Done half of my used motor swap TODAY
 

So, today i decided to go out and try doing my used engine swap. I took out half of the stuff, got dark and i stoped. People who knows how to swap and haves done it, how do i take the tranny out? I looked under and the tranny seems to be super long. Hhaha!! Or where do i unbolt it to take off? Heres some pictures of it:

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And for this one what goes in that little thing i have marked on the picture. CLICK!

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Thanks guys.

Blinker\ Turn signal fluid.

unbolt the tranny at the ppf and take the shifter etc out while you are at it. then you need to take the driveshaft off the diff and slide it out of the tranny from here you hook up your lift (preferably with a tilt on it) and pull that sucker pretty much straight out angling to about a 60 degree angle before everything clears. Its not that bad after the first few times. the do hickey ther seems to be the power steering resevoir man put some normal atf in ther and you will be fine.

Thanks bro. But whats the ppf? and the shifter? you mean the shifter in the car?

Yes the shifter in the car, and the PPF is the big long piece of aluminum that is attached to the transmission to the differential, 5 bolts in it, 2 at the back 1 in the middle and 2 at the front i believe 17mm?

I have a strong suspicion this car won't be running for a while. Seriously guy...if you can't figure out what power steering fluid is you should not be tackling a swap alone.

i was thinking that too...

"oh man... that car is going to be on kijiji saying "nice project car" in a month"

At least he is trying. Might learn a few things in the process.

Not sure I want to ask but where are you located. You may need some assistance.

He's well on his way. He has an eager attitude, and he's already learned two things today, where the power steering resivoir is, and what a power plant frame is, he's practically there.

OP: Two big long bolts (8ish inches) and one little bracket shaped kind of like a 2 holds the transmission on. Once you get everything disconnected and star pulling the engine with a engine lift, the drive shaft will just slide out of the transmission and start dumping your transmission fluid everywhere. Have a drip pan ready. There's also four wires you need to disconnect, two for the reverse switch and two for the neutral switch. Beyond all that, the exhaust, and two engine mount nuts/washers, that's all you have to do under the car. Take off your center console, four screws for the upper shift boot, and then three bolts for the lower shift boot, and your shifter will pull out. You'll leak oil from there too btw.

I am from california fresno. But thanks for the guys thats helping.

What i tend to do, is zip tie the drive shaft to the tranny itself. That way no fluid goes anywhere.

Or just drain the tranny's fluid. It is one bolt and takes all of 5 minutes.

I did the zip tie thing last time and it worked great, but it was a pain to guide the drive shaft down the tunnel when reinstalling. Plus I didn't have a lot of room in front of the car, so it had to go in diagonal. If you have the room in front, height, and three people, it's an easier method. I did it with two but I was going back and forth from under the car to helping maneuver it into the bay.

One thing just to state the obvious, but the trans is pretty heavy, so be careful. A lap-full of gear bo can be a problem.

Personally I always took advantage of a swap to change all fluids since at that point its not any significant extra work anyway. But even draining a tranny you will have residual oil that will come out in interesting ways. A nice huge sheet of cardboard under the car is always nice to catch all that crap as you never really know where it will all go :).

This is how people learn, props to this guy for diving in. I have dealt with so many people who just dont get that this hobby is not kniting and that you just have to sack up and do it sometimes rather than anlyzing the living hell out of it. Reading about it in a manual or the internet doesnt really make you any better at it. Doing it does. When I got my first project it took me three days to figure how to change a damn half-shaft. Within a couple years I was doing swaps, clutch jobs, fabbing things, etc. Thats how it is with most of us.

WTF are you talking about dude the motor weighs alil over 400 lbs and the tranny wieghs about 70 lbs what kind of a sissyfied lil peice of shit are you that you cant handle 70 lbs of wieght seriusly dude. If you consider that heavy you should just continue on with the sexual reasignment surgery.

Miataliker you are on the right track just apply alittle more grey matter to the problem before you get silly with it.

Do some google searching and you should be able to find lots of good articles about removing the motor. I've swapped in three motors now, and it's really quite simple. Just take your time and you'll be all good.

