where they are coming from. While you are at it, look up "Triangle of Death". There are thee items you want to replace. The engine thermostat gasket, the oil breather gasket, and the oil temp o-ring(or was it a crush washer?). These items are dirt cheap, and I promise you that if you don't replace them, your engine will begin to leak right there within 100 miles of the re-installation. LOL! This can be remedied with the engine in situ, but is a total hassle compared to doing it while the engine is out.

I assume you'll be doing a valve adjustment, checking the head studs, and a good nut and bolt check of everything on the engine.

The key here is to take your time and have fun. It is so awesome the way you have labeled your wires. You are doing a great job.

Be sure to listen to Tony (boyt911SC). I never met him, but he seems to really have a bunch of experience with this stuff.

Best of luck, and whatever happens, rest assured you are but a posting on this board away from any answers you may need.

I got the following via email, as a "While you are in there" from fellow (and local Chicago guy) Kevin Lehmann, KTL to Pelicans;


Low oil pressure light switch
Internal thermostat
Breather cover hose
Oil cooler
Check intake manifold nuts & look for blown/sucked gaskets if you find any really loose barrel nuts
Main fuel line under intake and rear crossover fuel line connecting fuel damper to pressure regulator
Trans input shaft seal & guide tube (likely that guide tube is fuched)

Amen to the above, you may also consider replacing the seals on both sides of your crankshaft, the main seal and output seal on your trans too.

Can someone elaborate on the oil cooler and internal thermostat? Are we just talking about the oil cooler seals or the oil cooler itself? What about the internal thermostat? Is this something that needs replaced as a wear item?
My engine is out and has about 133k miles on it.
Thanks!

Made a little progress tonight but interrupted with family activities. Still first thing I did was fashion some bumpers on the lift because I'm always banging my head under there. So I took a couple of tennis balls, slit them and place them over the metal stops on the lift.


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Then I messed with the speedo sirs some more. I don't see how this connector is going to get thru the grommet on the rear wall. I stuck my fingers back there, no room. Some suggest taking the sender off. Is this the piece you all are referring to? :confused: :confused:

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After that I disconnected the starter. No I know why you disconnect BOTH battery terminals. That a tight fit in there.

Is it only the large cable leads that need to come or does the small wire connected there née to come off too? :confused:

I tried to get some leverage on that and its pretty darn tight.


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Got around to removing the clutch levers.


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Also got a little seepage on the bottom of the tranny. Thoughts on what that might be?:confused: :confused:


Not sure what that access piece is for.


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1. Yes, that inch size plastic plug is the magnetic speed sensor. Remove the clip and it comes off.
2. the big wire comes off the starter, the little wire can stay
3. That tranny is not really leaking that bad. Sources are shift rod seal and the wet CV joint in the picture.

The access port is where you inspect and adjust the shift planes.

Thanks! The CV joint is wet from brushing some ATF/Acetone solution on there to loosen them a bit. They looked corroded.

You can leave the speedo sender if you want to. You have to pull the spade terminal out of the plastic block. What you'll end up with is a free wire on the sender side of the wiring and the plastic block thing stays in the car. That's how you can pull the wires/grommet out and not deal with plastic thing not fitting thru!

Another potential source of that leakage on the trans is likely the shift rod access cover plate. Looks pretty dry to me. Just wet from the acetone/atf treatment. Usually don't need any penetrant for those CV bolts. They're so well lubricated with grease, they have NO problem coming loose. Hence the reason people occasionally have an axle come free that beats up the underside of the car.......

Oil cooler is typically the seals. Not the cooler itself. But sometimes the cooler can have a core leak. Not really common though. Much more common for the seals themselves to leak. I equate them to oil return tube leakage, maybe a little less frequent than that.

Internal t-stat on top of engine case is leak prone due to o-ring failure. The t-stat itself is pretty reliable. Easy to fix even if it does have a regulator failure. Same regulator piece that is replaceable in the external t-stat for the front fender oil cooler.