| 1989 L98 Engine rebuild - Part 1: removal |
Subject: 1989 L98 Engine rebuild - Part 1: removal by Matatk on 2010/4/3 2:58:04 Welcome CGs! You better grab a drink and a snack because this is gonna be long. I couldn't find any good threads on engine removal, so I will make this pretty involved. Remember removal of the L98 is similar to the LT1 but there are differences. This will also apply to an auto trans, the zf and 4+3 have differences as well. I have already removed the AIR system and have the TB bypass, so those may be points you need to consider in your own work. The FSM manual is not very good for engine removal. I actually used the Haynes manual along with some common sense. This is my first engine pull, and it took me around 12 hours start to finish to get it out of the car. Another hour or two once it was on the stand to finish tearing it down. I was not very efficient in the way I did things. Some pictures may seem out of order because of this. I should have started in one spot, finished it, then went to the next spot. But I jumped around based on what I felt like doing. I think things should go in the basic order of start at the top, get down to the manifold, then remove all the accessory brackets (p/s & a/c I just moved to the side). I left the wp and harmonic balancer on, but removed the pullies. I also drained the fluids while I was doing the top end work. Don't forget to disconnect the battery. Raise the car and remove the tires to get in easier. Support with jack stands:  Remove the air duct, electrical connections, throttle body:  Begin removing the plenum (T40 bits) and associated vacuum hoses. Be careful pulling up the plenum as there is a wire connection underneath. I also remove the distributor at this point. I began labeling everything I took apart:   Go ahead and remove the runners while you're in there and the fuel rails. Be careful with the fuel rails because you'll spill it all over if you didn't run the car with the fp fuse removed first:  In keeping with the "top of the engine" theme I removed the plastic cover for the windshield wiper to prevent breakage:  I also removed lines and sensors from the manifold. This is a coolant crossover tube, AFAIK:  And this is a sensor that I have no idea what it is (someone help me out here):  Next you should move to removing the air pump and alternator:  I broke the alternator wire ring, add it to the list:  Here you can see the front accessories removed. A/C and P/S pump are pushed off the the sides. The P/S pump is a PIA because of the way the rear support bar is mounted. One bolt behind another. Patience and an open ended wrench is necessary, unless you remove the stud from exhaust manifold:  Top end is pretty much done at this point. I removed the vacuum lines and labeled them. Wires are pushed out of the way a bit. Next move to the bottom of the car. You should have already applied liberal coats of PB blaster to the exhaust manifold/y-pipe studs. If not, good luck. I did and they still didn't cooperate. The nuts should be 9/16, but 20 years of rust made them swell. Out of 6 studs, 3 broke, 2 nuts came off, and 1 stud came out. Total time was in excess of 45 minutes for those 6! I unfortunately didn't get many underside shots, laying on my back wasn't too comfortable. Under the car, disconnect the O2 sensor wire, knock sensor (p/s block), coolant temp sensor (p/s on head plus a little bracket underneath), oil temp sensor (above filter), grounds (two spots - one above filter, one behind).   (engine ground on bellhousing):  Your choice to disconnect the starter or remove it, I just disconnected it. There might be a trans cooler line bracket in the way, too. Remove the flywheel inspection cover, 4 bolts.  Once off, remove the 3 torque converter to flywheel bolts. I used a 15 mm socket. This is a PIA since you have to turn the flywheel to do it. Looks like mine got a little chewed up from a bad starter before:  At this point, you should have attached your engine to the hoist for support. I then removed the front y-pipe from the cat to make it easier to maneuver. Once that was out of the way, I supported the transmission. The bellhousing has 6 bolts (9/16th/14mm). They are a royal PIA!!!! The total time I spent removing them I estimate at 2 hours. Here is what you need to get them from underneath:  When I put them back in, I'm buying the 9/16th socket that has the swivel built in. Should make it much easier. You should also have the trans supported at this point. Next remove the engine through bolts. These run front to back and have a nut on the rear portion. It's a two person job pretty much. I had help from a buddy. Once the through bolts are out, remove the three bolts that hold the engine mounts. They look impossible, but it's doable. You have to get two from one side, one from the other. It helps to raise the motor slightly to maneuver in there. No really good shot, but here's an idea:   Once the motor mounts are out, you can pull up and nudge the motor forward to get it off the bellhousing dowels. Then slowly begin cranking up. While cranking up check for missed wires and be careful not to let the engine swing into the firewall/windshield wiper motor/windshield, etc. When pulling up I did notice one or two wires I missed disconnecting. There are about a million!  Look at that handsome man!  Success!!!!  Time to get it on the stand:  I then began the rest of the teardown. Top of the cylinders look pretty clean:  Took the WP off. This is just a reference shot for me to help remember which bolt goes where:  Intake is off. It's been done before as I found felpro gaskets underneath:  Driver's side head off - doesn't look too bad, but gasket showed a lot of signs of corrosion:  Took the passenger side off. At first all this coolant scared me! But it appears to have been residual from the manifold. No way it would even start with all that! Plus the combustion chambers are not steam cleaned:  Head shot - can't remember which side?!?:  This is driver's side rear:  More corrosion examples:  And this bad boy is stripped!  That's it for now. Total time I'm guessing 14 hours. I cussed a few times, but for the most part it went ok. Hardest part was a few stuck bolts and access to a few others. Just a lot of stuff to remove. Seriously. I hope this helps anyone else in the future who is looking to do the same. Matthew |
