ahogrelius

I can't be the only person who's replaced the engine in his/hers King Cab 4x4.
If there is some kind of trick to it I would sure like to hear it.
Obviously you can't just move the gearbox back to get the engine out.
There isn't enough clearance between the front axle and the oilpan.
Whoever designed the front end of the 4x4 version of the King Cab
should go have his head examined. There must be something wrong with
it... If they'd made the car with just two inches longer
wheel base there wouldn't have been a problem.

There is just no way to get the engine in or out without removing the whole
body from the frame. And even worse, if you have to replace the clutch
it's the same thing. You can't move the gearbox back enough to get the job
done. Sure, you can strip down the whole front wheel suspension including
the two torsion bars to be able to remove the two crossbeams that hold
the gearbox. Somehow that seems to be a lot more work than removing
the body...

Comments anyone???

cheers,
Anders

Warped

I don't think we have diesel powered Hardbodys over here in the U.S. but, have you considered trying this?

1: Remove both driveshafts.
2: Drop the transfer case.
3: Remove the transmission and move it back on a jack.
4: Remove the engine.

I just cannot see removing the body to get the engine out... With the wiring and vacuum stuff involved plus the chore of finding a way to safely lift the body without damage. I think I'd pull what's left of my hair out over that one.

ahogrelius

Ummm...Yep, I've already thought of that... The problem with that one is
that there is a crossbeam just in front of, and below the transfer case
that both torsion bars for the front suspension is bolted to. To remove
the beam from the frame one has to remove most of the front wheel
suspension too... I've already pulled out what's left of my hair
over that one.

It's pretty easy to disconnect the wiring to remove the body. Under the
seat on the passenger side there is a connector where the cable that
runs to the back end of the car comes up thru the floor. The hole in
the floor is big enough for the connector to be pushed thru if the
grommet is removed. That leaves the brake lines and the line for the
clutch + the wire for the parking brake. The parking brake is easy to
disconnect under the floor just next to where the electric wires
that goes to the back comes thru the floor. The hydraulic lines for the
brakes and clutch aren't as fun to disconnect though... After
that it's only the small matter of removing the 6 bolts that holds
the body to the frame and lift the thing off...

I wonder how they do such simple things as replacing the clutch
at the dealer workshop??

cheers,
Anders

jadcock

Anders, actually, that clutch job ain't so simple. You have to remove both torsion bars, drop the crossmember that you were referring to, and basically remove much of the drivetrain to slide that transmission back. 4x4 complicates things like clutch changes because there are more drivetrain components to hassle with. It's a huge job, or so I've heard.

__________________
Jason Adcock
Always Tread Lightly!
1995 4x4 XE King Cab - 189,000 miles
1997 Cadillac Seville - 141,000 miles

ahogrelius

Auuugh, that's what I thought. On a new car it's probably not too bad removing
the torsion bars and all other stuff to get to the tranny and slide it back.
Doing the same on a car that's been thru a couple of winters with salted roads
it's a completely different ballgame. Removing the bolts holding all together
when they've rusted a bit sounds like a lot of fun... ...NOT!

I was able to get the new engine in with a bit of creative thinking.
Removing the thermostat housing from the front end of the engine
and sliding the tranny as far back as possible without dropping the
crossmember makes it possible to get the engine in without removing
the tranny completely.
As a side note. The position of the temp sensors in the thermostat
housing is totally braindead. If for some reason you loose all coolant
in the system you will not know that the engine is overheating until it's
too late. On my old engine one of the two small hoses that feeds coolant
to the oil cooler came loose. Since they are located low on the engine
no smell of glycol could be felt and the only way I noticed the engine
was overheating was when it was about to seize. The result: 4 cracked
pistons and a cracked cylinderhead... Lesson learned: The sensors should
be mounted directly in the cylinder head...

I'm thinking of having a closer look on the old cyl.head to see if it is possible
to move the sensor to a better place.