fast68 Posted October 22, 2003 Report Share Posted October 22, 2003 from above or from underneath(dropping entire cradle) 92 olds cutlass supreme SL, goal is to replce the 3.1L with another one i found out what happened to the existing 3.1L, the #3 exhaust valve head brokeoff the stem and flipped over and imbedded itself into the piston head. i have no clue how this can happen to a perfectly good running engine, but if anyone knows then please do lemme know i assumed it was not a problem in the top end because allthe valve springs were all the way up and looked fine,so i ruled out bent valve, somehow the valve head brokeoff during warm restart and that caused the engine to stopand thats what broke the timing chain, so i guess im saving the new timing set for a replacement 3.1 another piston and another cylinder head would fix this engine thanks for anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conley3.1 Posted October 22, 2003 Report Share Posted October 22, 2003 When i pulled a 3.1 out of my Lumina, i just pulled it out through the top... My uncle thought i could do it by dropping the engine cradle, but th eChilton book i bought instructed by the top, so i did that. Not too hard, except for the damn plugs. Now i'm installing another engine, nearly done (damn plugs). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted October 23, 2003 Report Share Posted October 23, 2003 What "damn plugs" are you talking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp90se Posted October 23, 2003 Report Share Posted October 23, 2003 This weekend if everything goes as planned, ill be yanking my 3.1 this weekend. remove dog bones, radiator with fans, hex head screw from the firewall plug, the (i believe) speed sensor from the drivers side front wheel, exhaust bolts, the axles and the 4 15 mm that holds the cradle in place. I believe thats it, mabey forgetting a minor detail or 2 but thats basiclly it. -Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conley3.1 Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 Well, right now i'm installing another 3.1, and i forgot where several of the plugs go :oops: and i was just bitching about them. Make sure you tag all of the plugs and stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob95CS Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 Best way to do an engine swap? I prefer to pay someone else to do it. There's a shop about 10 miles from my house that will do engine swaps for $150.00, and guarantee their work with a 30 day warantee. Can't beat that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp90se Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 $150 :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: Im goin out there with my car and engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob95CS Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 They do really good work. They did my friend's Sunbird a couple years ago. Only thing is it's out in BFE.... maybe that's why they're so cheap? LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fast68 Posted October 24, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 i only do my own work unless its rebuilding axles or trannies, or a/c work anyways what plugs you in RE of ? the engine in this car doesnt have the entire top end on it now, and a/c unbolted from block and all left is whatever engine mount there might be under the engine, and the bellhousing bolts and converter. so my last two Q's are: what plugs, and is there another enigne mount besides the two dogbones ? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSCGTP Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 I can pull my wifes Cutlass Supreme 3100 by myself in just under 4 hours from the top. Remove the starte, and flexplate bolts. Unbolt the exhaust downpipe. Unbolt the two nuts from the lower motor mount (located just under the harmonic balancer). On top, take off the alt, and power steering pump, and take the bolts out of the A/C compressor, and just let that slide down out of the way. Also, take out the cooling fans, and the exhaust crossover. Undo the bellhouse bolts (the rear one is a bitch, but not that bad). Undo all of your heater hoses, and remove the throttle cable, cruise cable, and TV cable (if equipped). Take off the dogbones, and push the hood back. Then just lift if from the top with a hoist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSCGTP Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 opps. Almost forgot. You need to undo the wiring harness. Just remove the coolant bottle, to expose the ECM. There are two large wiring harnesses in there. All you have to do is just unplug them, and the entire engine harness come out with the engine. No need to unplug anything else, except for when you are lifting the engine, there are some wires on the back that you have to remove on some cars. Also there is a brace on the back of the engine that connects the engine block to the transmission. You have to remove that as well. I usually just get my arm down there with a ratchet, and get the bolts out of the engine part, and leave the bracket attached to the transmission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fast68 Posted October 24, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 nice, i appreciate so bototm mount is under front end of engine, ok, cool, rear- as in towards firewall- bellhousing boltis no fun ? ok a brace from tranny to engine on side of drivetrain towards firewall? ok remove starter, and coolant reservoir ? ok oh and will the tranny stay up when engine is out or will i have to wire up the tranny ? sounds like im almost there since entire