Removing an M20?

[Leeroy]

Does any one know a good DIY on removing an M20. I have been looking everywhere and have yet to find a good descriptive DIY. It would also be nice if there were pictures. Thank you for the help

[92 mtechnic cabrio]

1. disconnect everything
2. yank out

[dinanm3atl]

He is new to actually working on cars. He just wants to confirm he is getting everything disconnected. I can't get over to his house till Sunday and if he can have one motor out already it would make things go a LOT quicker!

[Hallen]

The Bentley has pretty good coverage of it. Basically, you pull the ECU wiring harness out of the glove box through the firewall. Then disconnect everything that connects to both the frame and the engine. The wiring harness can come out with the engine so you don't have to completely disconnect it while the engine is still in the car. Either drop the driveshaft and disconnect the shift linkage and clutch slave cylinder and then pull the engine and transmission out together or drop the transmission separately. It is up to you.
Make sure you drain the coolant out of the block or you will be drooling coolant all over the place when you pull the engine.

But anyway, the Bentley is a good bet.

[SpecM]

^ good advise there.
Be safe and double-check everything, don't get into too big of a hurry!

[smoke4ndmears]

it's really very straightforward, and much simpler if you remove the transmission along with the motor. i even left the fan on mine when i pulled it all. disconnect all of the obvious big components, disconnect the DME from behind the glovebox and pull it through the firewall, o2 sensor, shifter components, fuel lines etc etc.

[TS87325IS]

It helps alot if you take the hood and the radiator out , then spoon it out with the tranny attatched for sure.

[dinanm3atl]

It helps alot if you take the hood and the radiator out , then spoon it out with the tranny attatched for sure.

That was the plan :)

[Leeroy]

Thank you guys for all the help. I hope to learn a lot from this engine swap and once I do it once I will know what to do next time.

[dinanm3atl]

Thank you guys for all the help. I hope to learn a lot from this engine swap and once I do it once I will know what to do next time.

You learned your lesson already.

Don't wreck a perfectly running e30 :)


Sorry I had to.

[TS87325IS]

yeah Leeroy , you don't have some new shoes to catch on fire or something ?:p just kidding , at least it is an m20 , very easy and straight forward to deal with . when I showed up to the dragon , I had just put my motor back in the day before , and it did fine , so good luck and have fun , hope to see ya'll at the next meet.

[AlarmedBread]

put a piece of plywood in front of the AC condenser, use some screws through existing holes and put a 2x4 on top of the radiator support so you don't bend up either of those.

[mattdk318i]

yeah Leeroy , you don't have some new shoes to catch on fire or something ?:p just kidding , at least it is an m20 , very easy and straight forward to deal with . when I showed up to the dragon , I had just put my motor back in the day before , and it did fine , so good luck and have fun , hope to see ya'll at the next meet.

ill actually be putting a M20 in today or tomm. Depending on whether or not i can find a truck.
This sounds lame. But swapping engine(m20) is like riding a bike. once you learn its easy as pie.
You create a checklist in your brain after a few swaps....guibo,shifter,motormounts,wiring,exhaust, radiator,etc.........

[akorcovelos]

why is everyone saying to remove the dme harness from the glovebox? I pulled mine without doing that, just unplugged everything and left the harness in the car.

[Zyth01]

You can do it either way, depending on how much wiring you want to do when the engine goes back in.