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[Doug Chase]

Greetings!

I just joined the site and my back story is here.  To summarize, I'm going to be transplanting the engine and transmission from a crashed '97 Catera into a non-crashed '97 Catera that has multiple engine problems.

My normal job is race car repair and fabrication and I have the factory service manual so I shouldn't need any hand-holding, but I have some specific questions for those of you who have done this before.

1  Engine lift points.  My car has one near the center of the right head.  The service manaul identifies these lifts points as a special tool.  Does anybody have any photos of these installed?  Making them shouldn't be a problem, but I'd rather not reinvent the wheel if I don't have to.  I searched the forum for "engine lift points" but didn't find anything.

2  The service manual says to remove the transmission, then remove the engine.  Is this necessary for clearance, or can they come out together?

3  A/C lines.  Is it possible to pull the motor without opening the AC lines?  Something like unbolt the compressor and move it out of the way?  It looks like it might be possible, but it'll be tight and I'd rather not have the engine hanging on the hoist while learning that it definitely cannot be done. 

I'm sure I'll run across other things where I'll ask for advice, but until then I'll keep y'all updated as I make progress.

[RobG]

Greetings!

I just joined the site and my back story is here.  To summarize, I'm going to be transplanting the engine and transmission from a crashed '97 Catera into a non-crashed '97 Catera that has multiple engine problems.

My normal job is race car repair and fabrication and I have the factory service manual so I shouldn't need any hand-holding, but I have some specific questions for those of you who have done this before.

1  Engine lift points.  My car has one near the center of the right head.  The service manaul identifies these lifts points as a special tool.  Does anybody have any photos of these installed?  Making them shouldn't be a problem, but I'd rather not reinvent the wheel if I don't have to.  I searched the forum for "engine lift points" but didn't find anything.

2  The service manual says to remove the transmission, then remove the engine.  Is this necessary for clearance, or can they come out together?

3  A/C lines.  Is it possible to pull the motor without opening the AC lines?  Something like unbolt the compressor and move it out of the way?  It looks like it might be possible, but it'll be tight and I'd rather not have the engine hanging on the hoist while learning that it definitely cannot be done. 

I'm sure I'll run across other things where I'll ask for advice, but until then I'll keep y'all updated as I make progress.

1) should be 3 lifting eyes, one either side of block and one at the rear. Pic of rear http://images.omegaowners.com/images/guides/v6_engine_pics/IMG_0025.jpg
2) Engine & box can be removed as one unit
3) yep, unbolt compressor & swing away.

[Doug Chase]

1) should be 3 lifting eyes, one either side of block and one at the rear. Pic of rear http://images.omegaowners.com/images/guides/v6_engine_pics/IMG_0025.jpg
2) Engine & box can be removed as one unit
3) yep, unbolt compressor & swing away.

Aha!  I found the other two!  Thank you.  The one at the rear is burried in a bunch of stuff, and the one on the left is cleverly hidden under a plastic cap so it won't chafe through the wiring bundle.

Thanks for the answers on 2 & 3 and, more importantly, thanks for giving me the answers I wanted to hear!

[2woody]

you can remove box from below and then engine from either above or below

and you can remove engine/box from either above or below

you might find it earier to remove the large mounting bracket that supports the compressor and steering pump first, that gives more space for the aircon hoses.

[tunnie]

its much easier to get both engine and autobox out in one go, saves sitting on the ground in the rain trying to get the damn things to line up, been there done that! 

You just need to get the front end mega high!

[Doug Chase]

Progress!

Here's how I started the day:



And five hours later:





Well, I learned a little more about Cateras today.  Pulling the drive train will do that I guess.  MAN, things are cramped in that left front corner of the engine bay!  A/C, power steering, every wire in the whole car, and the battery.  Aargh!  Also, it's amazing how a plastic duct attached to the alternator can hold a whole engine in.

You're right, the engine can be removed without opening the A/C but I don't know how the hell I'm going to get it back in.  That's definitely going to require a lot more swear words.

Seriously though, except for some cramped working spaces (which all cars have) it actually wasn't too bad.  Which is good, because I'm doing it again tomorrow.  That car's not on a lift and it has a smaller working space, so it'll present its own challenges.


OK, questions.

1  Both motor mounts are torn.  I think it's likely that I did this because it took me a couple yanks before I realized that the factory service manual missed the step about unbolting the mounts from the top as well as the bottom.  I then disconnected the top of the right one and the engine came out ok.  Should I unbolt both from the top and bottom, or is it ok the way I did it - right one top and bottom, left one bottom?  Basically, I don't know how fragile these motor mounts are.

2  Next time I would like to unbolt the rear trans mount crossmember and then set the car on the ground.  I assume this will put too much load on the motor mounts so I need an easy way to hold this up while I'm lowering the car to the ground.  Any ideas?  The service manual talks about an engine support fixture to keep the engine from moving when the trans it out.  Any pics of this around?

3  Here's how I attached the motor to the hoist when I pulled it.  Got any better ideas?  The load balancer was hard to work when the engine got really tilted because the crank interfered with the hoist.  From feeling the balance points, it seems like it would balance at about the right angle if I only used the front two mounts.  What do you think?




I'll start pulling the good motor and trans from the black car tomorrow but probably won't have a chance to finish it until Wednesday. 


Doug

[The Red Baron]

you have been busy, good work so far doug.

[Shackeng]

Great job so far. I'm sure the experts will be along after work to give further help and answers to your questions Doug.

[Shackeng]

Sorry nobody came up with the answers Doug. How is the transplant going?

[Doug Chase]

Sorry nobody came up with the answers Doug. How is the transplant going?

No worries.  Just got started on the engine removal from the black car yesterday.  Should have it out today.  Then I need to decide how much work to do while it's out.  Gaskets, etc.

Doug

[Doug Chase]

Made some more progress today.  I must have learned something because it took an hour less to pull this time, even though this car wasn't on a lift.  In the process I answered most of my questions from above and here's what I learned.

1  Motor mounts.  Removing the bottom nut on both mounts and the bottom and top nut on the right mount worked well.  The mounts came out easily and neither is torn.

3  Lifting arrangement.  I changed the length of the rear chain (longer) and this worked well enough.

2  Supporting the rear of the trans when crossmember is removed.  I had the car up in the air to work on the bottom, then wanted it down on the ground for clearance when removing the drivetrain.  I needed a way to support the rear of the transmission while the mount was removed, and while I was lowering the car to the ground.  I had this support fixture I'd made for a different car so I used it and held up the motor by the rear lift point.  Then I put the car on the ground, put a jack under the transmission to carry the weight, and removed this fixture.

Note that it's sitting on the edges of the fenders.  I wouldn't recommend this for a car you cared about, but a similar piece could be made a couple inches narrower.





So anyway, here's where I am now.  Currently trying to decide how much, if anything, I want to do to this motor before it gets transplanted into the gold car. 



Doug