Replacing engine

[Rkcv2006]

Has anyone here pulled an engine from an '03 or '04 AWD Vibe from the top? I dread dropping it from the bottom due to not having a lift. It looks upon inspection that there is no reason why I can not (just looks as though it will get a little tight, clearing it away from the trans), but thought I would ask. Thanks!

[joatmon]

welcome to genvibesorry I can't answer the question, haven't pulled a vibe engine.would it be easier to pull it from the top if you pulled the engine and tranny as a coupled unit?Also sorry to hear you have to pull the engine at all. Are you doing it for some terrible malfunction, or for some glorious upgrade?

[Rkcv2006]

Thanks for your reply. I am replacing the engine due to a lower-end knock. #4 rod bearing was trashed, but the crank looked good, and the oil pick up was plugged. I thoroughly cleaned the pick up, and installed new rod bearings. The noise returned immediately, just the same. i suspect no oil flow to #4. I just purchased this car with 197K, and inside the engine is pretty sludged, so i opted to replace the engine at this point. I think it would be more difficult to pull with the trans.

[joatmon]

Does sound like a new engine is the way to go. Don't know what tech literature you have on the car. There's a version of the Matrix service manual on line at http://madstyle1972.com/Repair/ almost everything in it also applies to Vibes. section 14, item 14-030 http://madstyle1972.com/Repair...1.pdf has the toyota procedure for an engine swap. It has you drop it out the bottom though, but the rest of it could be a useful checklist of the things to disconect/reconnectUse a digital camera to take a thousand pictures of the disassembly, they're free, and can be an invaluable resource when you go to put it all back together, to confirm exactly where that one hose or wire connects

[Salsa Guy]

I may suggest checking out Matrixowners.com or Corolla9.com. They are some guys who have done all kinds of work on these cars.

[Rkcv2006]

Thanks for your input. I use AlldataPro for information, and they show needing to pull the engine to do rod bearings, and I had the job done easily within 2 hours without pulling anything but the pan & oil pump pick up. Therefore, since they say to drop the engine out the bottom, I have this desire to make things difficult for myself, and attempt to pull it out the top. Anyhow I will be starting on the job on the 27th, so I will re-post how it goes. Until then, if anyone has any words of wisdom, let me know.

[4azdmunky]

yeah ive pulled mine a couple times from the top both with and without the tranny. It clears with about 1/2 inch.i used a foldable engine hoist from harborfreight, and adjusted the arm length while 1/2 way in and out to clear everything.lessons learned:drain tranny, when the half shafts are pulled it will drain if fluid present.Pull the radiators, you can refill the air conditioner later for a lot less then a new radiator Be prepaired to order replacement half shafts and/or radiators, they get dorked up real easyThe engine mount bolt points strip out, or the welded on bolts knock off real easy. follow the instructions for preloading the torque converter, and mount it in the right order, not doing so will break off the dog ears and you will be pulling the engine againTake your time, it took me about 2 hours to pull it from popping the hood.

[Rkcv2006]

Thank you for the input, I really appreciate it. This also gives me hope. Those are some good tips.

[Rkcv2006]

Over Christmas break, I tackled the job. I was successfully able to pull the engine through the top. There was some hardware (engine to trans bolts) and the center differential bracket-to-engine bolts that I could not see from any direction, but was able to still get to them. Once the engine was loose, there was plenty of room to separate it from the trans, and lift it out. The only problem I had was removing the right side axle to gain easier access to the power steering pump & a bracket on the back of the engine. I spent 3 hours after popping it out of the spindle/bearing, and removing the retaining clip from the transfer case, and removing the bearing retainer bolt, and draining the fluids. I am embarrassed to say that I never did get it out. I worked around around it successfully and simply re-installed what I had pulled apart. The entire job, with transfer of parts took me a full day & evening. About 10 hours. Would have been 3 hours less if I had not tried to remove the axle. My wife drove it to work the very next day. Mission accomplished.

[Salsa Guy]

Great to hear! How bad was the crank bearings?

[Rkcv2006]

I never bothered to pull the pan back off, so no idea. If anyone here lives close enough to Rochelle IL (Northern IL), you can come and get the engine to use for parts, or as a rebuildable core. I will pull a few sensors, and there are no coils or injectors. FREE! It did have good oil pressure (surprisingly) and great compression before I pulled it.

[Salsa Guy]

Ohhh....just a swap. I must have missed that.

[joatmon]

Congrats on getting it done. Be proud of being able to do it yourself.

