e30 m20 engine removal help needed - Madison
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Hi all,
Anyone in Madison have experience and a hoist to remove an m20 engine? I'm in the middle of a 5 speed swap. I was down to one of the last bolts on the transmission, the hard top one, and it stripped. F&^K of course.... Tried extraction sockets and it just broke more teeth off the bolt. Trying to JB weld a socket on it tonight but I highly doubt that'll work. Only option now is to pull the engine to cut the bolt out.
Is there anyone in Madison with an engine hoist that'd be willing to lend/help for cash, beer, anything ?!
Day or night I'd make time. I've pretty much disconnected everything already. Just need to do the various hoses and wires, etc, which I'd try to do all ahead of time. Never removed an engine but doesn't seem terribly hard. Would love a second set of eyes that's done it before. Thanks much.Andrew
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Snap's right.
Hindsight, something I learned early on is that removing a trans with an engine is infinitely easier than doing the engine alone.
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What part of Madison are you in? If you are close enough to the east side of Madison I can probably throw my hoist in the truck and drive out from Hartland to give you a hand.
Or you could try the sockets mentioned above first. I have seen them work magic.
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Had the same thing happen to me with an engine mount bolt. Extractors worked for me
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Thanks all. I did buy a set of extractor sockets. Ripped the teeth right off the bolt. That f-er is really on there.
YoungCr - My brother has a truck that I could come pick it up. I'm just outside Verona so pretty close to you. Would love to take you up on your offer to borrow it. Would you need it back anytime soon? Not sure if I'll be able to get it all done this weekend or not since I've never done it before. Shoot me a PM if that works.
If anyone else is willing to coach me through it I certainly wouldn't turn you down

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removing any engine from an e30 isn't science. just disconnect everything to the best of your ability, start lifting the engine slowly, and if something is still holding it in place, disconnect that too! something is always forgotten at first.
quick list, and someone please add anything I missed
this is not a step by step, this is assuming you do all the appropriate things like drain coolant, depressurize fuel lines, disconnect the battery, etc etc before disconnecting things
disconnect trans at guibo
remove trans shifter cable, trans wire harness
remove trans crossmember from car & trans (support with jack or jackstand)
disconnect exhaust at downpipes
disconnect radiator hoses
disconnect heater hoses at back of engine
disconnect engine wire harness
disconnect power steering lines at pump
disconnect ac lines at ? can't remember best place
remove airbox/afm
disconnect fuel lines where they go from rubber to hardline (near firewall?)
disconnect throttle/cruise cables (thanks german baked goods)
pull radiator and remove hood.
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Throttle cable/cruise if equipped
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Use the hoist to test the tensile strength of anything you may have forgotten to disconnect
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A load leveler helps tremendously so you can angle the engine as you pull it out. Chris possibly has one already attached to his hoist if you go that route. Don't quote me on that tho. I cant even count any more how many times I have pulled or installed an m20 engine by now.
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Throttle cable/cruise if equipped
knew i forgot something!
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I tend to be good at forgetting about the slave cylinder hydraulic line.
Though you probably already have that taken care of it you were planning on just pulling the trans -
thanks all for the tips, feel free to keep them coming!
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I tend to be good at forgetting about the slave cylinder hydraulic line.
Though you probably already have that taken care of it you were planning on just pulling the transi think he has an auto, hence 5-speed swap, but i could be wrong.
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Well folks, that's a transmission out!!!! I definitely think it was pinched being the last bolt. Put a few others in and tightened down and then put the jack under and lifted a half inch to take the pressure off. Came off no problem then. Phew, what a relief. I'll let you all know when the swap is done an hopefully drive able! Thanks again for all the offers for help, especially Chris.
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yeah thats much better than pulling the motor!
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