Stuck Getting Engine In

[DHBirren2]

I'm having a major issue getting a 3.7 into my wife's '03. It's in the motor mount cradles and almost lined up with the transmission and inspection plate. How do I get inside the bell housing to lift the torque converter so that it mates with the crank shaft? I've had thoughts of drilling a hole in the bottom of the bell housing.

I'm working on my garage floor with the front tires raised about 12" (gotta love hydraulic ramps!) so I have lots of room underneath for me and my creeper. Available tools include an engine hoist and load leveler, a floor jack, a motorcycle jack that fills in as a transmission jack, compressed air, and a variety of implements of destruction.

Thank you for any advice!

 

[jeeptorino68]

I had the same situation. Persistamce pays off. I think we had to jack the trams up high and tilt the engine a bit to get them to mate up, then lower it down.
That or we had to lower the engine in almost completely level.
Get a helper and keep trying

 

[Johnny O]

Treat it like a VW bug and get creative with your floor jacks. Takes time. Me, I find cussing till the paint blisters and RF the walls helps.

Don’t drill any holes!

 

[turblediesel]

Lift the back end of the transmission?

Maybe remove the engine mounts to get more wiggle room and reinstall them after the engine and transmission are bolted up.

I look for parallelity between the mating faces of the engine and gearbox; then it's just up-down and sideways until you can get some bellhousing bolts in.

 

[DHBirren2]

I had the same situation. Persistamce pays off. I think we had to jack the trams up high and tilt the engine a bit to get them to mate up, then lower it down.
That or we had to lower the engine in almost completely level.
Get a helper and keep trying

I think that's how I got them lined up one day last week. That pesky TC is wobbly within the bell housing, so it's a wild card.

Thank you!

 

[DHBirren2]

Treat it like a VW bug and get creative with your floor jacks. Takes time. Me, I find cussing till the paint blisters and RF the walls helps.

Don’t drill any holes!

LOL! What's "RF"?

 

[DHBirren2]

Lift the back end of the transmission?

Maybe remove the engine mounts to get more wiggle room and reinstall them after the engine and transmission are bolted up.

I look for parallelity between the mating faces of the engine and gearbox; then it's just up-down and sideways until you can get some bellhousing bolts in.

That's a pretty good idea; I may try that. But it's getting the wobbly TC to move up a little to get its hub into the drive plate's socket. Grrr! Anyways, it's off to the garage...

 

[02blue]

You sure the TC is completely seated? I don't remember mine moving at all. I just jacked up the ****** to meet the engine as I dropped mine in. Did it solo too and I'm not that talented. See the yellow trolly jack and blocks of wood in the attached.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[turblediesel]

Hold the torque converter to the transmission with a strap. Just across the face of the gearbox to keep it from jumping off. No hooks or ratchets. Get things close and then slip the strap out.

 

[DHBirren2]

You sure the TC is completely seated?

Nope. I don't know how to do that. The shop manuals don't say anything that I can find and YouTube videos don't show that.

I don't remember mine moving at all. I just jacked up the ****** to meet the engine as I dropped mine in. Did it solo too and I'm not that talented. See the yellow trolly jack and blocks of wood in the attached.

I laugh when the word t-r-a-n-n-y get's redacted!

 

[02blue]

I'd worry the TC got pulled out slightly and unseated when the engine was separated. Not sure about these newer ones but the old time TCs would go in three stages. You just spin it clockwise while pressing in slightly and it should go in a small bit if it isn't seated. I think the fluid flow (pump contact) will be compromised if not seated correctly. I'm sure there are measurements from the edge of the bell housing to the TC surface to verify if it's in all the way but I didn't see them from a quickie search. Seems like it would be real tough to get the bell housing to bolt on if it isn't seated all the way.

I just don't remember any wobble like play in mine when I had it apart.

 

[Johnny O]

LOL! What's "RF"?

An over zealous spell checker in action!

 

[jeeptorino68]

I'd worry the TC got pulled out slightly and unseated when the engine was separated. Not sure about these newer ones but the old time TCs would go in three stages. You just spin it clockwise while pressing in slightly and it should go in a small bit if it isn't seated. I think the fluid flow (pump contact) will be compromised if not seated correctly. I'm sure there are measurements from the edge of the bell housing to the TC surface to verify if it's in all the way but I didn't see them from a quickie search. Seems like it would be real tough to get the bell housing to bolt on if it isn't seated all the way.

I just don't remember any wobble like play in mine when I had it apart.

Good point. That had happened during my engine swap. Same procedure to spin and push it in.

 

[SWilliams]

First be sure the converter is seated in the pump properly. Then hit a store or junk box and find a longer pair of bolts that you can cut the heads off and thread into the block to act as guide pins, do the same with a bolt long enough to ***** into the converter to align a hole with the flex-plate. Make sure you have it in a spot where you can't trap it in there. Then use them to guide the two together.

 

[DHBirren2]

Howdy, folks!

The weather has been really nice here in central Illinois these last two days, so I decided to play out in the garage. I pulled the engine back out of the car so I could pull the torque converter out to see if I could bolt it onto the flex plate first. It turns out that the donor engine, which came from a Dodge Durango, has some kind of ring force-fit into the back end of the crankshaft that accepts a different torque converter. The Liberty TC hub measures about 45 mm diameter and so does the OD of the ring. I've been using my Dremel to cut the ring out.

 

[jeeptorino68]

Had the sams issue. I figured my engine came from a manual trans jeep. Took for ever to get that thing out. Heat, chisels, drills, hammers, dremel, ug

 

[DHBirren2]

Got it out! Mostly just needed a reinforced metal Dremel cutting disc, an old screwdriver, and a large persuader. The torque converter fits like a glove.

The TC is back in and the engine is back on its mounts. Final alignment and bolt-up will re-commence soon.