[mrkrause]

This has been an encouraging discussion for me. I recently bought a "05 Vibe for my 20 yr. old daughter. Her first car. Motor blew at 90 miles. It's been years since I swapped a motor....before she was born ! But I have more time than money these days, so I want to try to swap this thing out. Not crazy about a used motor, but I'll get as low milage and long warranty as I can afford. I have a fork lift, or chain hoist in my shop, so taking it out from the bottom or top doesn't really matter to me, whichever requires less work. I clicked on the two web sites that were in one of you alls post....Madstyle 1972 ? But the site must be down. Any other website suggestions or cautions ?

[triz]

Monkeywrench Racing or a guy named Bottlefed on Spyderchat can probably get you what you need with a warranty. Actually he has one for sale right now 1zz with 34k miles.

Also use a quality synthetic oil in your car vs dino oil.

[moose]

I know this post is many years old, but for all future people here is what I did to pull the engine out of the top.

I pulled the engine out of the top in a 2004 AWD. I dont know if there is a significant difference between AWD and FWD in terms of pulling engine.

The only thing I need to add, is you DO NOT have pull the drive axles to pull the engine out of the top. I dont know if the FWD is different, but I doubt it.

1. Carefully disconnect all the electrical connections on the engine and remove plastic fan, drain radiator and remove upper/lower radiator hoses. I did not remove radiator because I didnt want to have refill transmission, there was lots of room so I just left radiator in. Also, I could not get the fuel line to disconnect even after wasting money on a quick disconnect tool. I just unbolted it and carefully put it to the side. there was plenty of room for it to move.

2. Remove the throttle and intake.

3. Remove starter, take off drive belt and remove alternator. Take off the ac compressor and let it hang from a wire hanger in the engine somewhere.
I could not for the life of me crack the damn PS hose bolt, so I removed the two bolts that hold it in and just put it on top of cv axle. You may need to drain the return hose if it doesnt stretch.

3.There are two large bolts with 17 mm heads to remove from the transmission side of engine. Just crack the bolts but dont remove them. Along the bell housing towards the back side (near firewall) there are 2 more bolts with 14mm heads you need to remove. You can follow firewall down and feel them, get a little mirror if necessary.

4. Under the car there are 2 more bolts on both sides of at bottom, remove them. Remove the little flexplate cover, and the 6 flex plate bolts. In total there are 8 bolts that connect the engine block to transmission. 2 large 17mm bolts in top/mid, then 2 starter, 1 lower. Same for the other/firewall side.

5. Disconnect two 14 mm bolts that connect exhaust.

6.By the passenger side cv axle, there is a round bracket that connects to exhaust up high but also the transaxle. It makes a backwards C shape. Coming from the BELT side, there are two 14mm bolts that connect this bracket to the transaxle, remove them. You dont need to take apart the upper bolt that connects to exhaust, just the two from the belt side. [If you make a C with your right hand, where you thumb and index finger are, are where bolts are to remove... This is on the AWD model, I am not sure about FWD). I could easily get a socket on their to remove them.

7. On the BACKSIDE of engine, by exhaust, (AWD MODEL HERE) there is a support bracket for the rear of the engine that comes from transaxle to back of engine block. 3 bolts hold it in the transaxle, two on the engine. I have long arms so I could reach the 2 on the back the engine without to much strain. I like removing these because install is easier to line it up than one on transaxle.

8. On the belt side there are two 14mm bolts UNDER the front engine mount upfront and one on top. You may just have to remove all the bolts to remove it. Before you remove these bolts/bracket, you may want to connect the engine mount because there will be nothing holding the engine besides the 2 bolts and dow pins.

9. With engine mount connected remove the front mount/bolts, and the two Large 17mm head bolts near transmission. After that the engine is free, slightly push the engine towards the firewall, and carefully guide engine up.

Thats pretty much it. I read everywhere online you had to remove axles, but I could not. I could not get that (removed) axle nut lock off to even get to the axle. I could not "unstake" that damn axle nut. Every screwdriver, chisel etc barely budged the nut dimple. So after ruining a few screwdrivers, I just went down and looked real hard around axle and didnt see anything connecting the axle to engine. There are 2 bolts that sit around a bracket, but nothing else, so I said forget the damn axle and just tried to go about pulling the engine.

I didnt pull transmission, just engine so I have no idea about other side. There is only one mount that holds engine up, the rest are the transmissions.

[trb]

Good info moose! I can't see why you would need to remove the axles either, unless you were removing the engine and transmission together. I've removed and replaced the transmission on my 03 GT and that does require removal of the axles, but you don't need to remove the axle from the hub. You can just unbolt the spindle from the control arm and then the axle can be pulled out of the transmission. That is all I did. The only thing that connects the axle to the engine is on the GT models, which have an extra bracket and bearing on the passenger side of the engine block that hold the longer axle in place. That is two bolts to the block and then you can remove the engine.