Toga

Hi all,

it's 17: 30 here in Belgium and it's already pitch dark outside. This afternoon was a rainy one...nothing good to go for a ride. But a lot of things to do on my car are crossing my mind: LWF...cleaning the engine...powder coating my brakes...valve covers gaskets replacement.... well enough to get busy during the winter!
But there is a big obstacle: engine removal!
I did a search, I found a lot of remarks saying it's not really difficult, but I didn't find the work well explained. I read that the workshop manual procedure is good to follow.OK. My problem is: I don't have a lift.

John D seems to do it by lifting the rear of the car (tread lifter repair 101).
John if you read, could you explain how you do that? With the car nose down like that, what do you use to bring the engine and the gearbox safely down...and then back up?
Does anyone have picture of that DIY job?

Thanks for your help gentlemen!
I go back to

Cheers

viperbob

JP,

Yes litfting the rear in the air as high as you can is the key. Also, you want to have the front lower than the rear to give your self some extra clearance caused by the angle of the car. Before I had a lift, I used a 2"x10" board the went across both heat exchangers to give some balance when lowering the engine. Also, an RTV, motorcycle, or transmission jack that has some wide arms also helps keep the assembly stable when lowering and raising...

Good luck with the project

Monique

You have PM

GratefulJED

You have got to get the car like 30+ inches up to get the engine out from under the bumper. Probably should have 2 jacks, and one of them should be the AC DK20HLQ. You must support the tranny because at that angle everything could slide off. You definately need the broad support under the heat exchangers. I took mine out by myself with one jack, but put it back in with a friend and two jacks. GO SLOW,have fun, the end will come.

John D.

Hey Toga...

Sure... As GratefulJED states - I leave about 30" exposed from the bottom of the rear bumper valence - but - it really depends on the height of the floorjacks or rollers you use under the engine. Mine is about 2" - so if you had a 4" roller - you'd need a few more inches..

Also - for jacking... I use two floor jacks - and as I raise up the car from under the engine - and use jackstands to support on the body jack points (the metal pads forward of the rear wheels). If your floor jacks run out of height, use the jackstands to hold the car up - and use some short blocks of lumber on the pads of the floor jack to give them more height - and take it up a bit further. As you do this a few times, you'll get it to the height you need - but BE CAREFUL that you watch the clearance under the front of the car by the front valence!! If you go too high - the nose is sticking on the floor

Also - you have a C4S - so you can not just use one jack under the engine! You'll want two floor jacks - one under the engine - one under the front of the transmission. Once you have the front drive shaft housing and shaft disconnected - lower both in about 1" steps - keeping the position equal to the angle of the jacked car. If you lower just the engine, you'll stress the shaft housing - and it won't seperate cleanly. Once you have it lowered about 2" - start pulling the engine rearward to seperate from the nose of the tranny from the front shaft/housing - it will be free/clear after you pull it "back" an inch or two). ALSO - support that shaft housing that was connected to the tranny!!!!!! If you don't - it will drop pretty hard into the body tunnel supports. I used a small block of wood for the support...

Once you clear the front drive shaft/housing - recheck that all the fuel and wiring is disconnected (again ) and bring it down all the way - and roll it out!!

Hope this helps!

John D.

John D.

Oh - and here is a thought - which saved me some time.... After you get the engine down a bit, get a small stool (you'll need it!) to get into the engine area. Before rolling out the engine - remove the airbox and the blower fan assy (left side) from the top of the engine. You'll find you have a lot of room to do this with, as the engine is down a few inches. Those are the "high" parts of the engine that tend to get caught up on rolling it out from under the car - and they are simple to remove...

Also - what I use as a "roller" to place the engine/tranny on to roll it out is a steel mechanics "crawler" on castors - which is about 2" in height (BUY A GOOD ONE! Not one of the cheapo wood ones). Works great - and as you lower the engine - slide that under - and use the floor jacks to set it in place under the engine/tranny assembly...! Once it's on that "crawler" - you can pull it out with ease without fear of it tipping over...

Best to you!

John

Toga

Only a few hours after my post, and you all provide me with valuable informations! You really make Rennlist a great community!

I don't feel fully ready yet to start that DIY, I'll take my time and prepare everything for "D" day. But after your answers, I feel certainly more confident that I can do it.

