[silver_ser02]

hey guys. im about 99% sure my motor got that pre-cat problem so i now im in the process of removing my motor and checking out what went on inside it. does anyone have any info or blogs or anything on the best way to remove these suckers. (and for the record, i know its not the butterfly screw thing, i pulled the intake off and all the screws are still there. motor uses oil like a mother too)

i cant decide if it would be easier to disconnect the drive axle from the tranny and pull the motor and tranny together, or disconnect the motor from the tranny at the bellhousing and pull just the motor. if anybody knows where i could find a step by step procedure or any info at all, that would help.

also another question. if, in fact, it is the precat failure problem, do you think its rebuildable? possibly re-sleeve the cylinders? if not, if i gotta get a replacement motor, i might as well get exciting and put like a 3.5 in there if possible. any suggestions on more powerful motors that will go in there fairly easily?

and if i go that far, i might as well get a 6-speed manual tranny like ive always wanted. i thought i would like that 5-speed i got in there now but definitely believe it needs another gear

 

[silver_ser02]

ok, i got the motor out, i disconnected the motor from the tranny at the bellhousing. it was tight but it finally came out. its late, gotta go to work early tomorrow. ill tear off the head some time this week

 

[silver_ser02]

alright ive been searching around for some info on more power for these cars and i get the idea that 270-290 horsepower is plenty for these particular cars, which you can just get with a turbo kit and the stock qr25 engine.

one reason being that if you were to go drastic with a more powerful motor and allot of mods and bring it to say 400 hp, the power would be basically useless cause you couldnt even shift fast enough with these transmissions. and a few other reasons.

so, i think im just gonna keep the qr25 motor in, put some aftermarkets in and turbo it, mate the spec v 6-speed transmission (i read it has limited slip and the se-r 5 speed doesnt, is that true?) up to it and call it a day.

 

[SPEEDO]

The spec v trans(6spd) does have the lsd. Might have been easier to pull the eng/trans as a unit.. probably going to be a challange getting it back in

 

[saint0421]

IF yanking it from the top you have to drop the tranny. IF pulling it out of the bottom the tranny can stay attached.

 

[silver_ser02]

The spec v trans(6spd) does have the lsd. Might have been easier to pull the eng/trans as a unit.. probably going to be a challange getting it back in

yes i definitely want the 6 speed transmission now. first time ive ever pulled a motor on a fwd car so i wasnt sure what would be easier. yes it was kind of a pain but actually to be honest, i am VERY surprised how easy this car has been to work on!

also, do you know how to disconnect the drive axle to get the tranny out? i cant even really tell where im supposed to disconnect at. i really feel dumb working on these fwd cars.

and ill definitely be mating the new tranny to the motor before i put it back in. thanks for the help, i appreciate it!

 

[silver_ser02]

IF yanking it from the top you have to drop the tranny. IF pulling it out of the bottom the tranny can stay attached.

right on. ya i pulled it from the top and you're definitely right about dropping the tranny. pretty tight in there! thanks for the help!

i pulled the cylinder head off and actually the cylinder walls look fine! but i havent pulled the pistons to see what the rings are like. they would have to be tore up though considering the amount of oil i go through in a week.

another thing i noticed is that the exhaust valves are really white along with the spark plug tips. i believe that means it was running really lean. i always thought my Mass Airflow Sensor was bad. ill replace that too

ill post some pics of all the parts soon just to show you all what they look like