Removing Rb25

[ossie_21]

Harder than I thought to find info on this, but basically I need to get just the engine out of my R33 so the rest can be towed away *sob* by the guy who will wreck it himself

Just looking for help from anyone that has done this before, and hints & tips that I can put to use. I want to try & do as much/what I can before it goes off somewhere else to get the engine off, but need help on the technical side of things as it's something I've never done before. I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty but want to try doing what I can at home first.

Got as far as draining the fluids, taking out the radiator, injectors are out & most of the various lines & hoses from the top part at the moment. FYI the gearbox, turbo, everything will stay with the car, but I also need to know if they have to be taken off/out separately anyway. I've linked a couple of pics at the bottom of this post to show the type of engine bay I'm working with, which is where these questions might be easier to answer:

For the exhaust manifold, I've got 8/10 of the bolts off, the other 2 I'm struggling to see how they got on in the first place, but I think they might be possible to get to from underneath (which I can't try yet). If I get those off I can then remove that with the turbo & where the gate goes back into the exhaust & keep it aside. Or would it be better to remove the turbo & gate along with the engine & take it all off when it is out?

On the other side where I'm finding it a bit trickier, what need to come off & what doesn't? Do I stand much of a chance getting the intake manifold off while the engine is still in the car? Pretty much, what else can I get to from above that needs to be taken off or is easy to take off before the engine is out??

Leaving the air con part to someone who knows how to not poison themselves But yeah any other help would be much appreciated, I'm hopeful to get as much done as I can & try to get someone to do a cashy job for me on Saturday on getting the engine out so it can be picked up as I'm supposed to be flying up north the following weekend, and midweek isn't an option for pick up. Thanks!!

Nathan

[turael]

leave your manifolds on, remove all air pipes, remove exhaust from the dump, disconnect heater hoses, disconnect fuel system, remove PS pump and set aside in the engine bay (or remove PS reservoir as well), leave gearbox on, disconnect rear tailshaft from diff and then the centre bearing and then slide out of the gearbox, remove clutch slave, follow your electrical lines and DC what you have to (cant remember..), remove clutch fan and rad (you've already done this, hurrah), probably more things but that's what I can recall directly.

shoot us a pic of your current engine bay with what you've removed.

do you have an engine crane?

[turael]

oh yeah, take your gearstick out too.

[ossie_21]

Cheers for that Chris, I'll go grab a couple of pics & put them up later, doing what I can before it gets too dark today! A fair bit of that seems better off to do from underneath but I'll try to get onto the rest soon!

[ossie_21]

Couple of pics attached. Didn't have the chance to disconnect the power steering pump this afternoon, spent most of it looking for a spanner I managed to lose just underneath the intake manifold, heard it hit metal but didn't make it's way to the ground, and still can't find it No idea what gap it's managed to fall into lol, no matter what angles I shine the led in I can't see it, so I'll just leave it until the engine comes out haha

For what I can see at the moment its just that & most of the lines near the firewall to disconnect. Got a mate who is a mechanic who I can hopefully get over to my place this weekend to help me a bit (but it is powercruise weekend over here I was reminded today so it might have to wait until next week). I don't have an engine crane but can get one to use to do it, it's just a matter of seeing if it's possible to get it all done in my backyard, or otherwise have to tow the car somewhere else to then get the motor out....

Thanks again

[turael]

hey mate

yep, its all possible in your backyard. if you know what you're doing, and have the right tools, you can get an engine out in under an hour. I take around half a day. first time takes considerably longer - you're learning and fixing other things up along the way etc.

there isnt too much you have to do under the car. theres the tailshaft, the clutch slave, gearbox mounts..

looks like you've made a decent start, you still need to disconnect your brake booster, catch can, heater pipes by the looks, aircon, exhaust (dont forget 02 sensor first)

you're pretty close.

when lifting it out, try to make the chain / strap as short as you can to the engine, so you can lift it higher, makes getting the tail end of the gearbox over the rad support easier. also, your gearbox is going to leak everywhere, drain it first or plug up the output hole bit.

so undo the gearbox mounts while have a trolley jack supporting it, and undo the engine mounts, and then just lift it up out of there! take it very slowly in case you forget anything, and remember you can always lower it down again!!

and a big lever will come in handy

edit. your spanner is probably around the crossmember / engine mount sort of area. and powercruise, yah, my mates went to that too (i'm in mandurah)

Edited October 9, 2009 by turael

[TiTAN]

also look at taking the bonnet off the car, don't have to worry about hitting it with the engine crane and it gives you more room, but if the gearbox is going with the car you can undo the engine mounts and the gearbox mount (with a jack under the gearbox) tilt the engine back and undo the top two bolts from the bell housing to the engine, do the gearbox mounts back up and then remove the rest of the bolts that makes it much easier to get the engine out without taking the gearbox with it as you can virtually lift it straight up out of the engine bay

[Simon-S14]

yes first up, put the car where you'll have room to manouver a crane around in front of it, then put the front on stands and take the bonnet off. makes life SO much easier.

another tip. its always easy to remove stuff like injectors OUT the car rather then while in the car, si i would have left them well alone until the motor was out and sitting on the ground.