If you do not have one already, get or rent a tilting engine sling. It helps tremendously when getting the bottom front of the motor and the rear of the transmission to clear the chassis at the same time. Like magna said it has to tilt a lot to clear.

Here is an example of one, but you should be able to get one at Harbor Freight, Sears, or rental.
Sunex International 3/4 Ton Tilting Engine Sling from ShoppersChoice.com at SHOP.COM

Seriously this simple device helps a lot and turns it into a one-man doable job. But even then it is nice to have someone else there watching for clearance while you remove it/install it. If you can get some help that is a good idea.

If you loosen (but do not remove) the PPF bolts at the diff, it will let you rotate the front of the PPF towards the side of the car and give you a little more clearance.

Seems like the garage section of miata.net would have some engine removal tips you should read up on.

I was VERY skeptical about taking the trans out with the motor, but if you really look at it, especially the upper bellhousing bolts will be a major bitch to get out with the unit still in the car. In comparison, just a few easy to get to bolts will allow you to remove the engine/trans as a unit. You WILL need a tiltable hoist attachment, just go get it now if you haven't already. With it, it is an easy one man job.

Take the rad out, it's too easy to get out not to, and you will punch it if you don't. For some reason, I didn't need to loosen the bolts at the rear of the ppf by the diff, and didn't have any problems getting the trans clear of the ppf. YMMV, I would try it first without loosening the diff bolts.

I just left the driveshaft where it was and pulled the trans clear of the drive spline, I will probably unbolt the driveshaft from the diff before putting it back, as I don't want to damage the splines or the output seal on it's way back in.

Don't forget to unplug the few wires from the trans, and the speedo cable before yanking it. Also, TAKE YOUR TIME when starting to pull everything, inch it out a little at a time, because you will inevitably forget to unplug something.

This.

It is probably good to change it if it has more than 15k miles and is coming out anyway.

Any of the engine pulls I've done I used 4 axle stands to get everything loosened up then lowered the front onto its wheels and raised the rear as high as it would safely go. Doing this I have never needed anything other than a normal hoist.

Disclaimer: I've not done a Miata engine pull so your success may vary with this.

I've only had to lower the front when my cheery picker hit my garage door.

We were doing the same thing this weekend.

I pulled mine Saturday (load leveler really helps), prepped new (used) motor and swapped parts from old to new yesterday morning, and got it in during afternoon/evening.

I still have a few things left to connect, and decided it would be better to take my time another day as opposed to staying up till midnight and wrapping it up sloppily.

Really straight-forward. A little bit of work, but if you label all connectors, bag and label all fasteners, and make a good list of steps and things you need, can't forget, you're golden.

I use a dry erase board with three categories: PULL, SWAP, IN&FINISH.

Good luck.

real men leave all bolts randomly on the ground or the cowl cover. The only things I never put back correctly are the wire loom clips that I don't care about.

+1 in case you are considering it there is no question IMO that it is easier to remove/install the motor/trans as an assembly.

+2...you will thank yourself.


Oh...and tranny isn't heavy at all. I pushed mine in while holding it like a barrel with motor on hoist 4ft in the air. Have someone ready to thread in a few bolts.

I like the leaving all the bolts just laying on the ground method also. Makes it like a puzzle when you go to reinstall everything. You also end up with some weight savings when you have left over bolts that you have no clue where they go.

i don't think i've ever had any left overs. only the ones I'm too lazy to refit...

Not if you have a lift in your garage! ;)

The two times I've pulled my motor I left the tranny in the car but both times I had already blown the motor so the head was already off. Life is much easier taking the engine from the trans with no head in the way

That I'll concede to, but I'll never be stupid enough to try removing the tranny ever again.

My method also. I hate to think how many nuts/bolts/washers/sockets are lost down the hole by the fender in my driver side cowl opening.

I don't think I've lost any bolts there, maybe a washer from time to time. What I can never figure out it how I lost my 16mm socket when I was installing my harnesses!

I also do this. +10 on removing the trans/engine as a unit. Also I lowered the front of my car after removing the wheels. Really only because my lift was broken. Getting it back in is extremely simple as well, as long as you have one of those balance things for the lift so you can angle it how you want.