earossi

Does anyone on this forum do their own wrenching on their cars? I'm planning a winter project this year to drop the engine/trans out of my car to inspect/replace what appears to be "hundreds" of coolant hoses and to tidie up the engine and the engine compartment. Will also do any PM work that is more easily done with the powertrain out of the car. These cars are approaching the 10 year mark; and, though many of them are very low mileage, the life of rubber hoses is not infinite.

caslca

quite a few people. I don't think i'd attempt an engine drop without a proper lift and a pair of friendly mechanic hands. But i think i'd do anything that doesn't require the engine/tranny to come out

TT Surgeon

I do nearly everything myself, haven't dropped the motor in a 997, but many times in a 930. I'd suggest dropping the motor and tranny as a unit, easier.

saabin

I do a fair amount myself, for example, plugs, intercoolers, and all of my interior mods (console, belts, etc. )

I'm not sure I would be as excited to wrench on my car without my lift.. it's been well worth the expense.. boost leak checks are a breeze with the lift..

I've not dropped the engine completely but have lowered it about 6" several times to gain more access.. I'm not sure I'd drop the engine unless it was for a specific repair/failure.

o7silverturbo

Dropping an engine/trans on one of these with out a lift would be almost impossible cause you need the body high enough to get the assembly out. Im sure if you had it jack up enough you could but that would just be scary.

I do all my own repairs/mods.

Quadcammer

Yup I do all my stuff as well

earossi

One of the perks of retirement is that I have a three car garage equipped with a two post lift which makes life so much easier.

HardHitter

I live in a town home complex where I wouldn't be able to drill into the concrete. I've been keeping a close eye on other options and wanted to see if anyone owns or has looked into the QuickJack. It seems to be a great alternative solution

makoshark72

I do most all my maintenance ..

Most 4 post lifts do not require drilling into the concrete floor, in fact many can be put on casters.

ctony66

QuickJack works for me. Doubt you could drop the motor but it's great for just about anything else.

saabin

I've got the bendpak md6xp scissor lift.. good for 6k pounds and can lift 4ft. Portable so I can take it with me if I move, no drilling required.

earossi

I dropped the powertrain out of my 993 to do an engine rebuild. It was a tight fit, but it came out in about 6 hours. The 997 looks to be just as tight, but I have the added task of dealing with coolant. My plan would be to drop the powertrain as a unit onto a rolling table. I should be able to do all the items planned without the need to move the powertrain off of that table. It looks pretty straightforward to drop the engine out of the car.

Going back in looks to be more problematic since its a very tight fit. But, if I chock up the powertrain onto the table so that it sits as it came out of the car, reversing the process hopefully will be doable.

With the engine out of the car, I would then pin the coolant lines, replace the plastic coolant fittings with the Sharkwerks stainless pieces, and inspect/ replace every coolant hose on the engine. In addition, I would replace the coolant pump and spark plugs/coils. Lastly, I will split the transmission from the engine to inspect and/or replace the clutch.

And, I'll fix any leaks found from inspection and then clean up the powertrain as a housekeeping item.

With all that done, I should be good to go for at least another 24,000 miles, which for me is 6 to 7 years of driving!

therock88

If you are going to do all of that and have the motor out, you should certainly consider getting the camshafts pinned so you do not have to pull it out again later. With what you have listed and cams pinned you should have no issues ever....Just plugs, belts, and oil changes.

DC

earossi

Great suggestion, but I just don't want to go into the engine. I've been down that slippery slope before, and the time and money one can spend is frightening! Talking about spun camshafts, in all my research on the turbo, I had been lead to believe that spun camshafts were extremely rare and certainly not as devastating as blowouts of the water connections. So, I'll leave that for another time. Have you anything that would push the work for an engine disassembly to do the camshafts?

therock88

Nothing I can think of...Engines are overall very solid. I would not negate that spun camshaft as rare. Some say that, but for a while there every, forum was loaded with the topic. I think many may have been pinned, and the others are not going to fail...So it has become quiter...

To your point....If they do malfunction, it is not the end.

Take care,
DC