hey everyone, i'm pulling my engine today hopefully, got few questions, should i pull it as an assembly with trans still attached? where is the best place to disconnect the columb shift levers? any tips suggestions to make this job easier and faster? unfortunately i'm only working with hand tools since my compressor is not operational.
if you pull the assembly as a unit make sure to empty the tranny fluid first. then i tape a heavy plastic bag over the rear of it to catch any more fluid.
Pull it and put it back in as a unit, so much easier. Here is what I do, in order: 1.Pull the lower radiator hose and drain the anti freeze. Then remove the upper radiator hose. Unscrew the 2 trans cooler lines at the bottom of the radiator. Remove the 2 bolts on either side of the radiator and lift the radiator out, being careful not to hit it on the fan. 2. Remove the fan and spacer, disconnect the heater core hoses. Disconnect the wires going to the coil, oil pressure sensor and temp sensor or just unplug the harness at the plug dangling from the firewall. Disconnect the 3 wires going to the alternator or just unplug the alternator harness at the voltage regulator. Remove the shock tower braces. Unbolt the exaust pipes from the manifolds. Disconnect the rubber gas line from the fuel pump and either put a bolt in the end of it to plug it off or clamp it shut with vice grips. 3. Get under the car and drain the trans fluid by removeing the pan (be careful not to get a face full of trans fluid). Remove the nut on the side of the shift lever on the side of the trans and pull the shift lever off. Remove the 2 nuts that hold the trans to the cross member. If it's a 6 cylinder, go ahead and remove the 2 nuts that hold the motor mounts to the frame mounts. 4. Remove the 2 U bolts that hold the driveshaft to the rearend. Pull the driveshaft out and wrap tape around the U joint so the caps don't fall off. 5. Go back up top and get your hoist hooked up. I like to go ahead at this point and raise the engine and trans until the trans bottoms out on the top of the trans tunnel. Then go back under the car and remove the 2 bolts that hold the transmission cross member on and remove the cross member. 6. Lift that engine and trans out! Be careful not to snag your transmission cooler lines on anything as you lift it out. I like to tie them up to the alternator. As for the colum shifter on an automatic trans. You can either take the nut off down at the arm of the trans and lift the drivetrain out and let the Z bar pull itself out of the side of the motor, or you can remove the 2 bolts on top of the drivers side frame rail just behind the steering box and then knock the linkage loose at the bottom of the steering colum with a screw driver. Either way it's going to be a pain in the ass. Always good to have a second set of hands around to help, although I have done it on my own a couple of times. Find somewhere to set the drivetrain down as soon as possible after you get it out. Several hundred pounds hanging around on a chain is an accident waiting to happen...
I pull it as a unit too. For some reason, they pull together very easy in a Maverick. Some cars don't. Another plus about the Maverick is that you do not have to remove the hood. Most cars need the hood unbolted. On the Mav, you just push it gently as far back as it will go and prop it with a broom stick. In such a way that the stick is not blocking you from doing your work, of course. I put it on the driver's side after everything is done but the hoisting. Just watch your headspace. I pulled mine in the attached garage yesterday... the 7" door height made the final run over the radiator support a tedious affair. Position your hoist with a bias to the front of your chain on the engine. You want it to pull in such a way that the tranny hangs downward some. When I take the driveshaft loose, I unbolt the tranny mount bolts, then remove one of the bolts from the crossmember. This allows it to swing to one side, out from under the tranny mount. While the engine is going over the rad support, you don't want it way high... Too high makes your hoist tippy. I usually have help and while they slowly raise the engine, I guide each section over the support. When it comes to the tranny, I usually just grab the tailshaft (after the whole engine has cleared the support) and give it a 'lift and swing' motion over the support WHILE my help is pulling the hoist back at the same time. Get away from the car and slowly lower the engine while someone guides it down to the position you want. Good luck Dave
as of 5:10pm this afternoon the engine and trans is out of the car, took me an hour to clean up all the mess i made , hardest part was loosening the columb shift, oh yeah, the dam speed sensor bolt didn't want to budge a bit so i was forced to cut it off after i reshaped the head into a perfect circle using the proper size socket, drive shaft came off way easy cept i ofcourse fogot to mark it... i wish driveshafts in modern cars came out that easy.... thanks for all the great advice, made things a little easier -edwin-
One of the best things to acquire is another shaft off the front of an old drive shaft. I have a bunch. Then you remove the drive shaft and slide the spare in there. No need to drain the trans.
Good deal! Hope we helped... Why did you want to mark the driveshaft??? The only thing that I do to them sometimes is put tape around the 2 unsupported caps so they don't get knocked off and shoot the bearings all over the floor. Dave
No such thing. It's like your rims and tires, either it is balanced or not. Doesn't matter which lug is in which hole, or which rim is on which hub. Dave
good to know, now i got a question, what was that big blue canister i removed? thats charcoal canister right? and are heater cores easily reachable?
Blue canister behind the passenger side shock tower? That's the charcoal cannister. On my car, I just removed the entire steel line that runs to the back of the car and stuck a little lawn mower fuel filter in the end of the rubber hose that comes from the top of the gas tank. Heater core... easy depends on if you have an early '73 with the package tray or late '73 with the glove box. It's alot easier to remove the package tray then the glove box.
non a/c are the easy ones. a/c ones are a p.i.t.a. mine was a/c with the tray. i had swapped the glove box for a tray earlier...frank...
