After searching I have saw that many of you have removed your 420a motor on your Eclipse with out disconnecting the axles. I saw some instructions and such with references to pictures, but link was unavailable and the instructions on here were not the best. Can anyone maybe re visit this subject for me with pictures and more detailed instructions? This is the only part keeping me from getting my motor out and my car has been down for 6 months. This is the first motor removal I have done, and conveniently all of my friends have ditched me, leaving me alone. Maybe if one of you guys are close to St. Louis, MO you might be able to assist me in this. Please help me, I miss my Eclipse.

Will this help you any?

http://www.2gnt.com/www/corbin/rebuild.html

(Don't worry, I've got no friends either :P )

No thats not quite what I need, but I appreciate it anyway though. My friends are lame ass dudes. When they need body work they are all blowing my phone up but now I need just a little assistance its like they do not own phones. I want my car back I got my $$ to fully build my block and all of my turbo parts are just sitting here collecting dust like they have been for over a year.

I followed that manual almost exactly when rebuilding my engine the first time last year. Very good to have.

I removed the engine without touching the axles as many have done. You need to disconnect the transmission from the engine though. Remove the oil pan and crossmember and theres an access panel underneath where you unbolt it from. Im pretty sure thats how it went...been a while but theres a thread on here that describes it. I should have pictures as well for my entire rebuild and mostly just where parts went to. Keep looking on here and I will try and find the pics of what I mean.


Oh, and I pretty much did everything myself too. My dad helped when I was ready to pull the engine and drop it in the bay just to get it lined up correctly but other than that, just me.

I am holding the access panel in this one just to show where it went in case I forgot along with the one bracket(bolt is on the bracket hanging down) Oil pan is also removed in order to get to it.


Access panel removed showing the flexplate and the 4? bolts you need to remove to separate the transmission from the engine. Im holding the one bracket.


Just another pic for some reason.


And finally a much clearer pic compared to the blurry ones before. This is the other bracket that needs to be removed before taking off the access panel.


You will need to spin the flexplate around by hand/tool in order to get to the other bolts.

More pics

What the AC bracket looks like after the compressor is removed.


AC lines. If your AC actually works you may need a different way of doing this. Mine hasnt worked for years and I dont really plan on fixing it either. ha.


Power steering pump unbolted and moved out of the way

Ryan comes through again with the pictures! Score.

Just start simple and work you way into it, man. Disconnect your wire harness, labeling the connectors as you go. Pull the intake and battery out. Drain your oil and coolant. It's nice to have the radiator fans out of the way, imo.

Remove your ALT/AC/PS belts and set them aside. Take the two bolts out of the pulley side of the PS pump and the one out of the header side. Then lift the PS pump up and hang it over the fender or headlight on a towel. The AC compressor is pretty much the same thing, although it's four long bolts in from the front, then you lift and sort of flip it around to hang it on the fender as well. There is no need to break any of the AC lines. Then you just remove those two brackets from the block. It's pretty straight forward when you get right down to it.

Of course, you should pull the header/exhaust manifold while you're at it, even if you just unbolt the lower half/downpipe. Leave the intake manifold on there. It will make things easier on you. The clearance issues are more side to side than front to back, so having the manifolds still there gives you something hold on to, but you can always use the EGR tube on the driver's side. It's the silver pipe running next to the head over there. You'll see it.

Keep an eye out for the two hangers for the engine hoist. One is on the front right corner the other on the back left. Of course, when you pull something off the engine, you'll want to be sure to keep those bolts with it. Some people like to use zip lock bags to make sure they use the same bolts to put things back on.

That's all fairly simple stuff to do. The tricky stuff comes from getting the passenger side motor mount out and removing the crank pulley.

Drop the big cross member that goes under the engine. Just remove the center bolt through the front motor mount and don't worry about it falling on you. There are still three other mounts holding it in place. It will hang on just one (although I wouldn't advise testing that).

The engine should hang low enough that you can use the CHRYSLER HARMONIC DAMPER PULLER that you can rent for free at Autozone to remove the crank pulley. Once the pulley is off, you're pretty damn close to being done!

The hardest part (simply because it's annoying as fuck your first time) is the passenger side motor mount. There are 3 bolts for it and one of them is a royal pain in the ass. Start by putting a piece of wood on your jack and raising the engine up as high as you can get it (jack under the oil pan). Break the top of the three bolts loose and slip it out. Then lower the jack all the way down and let the engine hang. Try to pull the lowest of the three bolts out now. If it's not quite low enough to go under the "frame rail," use your right hand to bounce the engine a bit while reaching under with your left hand to try and pull the bolt out from the bottom. I wouldn't be afraid to climb up on the engine and lean over the fender to reach under for the bolt if I had to. ;)

For the last of those bolts, there is a trick. If you look up near where the strut tower is, you will see a couple little hard lines that come up on the front of it. Follow them down to where they turn again to go towards the windshield. Feel along under/behind them around there and you will find a little dent/recess in the tower. (They pretty much block it, but it's for that last bolt!) Take a long screwdriver and *gently* pry upwards on those hard lines up at the top of the tower. This should pull the lines out of the way of that little recess you just found. All you have to do now is take that last bolt loose as you can get it and use the jack to slowly raise the engine until you can slip the head of that bolt into the little recess. When you get it there, you will want to try pulling the bolt towards the front of the car, bringing the mount with it. From there, it's just a matter of sort of rotating the mount and bolt until it comes right up and out.