top end and exhaust is all already removed if i had known that a valve had busted off then id have not wasted a week worth of work removing the top end with engine in car, that was no fun. they dont givwe youmuch room or way to remove all that with engine still installed,. this isnt the first time ive pulled engine from FWD car, also have done tranny R&R's also in the past, but this is the first time in gravel instead of in the nice garage with overhead lift, you tend to figure out stuff way easier when youre in a nice garage, when youre out in gravel tryingto do something like this you tend to lose focus and easily get lost it seems. at least i do anyways thanks for your time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSCGTP Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 the bottom mount is on the passenger side of the car. It is directly under the harmonic balancer. There are 2 nuts sticking through the bottom on each side of a dish looking thing. That is where the motor mount is. Rear is towards the firewall correct. On the bellhousing bolts, there are 6 in all. 5 of them are located right where you can see them going into the engine from the transmission side on teh drivers side of the car. The last bolt that is all the way at the rear goes in from the passenger side, and is threaded into the transmissions itself (whereas the other 5 are threaded into the engine). The other transmission brace is on the passenger side of the car. It attaches to the engine and trasmission in the final drive area. You will feel it if you just reach your hand down there, and feel the end of the final drive (that general area). Like I said, it is almost all the way towards the end of the transmission on the passenger side. The starter has to come out so that you can get the flexplate bolts off (that hold the flexplate to the torque converter. There are 3 bolts in all. They should be 17 mm). The resevoir has to come off so that you can undo the 2 plugs for the wiring harnesses, They are located close to the ECM. You will see them. One should be black, the other one gray). The tranny will stay up as long as you do not remove the axels. The drivers side will stay up because of the transmission mount (on the bottom of the black brace). The passenger side will stay up as long as you do not remove the passenger axel. If you take the passenger axel out, then you will need to support the tranny with a jack, and a block of wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fast68 Posted October 24, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 awesome,. well since i have the top end of engine removed i was able to very easily remove the `back' bottom bellhousing bolt, the `front' lowest one was actually hardest to get out cuz of wiring in the way i noticed that the group of wiring just under the a/c compressor needs some work, one of the wires is m,isisng some insulation, probably deteriorated due to heat and oil, anyways, so i need to remove starter so i can access flywheel converter bolts, ok, i was wondering about that, so does that mean i dont have an inspection cover to remove under the tranny then ? all i have left now is front mount nuts and the flywheel convertter bolts i hope this thread will help out someone else who is pulling or getting ready to pull a 3.1L, i just havent done this for along time now, ive forgotten alot of things about these drivetrains that i didnt realize i did, im used to older v8 RWD GM drivetrains, mainly trucks, and also B and F and G bodies, and G-series vans too. almost ten years i been cutting up and/or yanking and installing drivetrains/bodies/chassies in those vehicles. thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSCGTP Posted October 24, 2003 Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 You are suppose to have a cover under there. It should cover the gap between the engine and transmission, and the starter. You have to remove the cover to get the starter out. Once the starter is out, you can rotate the flexplate (using a ratchet on the harmonic balancer) you can rotate the flexplate around so that you can get to the bolts with either a ratchet, or a wrech. Either way, they are sometimes hard to get off, and you might need someone to hold the crank in place so that you do not spin it while trying to unbolt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fast68 Posted October 24, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2003 got it, i just stuck dampner bolt into snout of the crank and used 18mm socket and 6" extension for 1/2" drive and got the three wheel bolts out, was easy, then when i got engine up high enough i removed the front mount bracket off the face of the block and then shoved engine towards pass side and up and away its out the shield arousn starter is just a coupelof 10mm screws and black plastic cheap stuff, how the wiring routes and figuring that all out when replacement engine goes in is the only thing that will scare me other than starter and a/c re-bolting overall, i think that pulling complete engine is way easier than pulling entire top end with engine in car still. remembering how everything goes back together is hardest part, IMO thanks for all the info now car is gonna be stored til i get another 3.1L, will look around for a wrecked but running 3.1L donor, or one running but with bad tranny or something other than engine problem, they are around and not uncommon really, will run into something eventually, want to avoid salvage yard prices, plus can see how well runs ahead of time this way thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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