No.. I mean rear engine cover. =0)



With the trans off it (easy out of car) pull the flex and there it is.


The paper gasket that makes up the cover to engine gasket has both coolant and oil going through it. It'* most commonly misdiagnosed as a rear main or oil pan gasket. The bolts are originally in with like 3 ft lbs and they have no sealant or locktite on them. They back out over time and allow seepage.

I've never once dropped a drivetrain out the bottom of a 3800 car. Always through the top. Which is how I discovered the master cylinder trick. I don't even take the hood off. Pop the supports and support it a few inches higher and you'll clear w/o a problem.




yes..I've done it quite a few times. Only have a few pics though.




I always leave W bodies on jacks or the ramps. My hoist won't get under the subframe otherwise.

Those couple of pics help a great deal. I have one more axle to pull out then i am only a few mount bolts away from yanking it out the top. Just seeing how you angle the front out first helps because comming straight out, it looks like the ABS would also be in the way.

I have never done any major drivetrain on a FWD car before and i think i was overthinking things and believing it is way harder then it is. Aside for the rear O2 sensor wire, the harness came out without much fuss. Trans lines are threaded in instead of those stupid quick connect fittings that get filled with road grime. Motor mount bolts all seem to have decent access.

One question. While everything is apart anyways, are lower controll arm bushings a good idea to replace on a 180k mile car? I remember the 90'* pontiacs having issues with them. I only drove this thing 2 or 3 miles before the engine gave up but i diddnt notice any alarming clunking going over bumps. I have an urge to replace everything, but a limited budget. I know lower balljoints are getting replaced because ive never had one last long after a pickle fork seperation.

So the people that told me it can only come out the bottom are definately full of it. It took longer to find a suitable spot on the driver rear for a chain then to actually yank it out. Did not have to remove the master cylinder, just tilted it a bit more.


Loose



And out. 5 minutes tops.

See?! Easier done than said isn't it?

Yep. Long day but motors are swapped, harness is mostly hooked back up. After feeling the before and after from changing the hydraulicmotor mount, i think im going to go back and pick up a new transmission mount also.

Imthinking about calling in sick tomorrow to finish it up. I am excited to get this thing out for a test drive.

Thanks a bunch Mike and Bill for the tips and reasurance to go ahead and get the job done instead of blowing a whole paycheck to have someone else do it.

What took you so long? LOL

I undo the bolts on the master and let it flop near the strut tower to give you a little more clearance on the transmission selector. It'* not needed, but honestly does make it a lot easier.

Did a motor swap this weekend myself. In my car. Funny..I'm jazzed about the engine cover.


FWIW I leave the harness in the car and simply unhook it from the engine/trans. It saves about an hour total between the rear O2 etc.

I had considered unhooking everything and tucking the harness out of the way. But I got a little paranoid about missing a connector and yanking wires out with the drivetrain. now that I have one done tho, I will probably go that route next time. If the bottom end of the removed engine is salvageable, I will likely build a fresh motor with a little extra spirit to put back in.

Have to have some kinda project to keep me bussy all winter.

Well damn! Got everything put back together and as soon as i plug in the battery, the accessories are on. The indicator on the cluster stays in D, the release for the shifter will not let go. Unhooked the shift cable on the tranny and moved the shift lever but the indicator stays on D. Fuel gauge also stays at empty when i know it indicated a half tank before i started.

Where to begin. Im giving up for the day.

What PCM and harness did you use?

I used the harness and pcm that was in the car. Never took the pcm out. The ignition switch sticks to where you cant turn it all the way off to get the key out, but it did that before and everything still worked fine.'

Tomorrow, i imagine i will start there. I dont have any diagrams but i cant think of any place that i have disturbed that would allow power to the accessories or cause so many wierd things at the same time.

Would be wierd that the switch worked before, swap a motor and the switch is now all jacked up but it is a full moon.