Purely out of curiosity, is it all that difficult to remove the engine/transmission? (1 Viewer)

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I've been reading the FSM (before bedtime and all that) and the method for removing the engine with transmission honestly doesn't look especially difficult. My question is this - if/when my HG goes, wouldn't it possibly be easier to just pull the engine and transmission, rebuild the engine on the stand, have the transmission rebuilt, and put it back in? Especially if I pay someone to pull the engine for me, so I can rebuild it at my leisure. I've never rebuilt an engine, but I'd certainly like to try.

Anyone have any experience with pulling the engine with transmission vs just doing the head gasket? I know pulling the engine without transmission is difficult, but I'd just have the transmission pulled too. Thanks.
 
Is your transmission showing signs of dying??

I have rebuilt engines before, not the 1fz so IDK about that, but most engines arent bad to rebuild. I've heard the 1fz is a bit more time consuming. I'd have someone to call or help you that has done a rebuild before.
 
Is your transmission showing signs of dying??

I have rebuilt engines before, not the 1fz so IDK about that, but most engines arent bad to rebuild. I've heard the 1fz is a bit more time consuming. I'd have someone to call or help you that has done a rebuild before.

No, it seems perfectly fine, but as long as it's out, I may as well have it rebuilt, right? If not, it can sit on wooden blocks until the entire assembly goes back into the truck. Just curious to see how much more work it is to just pull it (or have someone else pull it) and rebuild it, versus just doing the head gasket.
 
I wouldnt rebuild it, the transmissions are great and if regularly maintained they usually never need a rebuild. Might do more harm than good opening it up.

So is ur HG done?
 
I wouldnt rebuild it, the transmissions are great and if regularly maintained they usually never need a rebuild. Might do more harm than good opening it up.

So is ur HG done?

No, not yet - nor does it need it yet, but we have two vehicles, so we bought this one to learn how to work on trucks. So if we want a very reliable vehicle, we may as well rebuild the engine. However, heeding your advice, we'd probably leave the transmission alone.
 
I pulled the whole drivetrain in one shot but pulled the radiator and everything off the front. It's the going back together that's difficult, well... I mean if you don't know where the hell s*** goes.
 
I pulled the whole drivetrain in one shot but pulled the radiator and everything off the front. It's the going back together that's difficult, well... I mean if you don't know where the hell **** goes.

Putting the engine back together, or putting it back in?
 
Both?

Take your time pulling it apart and do your best to mark all the plugs, hoses, etc... as well as pulling the engine down. Photographs, ziplocks, and a marker are handy.
 
Most people never have issues with their HG's, I'd even say some have issues with a HG repair than the stock HG. With that being said, I would work on regular maintenance items, Oil, plugs, wires, trans fluid, diff & center diff fluid, U joints (greased or replaced it depends), front axle rebuild (bearings included).

In your position I would do a radiator HG test (can be rented from Autozone) if it comes back negative then drive in peace. I am at 160k on the original HG... I trust my rig so much I push it up 10k mountain passes at 70mph and 7mph (HWY & crawling) with 700lbs of gear in it. Partly because I know everything is serviced. People make the HG out to be much worse than it actually is.

These engines can go 300k plus, how many miles does your have?
 
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I am just about done with my very first rebuild project. Took a worn out VW 1.6D from 1984 and turned it into a 1.6TD using parts from four different generations of VW diesels.

Pulling is the easy part. Take care do do it right, and safe, but it's easy. Teardown is even fun, if epically messy on a 30yo diesel that apparently leaked from every gasket and seal for most of those 30 years. I figure the original owner changed the oil whenever the light came on.

How involved the rebuild and reinstallation gets, I figure, depends on how much you care.

I care. So things spiraled way out of control.

You get into things, and from every corner you start to see things that you wish were better, things that want media blasting and paint, things you wish you hadn't seen because they don't REALLY matter except now you know, and it will bug you if you don't do something about it.

I may have a small HG leak myself. When i work up the nerve I'll get the HG test kit from autozone, and based on the results, if it comes out positive, I'll probably flush the coolant, replace with new, and then add some bars hg fix so i can bide my time and plan and approach it head on.

I'd really rather do a diesel swap, but I'm not sure if I'm up to a diesel swap.

At any rate, what i am seeing may just be water vapor from the catalytic converter. I don't get steam out the tailpipe, but something condenses and wets the concrete.
 
Most people never have issues with their HG's, I'd say many more have issues with a HG repair than the stock HG.

Thats an interesting thing to say on a forum where every week someobody posts something involving a failed head gasket. Not to mention there is a known flaw in the original HG design. Also, how are you more likely to have more issues with a HG repair when you supposedly don't have HG issues to begin with ? I'm not trying to stir the pot, just don't jump on here and tell people there's not an issue when there is.

@math the kits from autozone are a joke. I've had two of them come back negative and both of those vehicles had blown HG's. They were even blowing heavily into the overflow bottles. A leak down test would be more comprehensive. As for your original question, it seems your looking for a path to take. Here's my thoughts, if you have oil leaks and the motor has lots of miles, pull the whole thing and buy an engine reseal kit from one of the vendors. If you did this before a HG failure then you will most likely have good cylinders and a good block deck.