[turael]

hmm for my 180 i removed the whole fuel rail... so out came the injectors and everything... just swiveled that around and left it all attached, didnt have to de-pressurise the fuel system that way. Not too sure if it that's simple for rb25's though.

and yeah, take your bonnet off, will make life much easier.

if you're going to take the gearbox out with the motor (which is pretty simple, but you might want to see if you can unbolt it from the engine and leave it in the car instead of having to put it back in anyway?), make sure it doesnt hit your cross member as you lower it and drag the engine forward. you'll crush your PS lines.

[ossie_21]

Well over this weekend I didn't get as much done as I wanted to, but from what I can see it should be all smooth from here. All the hoses are now off & the loom is out of the way on the windscreen. The only problem with that is there are some wires still plugged in that I can't really get to, but I guess I'll just have to get at them as it's coming out bit by bit. And yeah i will be removing the bonnet, I just won't be until it's time for it to come out as I've still had to keep it all covered, but yeah shouldn't have taken off the injector rails but I only learnt that after it was off

Where my car sits in my backyard there is heaps of room at the front of it, so I havent got any dramas with moving an engine crane around At the moment I'm really hoping to get it out Tuesday or Wednesday night, that way I'll have enough time to get stuff off the engine that's going with the car. Tomorrow it's going on stands where I can then get underneath properly & have a play around, home stretch now though

[Simon-S14]

you'll find that the wires you cant get to might be easier to get to from under the car?

also, on the alternator side of the loom, you can leave that on the motor and just seperate it from the fusebox at its various connections, this will save you some skinned knuckles

[ossie_21]

Just another little update, got the car up on stands tonight after work. Took all the bolts out of the gearbox except 2 I couldn't get to, have to get one of those wobbly connector things to get to them but I think it should be fine. That is the one at the very top & the one on the passenger side to that. Tailshaft is out of the gearbox, couldn't get the engine mounts just yet because my sockets aren't long enough to go onto the nut before it's hitting the bolt. Same with the exhaust manifold....size matters Haha but those will be easy enough

Looks like I'm on track for having it out in the next couple of days, depending on what I can manage to get done at night after I get home from work. Pick-up might be delayed until next weekend anyway so I might not have to rush it but I'd still like to get it done at once & not have to wait. I'd love to be able to have it done in around an hour like mentioned lol, but it's a good experience to do something like this...I just won't be rushing to do it again anytime soon!

Cheers, Nathan

you'll find that the wires you cant get to might be easier to get to from under the car?

also, on the alternator side of the loom, you can leave that on the motor and just seperate it from the fusebox at its various connections, this will save you some skinned knuckles

I'm the first to admit I straight out SUCK when it comes to electrics, but I'm sure even I can trace back a few wires & do it that way It's only a few at most anyway thankfully

[turael]

yo, leave the manifolds connected to the engine. you should take the engine out all in 1 piece! its easier. certain things you take off the engine, such as piping, cooling, power steering.

once its all ready, chain it up and lift it out bit by bit very slowly incase you have missed some wires or something (an engine crane will not forgive), you will be surprised how quickly it comes out.

and for the engine mounts, try a spanner maybe

[ossie_21]

Those 2 bolts I was talking about were the ones mentioned in Titans post above....brain fail!! Do as he mentioned it should be ok. I did try a spanner lol, didn't happen for me cos they seem to be on farkin tight Yeah the manifolds will be staying on until I get it out, I just meant from the dump pipe

[ossie_21]

Thought I may as well update this, finally took the engine out on Saturday because I wanted to do it in the daytime just in case, but didn't have too much of a problem with it, everything important was already done beforehand. Just myself & my mums boyfriend who helped me out. Went block & tackle style from the patio roof getting it out, worked out to be perfect height for it. There was only a couple of wires to disconnect but as we got it up a bit more they were easier to get to. Would have been easier to take the gearbox out with it as mentioned, but it was possible to leave it in so all good as it was going with the car.

Now I've got the engine sitting on an old tyre, all I have to do is clean it up a bit & then I'll be able to put it up for sale I was going to keep it for another car I was looking at buying that just needed a stronger engine, but the guy sold parts off it so I kept looking for one with most of the mods already, but picked up a series 2 33 last week that has pretty much everything done so now I don't have a use for it.

Just wanted to say thanks to Chris, Simon & TiTAN for your advice to help me out with doing this, thanks a lot guys For me it was a different experience for sure, but I can add that to the list of random things I have now done

Cheers

Nathan