How to : Remove a FD3S engine (not 56k friendly)

[Jim_rx7]

This is what the engine bay looks like at the moment...




The How to ....

First of all not all Rx7 engine bays will look like this. This has an aftermarket intercooler along with aftermarket induction kits. Also near the top right of the engine bay is a fuel pressure regulator (red and blue). The intercooler and induction kit is removed in the same way on a stock car. I think on a stock car there is also some air ducting for the stock intercooler.

These should be all the tools you need.... Minus an engine hoist, jack and axle stands.




I would advise labelling everything up to jog your memory and to take lots of pictures.


First things first, remove the battery. Simple enough job. Loosen the two nuts holding the clamp down and also the battery terminals themselves.






To remove the intercooler from the stock elbow you simply loosen the clips holding the hoses in place. There are also some holding it onto the block on the other side of the IC.





Next remove the elbow, this is taken off by undoing the 4 nuts/bolts hoding it in place. It will then slide off.





The engine will then look something like this...




Next we decided to drain the coolant the fast way. Simply by undoing the top radiator hose. (not very enviromentally friendly I know!)

If you wanted to do it the proper way you should get under the car and release the drain screw/plug from the bottom of the rad.





At this point, you might as well disconnect the bottom rad hose (which we havn\'t yet - but it only takes 30 seconds).


Some bits and bobs removed...

The IC, the air filters, the elbow and the battery.





To get access to the top rad hose to remove it, you need to remove the fuse box at the front of the engine bay from its normal location. All you need to do is undo the two bolts and move it out of the way.





This is the map sensor...



It lives near the top right of the engine bay. I would advise disconnecting this and putting it somewhere safe until you\'re ready to put everything back together. They don\'t like being bashed about etc.



Next remove the AST hose from the water pump/filler neck housing.





We then removed the belt around the power steering etc. This is simply done by adjusting the tensioner to slacken off the belt. You can see it circled in the picture (the top circle). The bottom one is the tensioner itself.





Next remove the clutch line. This is located near the top right of the engine bay near the map sensor. To remove it you use a spanner, one on each side and undo the right hand side of it. You also have to pull the clip out which holds it all in place. Simply use a pair of pliers to do this.

1 and 2 are where the spanners go and 3 is the clip.







This is a pic of my Upper intake manifold. What\'s attached may differ to your car. But I have a boost gauge lineand a  fuel pressure regulator line. Best to label these up if you\'re not sure what they are. Also near the top is an earth which needs to be unplugged.






Cover obvious places where any nuts/bolts could fall down!





This is a pic of the fuel lines which need removed. Again my car differs from the norm. There is a left, right and top one. I only have left and top as the other is fed into the aftermarket fuel pressure regulator.

To remove these, just release the clips and pull them back further down the hoses. The pull them to get the disconnected. You may have to really pull and yank to get these off. I would advise labelling these up as TOP, LEFT, RIGHT so you know where they go back.





Next remove the speedo cable, which doesn\'t require any tools, just a bit of fiddling about.





Now looks like this....





At the top of the UIM there is a plug which needs disconnected. This goes down to the downpipe. Possibly an O2 sensor? (don\'t really need to know what it is or what it does, as long as it goes back where it should!)





Next you should remove the ECU. The ECU can be found in the left of the passenger footwell (RHD cars). It is hidden behind a bit of interior trim. There are several plugs on this that need removed. I have an Apexi PFC, but the same principal applies.



After this you then have to disconnect some more plugs on the same loom as the ECU wiring. There is a blue plug and also a white one which might not be so easy to find. It is slightly further up and behind the glove box area. There is also an earth from the ECU harness which is bolted to the left hand of the passenger footwell also. Then pull/feed the cables through the firewall.


This is a view of the underside of the gearbox. What you can see is the inspection panel. This is removed so you can undo the flywheel bolts. This is the easiest way I have found rather than playing about with the clutch release thingy which I could never get to work!






This is what it looks like removed...



Also you can see one of the bolts that need removed. Simply undo these one by one. Once you have removed one, you can push the flywheel round to the next bolt using a screwdriver, or by someone turning the pulley on the front of the engine. Keep doing this until they are all removed.


You then need to disconnect the plugs from the gearbox. These are found on the side of the gearbox on the passengers side of the car.



Simple enough job.


On the passenger side of the gearbox you\'ll find the starter motor. Disconnect any plugs connected to it along with the earth. Then preceed to undo the two bolts holding the starter on. The bottom one is easy enough, but the top one a little more tricky. You need to get a spanner onto the back of the top one to hold it still while you undo the main bolt. Tricky, but still easy.

Once off it will look like this....



Don\'t let it drop on you as it is quite heavy!


You then need to remove all the bolts holding the gearbox onto the block. There are 6 or so (maybe). Easy anough to find, just work your way around the bell housing. All can be taken out from below with the exception of two. To get the top two I would advise removing the Upper Intake Manifold.

Be carefull when doing this as on a stock car there are lots of hoses/plugs connected. My car has been converted so the turbos run in parralel (spelling) instead of sequential, so alot of that has gone as it\'s no longer needed.


Your engine bay would then look something like this...







It is awkward to get to the top gearbox bolts (one each side of the engine bay), but it is doo-able with a spanner.



That\'s where we\'re upto at the moment. There\'s a few plugs to be disconnected, oil lines to be disconnected, engine mounts undone... and that\'s it!! (oh and drain the oil!)





I will continue this when I get a chance to do some more work.

This doesn\'t take long, about 2 hours this afternoon if you\'re confident and know what you\'re doing.

[Hayward North]

Some good stuff there mate

[DR SCHNITZEL]

Nice, but did someone steal your uim while you where having a brew? Good to mention the gearbox loom plugs i forgot about these.

[Jim_rx7]

cheers chaps. This will contiue when I get the chance to do some more work on it.

Should be handy for someone as I didn\'t have a clue when I done this on my first Rx7.

[Ada7]

This will come in hand for me one day i\'m sure of it :Thumbs-up

Adam

[rx7boy]

What is the procedure if I want to take both engine and box out.. any threads on this ?? thanks btw this will really help!!

[leon]

Jim, I love you! Im doing this job this weekend :Giggle

[BlitzBoy]

nice pics there, good tip for the clutch as well

[mx1311]

there is no need to undo the clutch at the line, just undo the 2 2mm bolts that hold the slave onto the gearbox, saves bleeding the clutch again

colum

[rico2k_uk]

oh ffs jim!

i only just sold your old one off

[Bobbit]

Any tips for disconnecting the exhaust?

[Jim_rx7]

Jim, I love you! Im doing this job this weekend :Giggle

It is a doddle mate. If you get stuck gimme a shout.

[Jim_rx7]

Any tips for disconnecting the exhaust?

Are you serious??

Just undo the bolts!

[Jim_rx7]

oh ffs jim!

i only just sold your old one off

I saw it up for sale! I couldn\'t resist the fun of another Rx7. Sorry did I say fun?? I meant taking the car apart!!! lol

[rx7boy]

What is the procedure if I want to take both engine and box out together.. any threads on this ?? thanks btw this will really help!!

Anybody