Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Any last minute pointers for engine pull

I am going to pull my V6 this weekend to replace the torque converter. I am not pulling the trans with it and Iâ??m going out the top. Anyone have any suggestions on the best way to do it and where I should connect the hoist.

Thanks
jeff

i hope you are familar with taking an engine out of a contour... according to the Hayes book, the ford service cd, you dont lift the engine out, you have to have the car on a lift and then let the engine down out of the body....
just like the radiator, you have to take it out from the bottom....

I did some searching and found some posts on pulling the motor and trans as a unit. I know that can be done because I saw some photos of a V6 and tranny coming out of a cougar on a hoist. Dropping them from the bottom will really only be practical with a lift.

It looks like I have enough room to pull the motor away from the converter hosing; Iâ??m just not sure I have anything to attach the hoist to on the rear of the motor (water pump end).

Thanks
jeff

The Ford Service CD says the engine can be removed from the top with an MTX75, but even though Mercman has a CD4E and the CD says that it has to lowered out... why couldn't it be taken from the top?

Maybe this can help a little... at least to give you some idea as to how to lift one out...



If you look around top-side enough, you will see the hoist locations pretty easy. Good luck! Got any other questions, you can always shot me a PM or post here. I will be at a meet this Saturday, but I will have my laptop with me.

Thanks, that photo it helps a lot, I was thinking that the hoist should go left to right (when looking at the engine) but it looks clear enough in the photo that the equalizer is positioned front to back.

As far as a PM, I would have to have my 14 year old son show me how to do that!

I picked a rebuilt TC today for $99 and have a new $200 hoist and equalizer Iâ??m just chomping at the bit to try.

Thanks

Have fun at the meet!

jeff

If you remove the "water pump pulley cover" a.k.a the "Duratec Shield", you will see the hoist connection for the right side. If you look to the left rear of the enigne, you will see that one also. Once you see the first one, you will see the second. No Problem!

Oh I will have fun at the meet... From the way it looks, I will be doing some headlights and if everything works out, a grill!!!

Just a note of experience.... I pulled my tranny last summer for a rebuild & LSD. I did it the "Ford" way by dropping the subframe. I'll never do that again! I had troubles with the subframe bushings/bolts and the steering rack & lines. If you pull it out the top, those issues will not crop up. When I do my 3.0 conversion it's from the top side, for sure! Good luck.

We just ripped out and replaced a blown enigines (2.5 for 2.5) We pulled it out the top with very little difficulty. Just take it slow, make sure you have everything unhooked (including some PIA lines on the back (firewall) side of the engine) and have a person and each side of the car to help guide it. We pulled with trani. because we decided to do a rebuild on the clutch while we had it out. We also dropped it back in the top, same procedure only in reverse. I think Ford says it can only be done from the botttom because they want the extra money to do it that way!!! We proved a ASE certified Master mechanic wrong when we did ours!!!

I took about 8 hours (working alone) to get mine out from the top. I had a friendly neighbor (not mechanically inclined) come over and help me hoist it out. I encountered three problems.

1 no place to hook up the hoist on the back side of the engine. This coused the engine to rotate. I eventually connected a come-along to the cat on the rear side to use as a leveler.
2 I forgot about the support bracket for the long drive shaft. I got the engine away from the converter hosing but pulled the axle out and ATF spilled all over the place. Not sure if I damaged the seal.
3 I think the new converter is leaking. I am letting it set until tomarrow befor I start hooking everything back up.

jeff

Well I got it out and back in OK. You can pull a V6 and leave the ATX in from the top; you just need to completely remove the top motor mount so the engine can swing to the left away from the converter housing. The real PITA was the rad and fan shroud, I had to enlist my 14 year old for help (not a one man job. Come to think of it, this whole job is a two man deal).

The good news is I got it all buttoned up today and went for a ride. No leaks, no codes, no TC slip, no bank shift. The updated VB and new TC did the trick. I spent about $400 in parts and $250 for a good engine hoist (I didnâ??t want to be hassled renting one and I never miss an opportunity for new tools). This compared to my original estimate of $1600 from the tranny shop.

The only thing I would do differently would be to completely remove the exhaust system. It was always in the way and I canâ??t count how many times I banged my head on it. Also, the back side of the engine has no place to attach a hoist to. I had to jury rig a small come-along between the exhaust manifold and the arm of the hoist to keep the motor from rolling.

Big thanks to Unysis12 for pointing me to the sources of all the info about the CD4E. Without that info I would have shelled out the $1600.

Thanks Man!

Itâ??s nice to have the LS back (I was driving a 1986 Capri (mustang) that goes 0-60 in a day and a half)

jeff