Seized motor pull. V6, Auto
 

Seized motor pull.
So, the motor in my 99 seized up about a week ago. It’s a v6 auto, I’m planning on getting started with pulling it this weekend. I have never pulled a motor connected to an auto that has been seized. And I haven’t started looking at it yet. I’m assuming I will have to pull the bottom end apart in order to get the flex plate to move. My issue with this is I want to be 100% that it’s the motor before pulling the bottom end apart. I have heard of torque converters seizing up. How can I be 100% it’s the motor and not a transmission issue? Is pulling the bottom end apart the only way to pull the motor? I don’t have room to pull the motor and transmission together. I really wish I had a manual transmission.

There is a small inspection cover at the bottom of the bell housing held on by two or three bolts. Slide the cover down will give U access to the converter bolts. You will need to try to and turn the crank shaft with a large breaker bar to remove the 6 I think converter bolts. If you can not turn the crankshaft I would try unbolting the engine drain pan and unbolt the connecting rods to try and free up the crank shaft you can beat the rods up into the cylinder to get them out of the way. I would also look on you tube to see if someone has documented this it is a great heads up on what to expect. If you can not turn the crankshaft I think your other two options are to pull it as a single unit (I have never done this it takes lots of space to do. The other is pulling the transmission while leaving the converter attached to the flex plate careful not to damage the transmission pump. If the mains are ceased you could loosen up the mains but most of the time the rods are the problem. Good Luck.
:wave:

This is what I was expecting to do but wanting to make sure the motor was hosed first. I'll be a sad panda if I find I pulled the motor apart and find the transmission is seized.

Have you checked the crank by hand with a breaker bar?

I think you should be able to pull the engine with the torque converter out of the transmission. That is normally a 'mistake' but in this case, might be necessary.

-Charlie

I would definitely see if you can turn the motor over by hand first. Get a massive breaker bar on the crank bolt and see if you can turn it. The TC is held onto the flex plate by 6 bolts but you can only get to them one at a time through the inspection cover.

I doubt the auto tranny is seized, it's most likely the motor. I've never heard of an auto transmission "seizing" before but who knows I guess.

I'm not sure you'll be able to pull the engine with the torque converter still on. If you ever removed a TC before, it doesn't just slide in, well it does but that doesn't mean its fully seated. The TC has to then be spun and pushed in again until it fully seats into position. I believe if you try pulling the engine with TC still on, you are going to destroy the pump on the tranny (the seal for sure). It would be like the reverse of trying to install the engine/tranny without the TC fully seated. You start tightening the bell housing bolt and you end up breaking the pump or TC. But again, who knows and maybe you can make it happen without destroying anything.

Best of luck to you and hopefully you can turn the engine over with a big breaker bar.

PS. How did the engine seize? Did it overheat real bad, no oil or did it just randomly seize up? It's pretty rare to see a total engine failure on these trucks. In fact, extremely rare.

Curious as to how this turned out. Any updates OP?

I agree, I am not sure the TC will come out without a fight. I have seen engines pulled (not the 5VZ-FE) with the torque converter still attached but it's a gamble. With enough prying it *should* come off but you might end up with a damaged transmission in the process and then you will be replacing both.

However, I have pulled an engine and transmission together at the same time, it's possible. You will need to remove the radiator support frame in the front, which means removing the bumpers, headlights, etc and drilling out the spot welds holding it on. Not sure if that helps in disconnecting the engine/trans though.

Give him a few hours! :eyebrows:

The engine will need to slide forward a few inches before lifting it up - to allow the 'tail' of th4e TC to clear the front end of the transmission (it reaches in and meshes with a pump). Pulling the motor up too soon can cause damage.

Another approach might be to pull the trans off the motor. You need to undo all the bellhousing bolts either way - but it might be easier to pull the trans off the motor that way vs. pulling the motor forward enough to clear. Just need to undo the driveshafts/trans wiring/shifter/etc.

As asked above - what was the situation when the motor seized? If you were driving along and it ran low on oil/oil pressure and ground to a halt, then you're going to see lots of shiny stuff when you drain the motor oil. Which really nails the 'it's the engine' diagnosis, and I'd proceed to the ideal above of taking the oil pan off and loosening rod and (maybe) main bearing caps until the engine will budge, then taking the TC bolts off the normal way.

If you remove the transfer case and drop the front diff and steering rack you should be able to pull the engine and trans together.

If not removing the bellhousing bolts and the trans mount and shift linkage and other associated junk you should be able to slide the trans back enough to allow you to pull the engine with the TC still bolted to the flex plate.

If you are able to manage this I would replace the trans pump bushing and seal before installing the TC back into the trans


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I have never seen a auto trans seize up. Check the fluid if the color is anything but super black it is worth not trying to damage it maybe fine. I purchased a 2001 with a thrown rod did a jdm swap and the trans is in great shape and the wife loves her ride. You maybe able to pull the engine out the front with the converter attached but I have never done it as there is quite a bit of room in the front off the engine. I think that if the engine is locked up pulling the pan and unbolting a rods that are bad should work. But just because the starter does not spin the engine does not mean that it won't turn. I just started working on 4runners a year ago. Now im up to 3 rd gen 3 and 1 gen 4. Looking for another 3rd gen for my sister inlaw. 3 head gaskets one complete engine rebuild. Along with fixing all the other little fixes like U joints to plug washer nozzles.

I still wanna know how he'll be able to pull the TC out of the tranny without damaging it. It doesn't just slide out. It has to be rotated then pulled out. If you just rip it out, won't it destroy the pump on the tranny?

I've pulled two of these transmissions now but I don't claim to be an expert on this. I actually made the mistake of tightening the bell housing bolts without the TC fully seated. All of a sudden I heard a ear splitting "BANG" when the TC "slipped" into its correct position. That couldn't have been good for it but thankfully, no serious damage was done. The opposite of that would be to yank the engine away from the TC hard enough to "BANG" it out of the correct position. I'm thinking you'd have a good chance of destroying the pump and/or the TC.

I'd try cranking it over with a massive breaker bar first.

Well I finally got everything pulled apart.
The oil pick up had some interesting piece of metal. Pretty large. One of the pistons had some marks on the bottom looked like something banged around under on it. I was able to disconnect this piston and the one next to it but still won't turn over. It doesn't look like I can get to each connecting rod bolts. Attachment 351534https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b50ffec5ba.jpg

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I was able to remove all the pistons in my 4runner and did a re-ring with the engine still in the rig. :music:

The connecting rod bearings/ studs are right under that baffle of the pickup tube. Maybe take a couple apart and see if they have big gouges/grooves in them. If so replace them while you have that all apart and get a new gasket for your pickup tube. Then you know the lower end is rebuilt.
When I had low oil pressure I wss losing it through the connecting rod bearings being worn. Put in a new set and it's been fine ever since. I had a LOT of sludge/debris in my oil pan and my pickup tube couldn't draw oil from the screen being so clogged up. Yours might be a mix of both upper and lower end. Are your valve cover gaskets leaking and it got low on oil? Just a question. Or is that connecting rod busted off the piston? Looking forward to what else you find.

The oil pan was clean. No sludge. I pulled the main bearing stiffener bracket. Well attempted to pull. After I removed all the bolts, it didn't drop...

YouTube


It moves with the crank. So it looks like the bracket might be welded to the crank.

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Edit: link to video.