I wouldn't worry about the transmission, just change the fluid and clean out the filter on it. As for seperating or pulling the engine/trans together, I would say together is probably the easist way. When I pulled mine I seperated them and it led to a lot of extra frustration. If you pull them together you don't have to worry about getting hung up on the trans lines, seperating ECU plugs, or getting to the top two bolts which are a real bastard.
 
I'm a fan of pulling the engine by itself vs with the tranny/t-case. A ratcheting t-handle wrench makes easy work of the top bell housing bolts.
RTBM12.jpg
 
I've done it both ways...

1) pulled the motor/trans/xfer case in my 95 (headgasket) replaced with a "new" motor with 115k on it...

2) pulled the motor only on my 93 (threw a rod) 5 miles after I bought it due to PO running it low on oil...

Anyway...they both have their easy and hard points...

The bellhousing bolts suck...the easiest way to get the top ones is through the tranny tunnel where the shifters go with a long extension or 2...

Also the plugs between the trans/motor are a beotch lol

If I had to do it a third time, I'd pull the whole drivetrain...just get a REAL engine hoist as that s*** is HEAVY!!!

As for the rebuild...it's not that bad at all, I'd ball hone it, throw rings and bearings in it and an OEM gasket kit...

How many miles? If you just wanna learn to work on things, I'd drive the cruiser (after its baselined) and tear into one of your other rides ;)
 
At any rate, what i am seeing may just be water vapor from the catalytic converter. I don't get steam out the tailpipe, but something condenses and wets the concrete.
the byproduct of combustion is water as well. Our engines do not conserve fuel well when idling, and a long cool exhaust helps condense that water back down. Mine drips on the concrete and, when it's cold out, produces white clouds more dramatically than any other vehicle I've owned. Definitely not burning coolant though.
 
the byproduct of combustion is water as well. Our engines do not conserve fuel well when idling, and a long cool exhaust helps condense that water back down. Mine drips on the concrete and, when it's cold out, produces white clouds more dramatically than any other vehicle I've owned. Definitely not burning coolant though.


Yep, that's an 80 in the winter time. :)
 
@math I understand this question. I bought the truck partly to tinker on and there is a fasination with the idea of pulling the whole engine apart and putting it back together just because... Every time I pull something apart I am impressed with those who designed it. Added bonus that she gets my family anywhere I could ever want to go. Just wish I had a bigger garage.
 
Huge byproduct when burning hydrocarbons-look at the tailpipes/powerplant stacks/locomotives/jets (even in summer at 40,000 feet) etc when the temp is -25f and all you'll see is that water vapor condensing.
 
Thats an interesting thing to say on a forum where every week someobody posts something involving a failed head gasket. Not to mention there is a known flaw in the original HG design. Also, how are you more likely to have more issues with a HG repair when you supposedly don't have HG issues to begin with ? I'm not trying to stir the pot, just don't jump on here and tell people there's not an issue when there is.

Many people never have issues with their HG I can safely say more don't have issues than those that do. Don't buy into the HG fear mongering, if there is a reason to do it then fine do it but if it aint broke dont fix it. Best thing to do is make sure the cooling system is tip top and everything is properly maintained. Do not rip the engine apart for "preventative maintenance" unless there is a real reason to. I believe this is terrible advice unless you have another 1fz sitting in your garage.

@half k cruiser do you really think that encouraging someone who hasn't done an engine rebuild /HG to rip into the 1fz is going to be better advice than just running the thing until there is an issue (which may never happen). There are plenty of things to do wrong, screw up or forget when rebuilding engines. So I disagree entirely with this train of thought and IMO its reckless advice.

@math if you are serious about doing this (and I am not trying to discourage you) I would suggest getting another 1fz (perhaps from the salvage yard) then rebuild that motor from the bottom up then transplant it into your cruiser and sell the other 1fz-fe. That way if you screw something up you have a fall back plan and or a donor engine. This is how I have done rebuild before and it really destresses the whole process.

A leak down test is the best test to perform but in some cases blown head gaskets can be misdiagnosed as blow by. The AZ test kits are in my experience pretty reliable when done correctly with good fluid.
 
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@math another thing to be aware of that might help you with whichever decision you make : if you look in the build thread in my signature line there are some photos in there of my block deck after I got the old HG material scraped off. At the rear of the #6 cylinder there is pitting in the block face. This was due to a slow leak in the gasket that allowed either water or combustion gasses to erode out the area under the fire ring. Long story short the block had to go to the machine shop to be planed down. By the time I did new rings, de glazing the cylinders and getting the deck shaved I was out another $500. So just something to think about.

The fact is you may run your factory HG for another 200k and never have an issue. Or, you may have it go out on you at a very inopportune time like I did. In my case waiting cost me extra time and money not to mention I was short a vehicle for a few months. I have decided that if I keep the motor in my other LC it is going to get pulled and resealed on my terms before I take it on any long trips and what not.
 

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