Day Fourteen - Avoiding the lull

After removing the oil pan and getting confirmation of the spun bearing, there was a bit of a "now what?" pause. Where do I go from here? So I don't lose momentum I start dis-assembly. I think somewhat because my curiosity likes to take things apart, but mainly to find the extent of any damage. That means pulling the head and checking the cylinders. I envisioned deep gouges along the cylinder walls and stuff. Time to start tearing this thing down and seeing what I got.

Re-seating on the engine stand

The original setup I had for the engine on the stand had the mounting bracket on an angle. I wanted it to be aligned when I set the locking pin. Back onto the crane so I could futz around with the mounting arms configuration. Below is what I settled on.

One thing to note is that the Harbor Freight engine stand and crane don't seem to play well with each other. The bottom legs of the crane aren't spaced far enough apart for the engine stand base to get close enough. It was always a pain in the ass when trying to transfer from the crane to the stand and vice versa. It would probably work if the crane was on a higher level than the stand, but I'm sure most people have, like, floors.

Intake manifold removal

Next task was to remove the intake manifold. I ended up taking off the fuel injector rail as well. It'll eventually need a good cleaning from the looks of it.

So how am I going to get that fuel rail out?

Yuck!

Setting this aside to clean later

Fuel Injectors

Timing belt removal

Removing the timing belt covers exposed a bit more gunk, but the belt itself looked in pretty good shape. The crud around the lower half of the block was caked on pretty good. More cleaning in my future!

This being my first time doing something like this, I'm preceding cautiously and getting acquainted with all the parts and where they should go. Taking lots of pictures along the way.

Looks like I'm going to have to replace the thermostat. I've never gotten it replaced so now is as good a time as any.

Day Five - On a roll

So dedicated the entire Saturday to dismantling parts to get the engine ready for pulling. I'm planning on pulling both the engine and the transmission, even though the transmission should be fine. I've heard that it's easier to get the transmission off when everything it outside of the car. Makes sense and since this is an education, might as well learn as much as I can.

Before doing any more part removal, I needed to take care of the fuel lines and relieving any pressure in the lines. I'm doing all this work in my garage that has a water heater in the corner and the thought of gasoline spilling everywhere made me nervous. I want to heed all the warnings I've read about this. So, I buttoned up some of the parts I took off and pulled the car out of the garage into the driveway. While it was outside, I took the opportunity to try and clean of some of the crud in the engine bay. Nothing too extensive.

With that done I had to pull the fuel pump relay, open the gas cap and crank the engine a few times until it stalled. I was also a bit apprehensive about this, because of the state of the engine with the knocking and all. Was I going to be doing even more damage? Well, it already doesn't work so onward. Curiously enough, I don't recall hearing any of the knocking. I gave it a few cranks until is stopped. Waited a few minutes. Did it again for good measure and called it done. I'll find out when I try to pull the fuel lines. Images of gas squirting all over the place went through my mind. As it turned out, I was worrying over nothing. After making a detour to the local Autozone to pick up a disconnect tool, the line came off easily and without any spillage. With no return line to have to deal with, I plugged up one of the ends with a rubber stopper and the other with a bolt.

Fuel line disconnected!

With my son's help, we pushed the car back into the garage so I could continue. And so began the labeling of the wiring harness. While I was at the store, I picked up some masking tape and started to label the connectors and taking more pictures. Note to self: Don't try to peel off masking tape with your latex gloves on. It's just an exercise in frustration.

The wiring harness pulled back out of the way.

Guess I didn't really *need* to disconnect this hose, but looks pretty gunky here.

Next on the list is pulling off the power steering pump and wiring it away. This is so I don't have to disconnect any of the power steering hoses which would be an unnecessary pain. The same will go for the air conditioning compressor when I get to that point. Don't want to make more work than is necessary. And I really don't need another possible failure point.

Next to go was the alternator. I replaced the alternator about a year ago, so I was a little familiar with it. One thing I remembered I had to do was remove the intake manifold bracket which is in the way of the attachment bolt. All of the cleaning I did earlier was for naught when dealing with the underside here. It was completely filled with grime and crud.

Crud down there easier to see sans alternator

After a little cleaning. Much better!

Next to come off was the exhaust manifold shroud. Bolts were pretty rusty from the looks of them. One of them felt stiffer as I loosened it. Crap! Twisted the head off. This will be fun getting out. Ugh!

Hmmm, time to use that screw extractor set I have

I wasn't quite sure what this black crud was. I think it was some chunks of silicone sealant mixed with some left over water when I rinsed off the engine earlier. Looked horrible when I removed the shield. Heh.