A buddy of mine wants me to elp him replace the engine in his 97 RS (2.2). He spun a bearing and I found him a motor cheaper than what a rebuild cost, and since this car has 250K on it, it doesn’t make sense to drop a ton of money in it. Anyway, we’ve got to do this in my garage and there’s not a whole lot of room to work. How difficult would it be to pull the motor and leave the tranny in? I’ve done it with more cramped engine bays than this, but I’ve never pulled the motor in a J-Body without pulling everything else with it.
Is it auto or stick? If it is auto it should be okay, stick you pretty much need to pull it as an assembly since it is hard to clear the clutch. I have only done it on a 2.4 (5 times) and no 2.2s so I guess I am no help.
Should be able to get it out without the tranny. I have actually seen them taken out with all the accessories attached, lol.
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If it is a manual, you will have a harder time. You will have to prop the tranny up so you can slide the motor out. The motor and bellhousing need to separate like....2 inches before they will come apart on a manual. On and auto the motor will slip right off. Getting the motor back into the car on a manual is not something you will enjoy.
It can be done. I have done it. Regardless of the motor. Actually I would rather do it with a manual than a auto.
FU Tuning
i did it on my manual, just take your time and use a winch or cherry picker, you'll get it. it also helps greatly to take the hood completely off.
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Um.....I hope you would be taking the hood off....but anyway, whoever said they would rather do it with a manual, are you crazy? What are your reasons? Are the 3 flexplate bolts that you need to take out with the auto too difficult for you? That is the only added extra step, and I would do that over trying to get the motor separated from the tranny on a manual ANYDAY. But I have done it pretty much every different way you can possibly think, and my overall favorite for easiness is out the bottom, very easy, did everything by myself, no helping hands, and with handtools other than the subframe bolts. I live in WI, and they were rusted, so I got the 3/4 inch impact on them. I think Brian should get in here, because if I can remember correctly, his favorite is out the bottom as well, and I dont even think he uses a lift.
This is my first post on here in years. Wierd!!
Anyway, my cousin and I just pulled the 2.2L motor out of his '99 Sunfire. It was an automatic and was easy as pie. We pulled it from the top and we left the hood on. We used the prop rod but at one point we got a broom stick and used that instead, but right afterwards, we used the prop rod again. No problems.
How much space do you have to remove a motor? We used the driveway most of the time.
Good luck.
97 white 4dr GTP: Fwi | 180t | 3.25 pulley | 103's | Ported Manifolds | Ubend and res removed | Cutout
unbolting the front transmission mount and letting the tranny pivot as the motor comes out on an angle works just fine... Done it about 4 times now. Just be sure to remove the crank pulley.
Good luck!
-Chris-
-Sweetness-
-Turbocharged-
Slowly but surely may some day win this race...
SweetnessGT wrote:unbolting the front transmission mount and letting the tranny pivot as the motor comes out on an angle works just fine... Done it about 4 times now. Just be sure to remove the crank pulley.
Good luck!
-Chris-
We didn't even do those steps. We left the tranny bolted on and the crank on. Came right out and dropped right back in. What helped us was we just moved the hook to different chain links to get leverage at certain spots. And the intake manifold is a joke. Removing that made it alot easier as well. Considering it only has like 7 bolts.
After doing this swap and realizing how light these cars are and how easy fabbing up a turbo would be, I kinda want to get another one.
97 white 4dr GTP: Fwi | 180t | 3.25 pulley | 103's | Ported Manifolds | Ubend and res removed | Cutout
We're doing this with a manual. I've got one bay in my garage I can use and if I had to I could get the Buick back together so I can back it out. Anyway, the idea is to get it in and out as quick as possble - take the old 2.2 out, put the new 2.2 in, wam bam. My garage isn't heated, but he said he would supply me and my buddy with a space heater so that will help a bit lol.
So if I take the hood off, the tranny and engine should come out no problems from above? That makes it easier. I'd rather jsut take the motor but if that's going to be more headaches, that's fine. We'll just pull the whole thing.
