stinemonster

Im trying to change my engine out and Im having a few problems.

The 2 alignment pins on the back of the motor that go into the bell housing are giving me the problems. I cannot get the engine to pull loose from the transmission.

Does anybody have any tips on how to separate these without tearing anything up?

Ive checked and rechecked to make sure I have all the bolts out. Im going to check again in a few days when I start back on it.

Thanks

bubba33

Did you unbolt the flywheel from the torque converter?

stinemonster

Yes. I pulled 3 bolts. Tomorrow Im going to check and see if I missed any. Im 99% sure I got all the bolts but Im hoping I missed one somewhere because If I didnt it is stuck on the alignment pins. I sprayed some WD40 on the pins yesterday. Maybe that will help.

Unless you have a better idea Im probably going to have to just keep trying to wiggle it loose or get a hoist or pully and try to pull them apart. Dont want to pry too much because of the bell housing. Even thought about screwing some bolts half way into where the bell housing bolts to the engine and using a hammer on those bolts to try to separate them. I just dont like the idea of a hammer near the aluminum bell housing.

I will let you know if I find anyother bolts but if not, you have any other ideas?

This is the first motor Ive pulled in about 15 years. I dont remember these alignment pins when I pulled it and it wasnt a 4x4.

stinemonster

Here’s a long one…
It's been about 5 months since I followed up on my motor swap, if anybody cares. I got the truck back together and running about a month ago.

I put a 4.8L motor out of a 2004 into my 2001 4x4.

My 2001 SWB, Z71, Single Cab 4x4 had 199,199 miles on it when I lost a valve. Pulled the head off the other day and it didn’t burn a valve like I initially thought. It broke a valve spring. All the springs on that side look discolored (tempered).

So I changed out the motor with the following…

4.8L out of 2004 2WD with 72k miles - $430 delivered. Long Block with water pump, oil pan, valve covers and harmonic balancer pulley.

Didn’t keep up with the total cost but here is what I can remember buying…

Starter (about $170)
Seals and Gaskets (Oil Pan, Valve Cover, Water Pump, Intake, exhaust, etc…) ($?)
Misc tools ($?).
Borrowed an engine hoist.

Most parts were purchased from RockAuto.com. It saved me a lot of money.

It cost less than $1500 and took about 5 months to do from the day the truck broke down (The day after Thanksgiving). Didn’t have much time to work on it. This is why it took so long.

Had several problems getting the old motor out. The alignment pin pressed into the back of the motor was corroded in the bell housing. After jacking with it off and on for a few weeks I finally got it loose without breaking anything. The alignment pin stayed in the bell housing. Wasn’t too hard to get out once the motor was out.

Found out the differences between a 2001 4.8L and a 2004 4.8L. They have different a starter, intake, valve covers, oil pan, oil filter, oil pressure sensor connector, throttle body and water pump. I may not have listed everything. This is just what I can remember right now.

The truck went together with the common problems of not being able to reach half the bolts.

Here are a few things that may help the next person…

I used the Haynes book. Followed the instructions when I needed to. I would have torn stuff up without the book. A must need or at least another repair manual for these trucks.

The oil pan has to go back on with the transmission bolted up so you can align the oil pan.

Being a 4x4 I didn’t pull the tranny. Wish I did. Would have been easier.

Pull the inside fender wells off. You almost have to on the Passenger side so you can get to the starter. I don’t think it will matter on the driver side because of the fuse block and all the stuff on that side blocking your site.

Pull the front spoiler off and any other plastic you can to help get up or down into the engine.

Pull the hood. You can undo 1 bolt on each side and place them in the extra holes to flip the hood up. This is only good if you have the room to do so. It didn’t work very well in my garage because of it blocking lighting.

Make sure you have plenty of light. Install extra lights if needed.

Good luck putting the harmonic balancer back on if you pull it off to replace the front main seal. I rented the pulley installer from the parts store and the bolt was not long enough to get the pulley started. Had to rig it up to make it work. I believe it also called out for about 230 ft lbs of torque using the old bolt then you pull the old bolt out and torque the new bolt to 30 ft lbs plus another 145 degrees. Not easy on an engine stand, hoist or even in the truck. It’s hard to keep the motor from turning.

Make sure you label all your wires and use cups or bags to put the bolts in. This helped a lot when I was putting it back together. It had been apart for a few months and I wouldn’t have remembered where everything went.

Take your time. When you get frustrated its best you walk away. If not, you will break something.

I didn’t pull my exhaust manifolds off of the exhaust pipe. It would have been easier to get the motor out and in if I had of.

I didn’t undo any AC lines or Power Steering hoses. I unbolted the AC compressor and steering pump from the engine and swung them over to the side. I used zip ties to hold them out of the way.

Get a good ratcheting wrench (gear head or similar). I believe the size I needed most was a 15mm. It helps when removing hard to reach bolts.

Make sure you have a good metric socket and wrench set. It’s ALL metric.

Putting the truck up on stands and pulling the passenger side tire off helped.

If you have electric windows, make sure they are up before you remove your battery. Once you have wires hanging out every where you will have to remove most of your fuses before you can put your battery back in to get your windows up.

You are NOT going to get a Torque wrench on everything. You do want to use it where you can.

I was going to change my tranny fluid and filter but could not get the stupid torx/allen head bolts out they used to hold the linkage bracket on. How retarded can you be by putting round head bolts on a 4x4 that you can’t get too easily to remove. They are on the top side of the tranny facing up. I couldn’t get on them to get them off. Something I will have to figure out once I’m ready to work on that truck again.

GOJO. And lots of GOJO. It not only cleans tools and your hands but it will also save your clothes and your marriage.

If I can remember anything else I will post it.

Once I got the truck back together it started right up without any problems. I’ve already put almost 2000 miles on it and have not had any Check Engine light or codes come up.

The truck is running great but is getting worse gas millage then before the valve went. When I first bought it I was getting between 19-20 with highway/city, 4x4/no 4x4, AC/no AC. It averaged about 19-20 with the way I drove. I cruised on the highway at about 95 and always had the 4 wheel drive on when the roads were wet. In Houston you have to have AC.

Before the valve went I was averaging between 15.5 to 16 miles/gallon.
Now I’m getting about 15 miles/gallon.
I just changed the fuel filter out so I hope that will help. If not I’m going to have to take it to a performance shop to find out if the electronic timing is different from a 2001 and 2004. I may have to have my computer adjusted.