I'll need a new jack which is able of lifting my car high enough, and the old one will then be used for the tranny support.
In the workshop manual, they show a special tool to fit on the jack to support the engine on a broader width. I could may be build one... But do think this could work on a AC type jack?

My garage is equipped with an inspection pit. When that's very useful for some work, obviously here it's from no help at all.

Any idea of the weight ,engine and tranny together?

Thanks again to all for your help!

When I go for it I'll take pictures!

Cheers

John D.

Hey Toga..!

Well - if you get stuck on "D" Day - just post back - we'll be here

Also - for the special tool, I never made one - but I've seen an engine/tranny cradle which does the same as the factory tool on e-Bay a few times? I don't know who sells them - as I've never purchased one, wanting to use the money for parts rather then an easier way to remove the engine..? I think they are about $150 US - but I'm not certain?

Also - nope - your pit won't really help in this, unfortunately....

Like GratefulJED said - go slow, have fun and it's pretty simple. Heck, if I can do it - anyone can

Best to you!

John

Toga

Thanks John! Appreciate

911

All I can say is for all of you guys who can remove your own engine -->

One of these days I hope to do that, but I definitely don't have the mechanical background & experience at the moment to even think about doing something like that.

Kevin

Here's another twist in removing 993TT engines or even 996TT engines.. These engines will weigh more than the NA engines.. When you go visit most shops that have car lifts, they will undo most of wiring, hoses, half shafts, torque tube, and so forth. This has to be done when you are on your back with the normal floor jack.. Like I said that in most shops, they have a roller cart that has the dimensions of the engine and provisions to hold the tranny. They will lower the car onto the cart and remove the final tranny support bolts and rear engine support bolts. Then lift the car up clearing the supported engine on the cart, and wheel it away..

With all of this said, one has to purchase or borrow two similar floor jacks and position them under the rear jack points, grab a helper or just run side to side to get the car up into the air with both jacks. Place jack stands under the car, and remove everything that needs to be put out of the way. Then I grab a old piano dolly 36 x 42" with 6" casterss, and lower the car down onto the dolly.. There is enough room to get to the tranny support bolts that are already loose, then you can remove the rear motor mount bolts.. Using the same two jack on each side of the car, raise the car.. Remove wiring and hoses that are in the way.. With the car up in the air, slide the dolly out.. The nice thing about this method is that you don't have to worry about wrestling the weight of the engine, or tip it of the jack, or worse flip the jack and punch a hole into the side of the case..

Kevin

Weight is around 750-800lbs..

JasonAndreas

A backyard garage engine drop with a 911 is a cakewalk. The biggest issue is to just stop procrastinating and for you to get the nerve up to do it. After your first successful clutch job you'll kick yourself if you ever paid a mechanic $1400 to do the same job. You don't need a mechanical background just some common sense and the search function on Rennlist (the workshop manuals are also helpful). The number of tools required is very minimal and the images you see of 993s jacked up almost vertical are really much worse in photos than in real life and if you remove the rear bumper you can reduce your lift height to only 18". For $60-$100USD you can buy a motorcycle ATV jack (or borrow one from a fellow Rennlister) that will support a C2 engine & tranny perfectly. You won't have to worry about the engine shifting or balancing, etc. I pushed my engine & tranny out of the garage and into the driveway about 30 feet so I could clean it up a little with a hose and scrub brush, no problems whatsoever.

Toga

Thanks Kevin!
Jason, I really like that lift! And as I have a bike too, it would be twice usefull! And if it's only 100$ with the actual exchange rate...That's really nothing! I doubt that we can find that so cheap here in Belgium. Is ATV jack 34612 the correct ref?

TomF

Those tranny jacks are available here at Costco. I think that they have them at costco.com as well. AFIK, they were less than $100. Jasons post convinced me that I should get one.

Toga, if you are not going to use Kevin's excellent suggestion above, and plan on lowering the engine out, I would try to acheive about 36" of clearance under the rear valance. I know that some will say that this is a bit high, but it really gives you more working room and a margin of error if the engine and tranny should shift as you are pulling it out from under the car. Do be careful about the front! It goes without saying that the key here is really strong, good quality jack stands and jacks. You have access to wonderful tools in Europe that are worth every extra Euro.