drop the engine: VQ30DE

[lightning mobile lube]

What's up guys, I'm the one who put a hole in my tranny. I have a fun fact for you: In order to drop my engine, I have to literally take it out from the bottom... That's not quite what I had in mind, so I called the dealership to ask if there's a backyard friendly way to do this and he said "Use a hoist on the car and set it on the floor from there." Thanks, guy. So I'm here with the same question. Is there a better way to do this? If I get no advice, I'll certainly try anyways. Then I'll post the results here with pics and whatnot for everyone to read. You know, for future reference!

 

[lightning mobile lube]

Updates! So I bought my new tranny! $845... and i honestly think that it's the ONLY locking diff 5spd on the entire continent! Found one for $350... But the guy went to check on it and it was broken. Found one for $650... But it wasn't locking. Called a place that Builds them and sends them to you... $2600... for one that includes all the seals and a torque converter... wait a minute, I said manual! "Oh, sorry, we don't carry that one." So after three weeks of searching, it's on the way, So soon to be updates on taking that engine out the TOP of the car! Later on.

 

[lightning mobile lube]

So, yes you can take that thing out through the top. It's just a pain in the arse. Look at it from the passenger's side, that's the front of the engine, and the way the mounts are in there, it will pivot up toward the driver's side. Like the back of the engine stays down while the front lifts up. Like a said, A real pain, so I'm doing it the easy way and leaving the engine in there. I mean, the tranny's right there and easy to get to once the air box and battery are out. So ha. Outsmarted you, stupid car. Oh, and the new tranny's still not here. I think it's stranded in Spokane somewhere... Oh well, it's only a two hour drive if I need to go get it.

 

[lightning mobile lube]

Hey yeah I got it, plan to start on tuesday! HA! I'd get to it like NOW if those damn kids weren't here... No, Just kidding. Those are my days off, so I'll have 24 straight hours to work on it with a piddly eight hours for that stupid stupid sleep thing in the middle. Did you know that sharks never sleep? Wouldn't that be cool? We'd make eight hours a day if we didn't have to waste it on that recharge thing.

______________________________

 

[lightning mobile lube]

man, these guys really did a number. They must really want one to have a fully functional shop in their garage. Whatever though. Started on it today. Got the driver's side CV axle off. It fell apart in my hands. Pass. side is hidden under the exhaust AND that crossmember thing. My flex pipe is bad and the bolts behind it are rusted shut and stripped anyway, so easy solution here with a hacksaw. Jackstands don't leave much room to work here, so it's kind of tiring getting in and out and back over and over again. Calling it quits for today. I can get to all the tranny bolts, but I can't do anything with them until that crossmember is out of the way of that axle. Why do they make the driver's side a pull-out, but bolt the passenger side on there? Probably just so I would have to drop that crossmember and exhaust, huh? Oh well.

 

[lightning mobile lube]

Got it out and back in. thee bottom bolts left, then replacing the little incidentals like the exhaust and electronics and stuff. Crossmember stayed in. You just need to use your left hand to get the ONE bolt for which the book wants you to take that crossmember out. My stepfather's a lefty, so he's like "use your left hand." No kidding, what a freakin' novel idea. Easy job from that point. Oh, and the passenger side CV axle bolts in to a support bracket, by the way. The exhaust needed to come out to expose it, but not the crossmember... Now I get to finish up in an hour or so and get to the job I was doing when I broked it: the brakes!

 

[lightning mobile lube]

Yeah, those front brakes are cool. You don't have to do that Nissan thing and twist them back in, just push with a 'c' clamp like any NORMAL caliper... Anyway, the car runs like a champ, but for this one small incidental: The driver's side CV axle seal leaks! ... ... that's cool, but the local shops want to charge me to confirm what I already know... Then they expect to fix it at four times the cost... I think I'll just buy that new snap ring and a seal... Drive it around and put a quart of 75-90 in every two days until then... God, guys, other than that one leak, the car runs like a motherfu--- well you get it. Wife will be mad that she can't take it across country just yet to her mom's house every weekend like she usually does (Of course I'm exaggerating, but still out of the question!) Anyways, I'm all around happy with the purchase and repair... I think I can even repair the hole in the original aluminum housing.. anyone interested on this site if it's so FREAKIN' hard to find? pics available on demand. Otherwise it goes to ebay! It's still good, It didn't move more that 100 yards with that hole in it, just from the front yard to the shop where I worked on it. Go manual and ditch that auto crap. Go POSI and outdo jeeps in the mud! HA! I honestly don't think I'll buy another car unless it's at least a NISSAN... Awesome rigs, no problems, but that maintenance thing and those of my own making!

 

[lightning mobile lube]

So that's the end of my 'dropping the VQ30" thread... it was done without even dropping that bad boy... But that's cool, cuz I discovered that the VQ30DETT won't even fit in my car.... .... ... .. .But that don't stop a supercharger for God's sake! Plenty of room for that! I also learned that even though you CAN take it out from the top, You should disconnect the tranny first so it's easier to deal with that crossmember (I.E. NOT AT ALL) That means that without the tranny attatched, the engine will lift straight up and out, but like my original post, it takes some careful pythagorean algorithms on the fly like: "Stop! Lift this end, now let's go...." You can see that it can be done, but MAKE SURE THE DAMN TRANNY DON'T LEAK FIRST!!! MOTHERF-. Yeah, well you get it. Laterz y'all!

______________________________