Frustrated, trouble getting motor back in..

[thegipper]

I have a thread started about swapping in a donor motor already but hopefully more people will see this thread as that one is rather long already.

Donor motor is "in" but I am having trouble getting it fully seated.

After a couple hours of messing with it, I finally got the everything lined up (or I thought I did). The bellhousing was flush with the motor and I started two of the lower bell housing bolts.

Unfortunately, when I checked the motor mounts, the holes did not line up. It's like the motor is too far back by a 1/2" or so.

I decided to take out the two bolts and pull it back up/out some. I double checked that the torque converter was fully seated. I reached my hand in there and spun the torque converter several times (both directions) and it will not go in any more so its fully seated. At least, that should mean its fully seated but that shouldn't have anything to do with motor mounts not lining up.

Any ideas, thoughts? Now of course I am having trouble getting it even remotely lined up again, will probably take me another hour or so just to get where I was.

Frustrated is an understatement....

 

[19963.4lsr5]

If the trans is bolted to the engine correctly then in my opinion anything wrong is directly related to the engine mounts or the trans mount.

For me.....I left the trans in its place on my 97. Dropping the engine into the engine bay was ok. Just needed to get the engine angle correct for it to line up with the dowels on the trans.

After I had the engine and trans connected I was done. No fuss no muss. That connection is absolute.

So if the motor mounts or the trans mount does not line up with the holes then IMO the problem is the rubber mounts.


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[phattyduck]

If you can get the motor and trans back to flush, bolt them together and keep it that way.

You probably have some play in the trans mount that is causing the issue. Once the motor and trans are back together, lift the assembly back up in the front and see if things shift a bit. A well placed pry bar and some luck will also help...

-Charlie

 

[thegipper]

When I had it all lined up, it was perfect between engine and tranny. Dowels were definitely seated and everything was flush but the motor mount holes didn't line up (my incredibly terrible luck). I just cannot see how it could be off by so much, it doesn't make sense.

I don't know how the mounts could be off either though. They were fine in the donor truck I took the engine from. There is no obvious damage or anything.



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[thegipper]

If you can get the motor and trans back to flush, bolt them together and keep it that way.

You probably have some play in the trans mount that is causing the issue. Once the motor and trans are back together, lift the assembly back up in the front and see if things shift a bit. A well placed pry bar and some luck will also help...

-Charlie

That's kind of what I was thinking. Perhaps the tranny has some wiggle room and it's sitting a little further back.

Idk, I got to figure something out.

I knew getting the engine in was going to be a chore but I wasn't expecting this. After all of this, I'm ready to push this damn thing off a cliff...

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[theesotericone]

I knew getting the engine in was going to be a chore but I wasn't expecting this. After all of this, I'm ready to push this damn thing off a cliff...

Take a break and relax. Sometimes stepping away for a while and coming back with a less pissed off attitude can help. If that doesn't work, then push it off a cliff. Or get out the BFH and BFPB.

Good luck man.

 

[Doc2012]

Where did you get the engine from?


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[baja1]

I had a devil getting mine lined up, I finally got all the bellhousing bolts in and actually tightened.....thats when I found the torque converter was jammed tight not seated correctly. I had never attempted anything more than sparkplugs and im an old man lying in a rocky dirt field with a handful of rusty tools. I had no idea what to do so I put a breaker bar on the front pulley nut and stood on it! KA-BOING so loud it could be heard in ensenada, some how by the grace of god it freed the torque converter and didn't damage anything and finally I had a running car.:trophy:
you'll get it!

 

[thegipper]

Got it!

I needed two things, my neighbor to give me a hand and I needed to jack the tranny up a bit. Jacking the tranny up a little was key though.

I got the bell housing lined up with the motor after i jacked the tranny up. I looked at the motor mounts and they were dead nuts so I quickly put the bolts in. I had my neighbor push on the engine holding it flush for the last mm or two while I quickly put in a couple bell housing bolts.

My God what a nightmare but I got it.

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[thegipper]

Where did you get the engine from?


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I bought an entire truck from a member on here, it was a 99 sr5 in great shape but he got rear ended. It actually still drove fine but the frame was totally bent.

I now have the tranny and engine in my truck from that one.

 

[thegipper]

I also confirmed once I had everything lined up and bolted in that the torque converter was free from the flex plate.

My neighbor also helped me get the flex plates bolts in. I put red loctite on the bolts, threaded them all in and slowly tightened them down.

Once snug, I toruqed them down to 30 ft/lbs per spec.

 

[sakoluvr]

Impressed with everything you have accomplished. :cheers: