Engine Removal: With or Without A/T???

[JT95]

OK--I am getting ready to pull the engine and auto trans from a 99 Outback. (Doing a total drivetrain replacement.) Which is easier: pull the engine out by itself and then drop the tranny --OR-- pull the engine and trans together?

 

And, I guess the reverse qpplication as well, as currently my replacement engine and trans are attached.

 

 

Thanks.

[Dickensheets]

Well I just pulled my engine last week. 97 OBW and I'm no expert. But I would say engine first tranny second.

[davebugs]

I just wanted to do this on an auto Legacy before scrapping it. On the auto I'd think it would be tough. Not just due to size(lenght) but due to the weight of the tranny and it wanting to change the angle. On a stick I'd think you may have a chance at pulling both.

 

I'm interested in what folks have to say about this myself.

 

Dave

[JT95]

I just wanted to do this on an auto Legacy before scrapping it. On the auto I'd think it would be tough. Not just due to size(lenght) but due to the weight of the tranny and it wanting to change the angle. On a stick I'd think you may have a chance at pulling both.

 

I'm interested in what folks have to say about this myself.

 

Dave

 

 

Well, I've only been involved in a motor pull once, and that was in an old carburated chevy about 15 years ago. I always thought you pulled a m/t with the engine and an a/t setup separately. I was just going to detach the engine from the trans and my dad (I'm using his shop) said that he thinks we might be able to swing both unless people advise against it.

[johnceggleston]

have you considered droping both down with the wheels, tires and cross member, (keep the sway bar attached?) and lifting the chassis up and then sliding the eng/trans forward. it works great on donor cars because you can cut away all the cross members in from of the engine. i've also read of someone doing it in a replacement situation.

 

i think pulling both from above is a real challenge.

[BoostedBalls]

Pull both together but make sure the car is jacked up quite a bit and drain the tranny fluid first and maybe plug the back of the tranny.

 

When you do decide to separate the eng and trans, remove the torque converter / flexplate bolts so you can leave the torque converter inside the trans. Sometimes the torque converter won't go back into the trans. I had to replace a perfectly good torque converter because I pulled it out of the trans. The trans is more weather proof with the torque converter installed anyway.

[idosubaru]

i've done this both ways a number of times.

 

Pull both together but make sure the car is jacked up quite a bit

get it high but not too high - the more the car is jacked up the more you'll need to make sure your hoist/chain/length/attach points are capable of clearing the car. put the car too high and the lift will max out before everything is high enough to yank the lump (engine+trans together).

 

an EJ legacy auto is really tight but they do come out together. last one i did i pulled together. you'll need to get the angle of the trans just right to get it out. get the radiator out of the way and protect your a/c condensor on the front of the car.

 

another simple options is to just partially pull the lump...then disconnect the transmission while it's hanging in the engine bay (properly braced/held, duh!). pull motor, set on ground, go back and pull trans. disconnecting the trans in it's normal operation position is annoying...not all that bad, but annoying still.

 

if you're not going to be doing this a lot, then learning how to pull both probably isn't worth doing the first time around. dropping the trans or doing the partial pull to keep it simple is probably the quickest way for a one-time job.

[JT95]

Thanks for the feedback. Haven't decided for sure what I'm going to try yet, but either way it will be happening within the week. I might pull the engine from the car w/o the trans, but then drop the new engine/trans in together. I don't see any need of detaching and then reattaching the new engine/trans if it in't necessary, as that's just extra work.

 

I'll keep you posted. This is my summer experiment. The wiring on these two engines isn't at all the same, but I'm hoping I have luck in just swapping out the computer/wiring harness too. I looked, and it seems pretty self contained from passenger floorboard to engine. We'll see. If it doesn't work, I'll be posting a 99 Outback minus drivetrain for sale.

[idosubaru]

if you do separate the engine/trans for any reason make SURE you know how to seat the torque converter properly. not doing it right will ruin your transmission, many people miss that.

 

i suppose you're swapping in a pre-1999 engine since the wiring is different? does that mean you're going from SOHC to DOHC? we might be able to help you there if you give some more info, there's a possibility it won't require an entire wiring harness swap.

 

the easiest solution is to afix your old engine harness to the new engine...but i don't know what your new engine is to suggest if that's possible or not.

 

good luck!

[OB99W]

[...]i suppose you're swapping in a pre-1999 engine since the wiring is different? does that mean you're going from SOHC to DOHC?[...]

The '99 Legacy/OB was still DOHC; the Legacy/OB didn't get the SOHC until MY '00.