Once that motor mount is out and sitting on the floor, take a step back, crack a cold one, and feel free to light up a well-deserved smoke. Getting that mount out is, imo, the hardest part about working on these cars. Period. Once you get that out, you're home free!

Get under the car and unbolt the clutch slave cylinder. It's the little do-dad with the line going to it on the front of the transmission bell housing. You can't miss it. Then look between the oil pan (which you do not have to remove) and the transmission for the flat plate Ryan showed above. It is the access panel to the flexplate. There will be one little bolt at the bottom. Remove that bolt and you will be able to see the two brackets (front and rear) that also need to come off.

Once you have access to the four flexplate bolts, I suggest taking whatever can of spray paint you have lying around and giving it one quick shot between the flex plate and bellhousing. The idea being that you want to get paint on the bolt hole on the plate AND the clutch behind it for alignment purposes when you put things back together. One of the four bolts is on a different circle than the others. It's not uncommon to get to your fourth bolt putting it back together, only to find the hole doesn't line up. More annoying than anything else. These bolts are heavy duty, so expect to use a breaker bar or be smacking on the box wrench with a hammer to break them loose.

This is one area where you might want some help, since the flex plate can spin on you. It's more common when putting the engine back in, but either way, you can remove the starter and wedge a pry bar in there against the teeth on the flex plate to keep it from spinning.

Once you've got those four bolts out, hang the engine on the hoist and put some tension on it. You're down to something like five bolts holding the transmission to the block and it's time to pull that sucka out. While you ARE trying to pull the engine UP and OVER, keep in mind that you can lower it down to where you can rotate it if it works better for you.

I don't have any pictures to add to this thread, but tegster definitely posted some related images up. If you're tackling this during the week, keep in mind that there are usually about ten of us in the chat during the middle of the day. Even so, try tearing into things when you get a chance. If you get some questions, jot them down on paper and post 'em up. We'll be sure to get you answers.

That's what this site is all about, after all...

Originally posted by DR1665
Ryan comes through again with the pictures! Score. Just start simple and work you way into it, man. Disconnect your wire harness, labeling the connectors as you go. Pull the intake and battery out. Drain your oil and coolant. It's nice to have the radiator fans out of the way, imo. Remove your ALT/AC/PS belts and set them aside. Take the two bolts out of the pulley side of the PS pump and the one out of the header side. Then lift the PS pump up and hang it over the fender or headlight on a towel. The AC compressor is pretty much the same thing, although it's four long bolts in from the front, then you lift and sort of flip it around to hang it on the fender as well. There is no need to break any of the AC lines. Then you just remove those two brackets from the block. It's pretty straight forward when you get right down to it. Of course, you should pull the header/exhaust manifold while you're at it, even if you just unbolt the lower half/downpipe. Leave the intake manifold on there. It will make things easier on you. The clearance issues are more side to side than front to back, so having the manifolds still there gives you something hold on to, but you can always use the EGR tube on the driver's side. It's the silver pipe running next to the head over there. You'll see it. Keep an eye out for the two hangers for the engine hoist. One is on the front right corner the other on the back left. Of course, when you pull something off the engine, you'll want to be sure to keep those bolts with it. Some people like to use zip lock bags to make sure they use the same bolts to put things back on. That's all fairly simple stuff to do. The tricky stuff comes from getting the passenger side motor mount out and removing the crank pulley. Drop the big cross member that goes under the engine. Just remove the center bolt through the front motor mount and don't worry about it falling on you. There are still three other mounts holding it in place. It will hang on just one (although I wouldn't advise testing that). The engine should hang low enough that you can use the CHRYSLER HARMONIC DAMPER PULLER that you can rent for free at Autozone to remove the crank pulley. Once the pulley is off, you're pretty damn close to being done! The hardest part (simply because it's annoying as fuck your first time) is the passenger side motor mount. There are 3 bolts for it and one of them is a royal pain in the ass. Start by putting a piece of wood on your jack and raising the engine up as high as you can get it (jack under the oil pan). Break the top of the three bolts loose and slip it out. Then lower the jack all the way down and let the engine hang. Try to pull the lowest of the three bolts out now. If it's not quite low enough to go under the "frame rail," use your right hand to bounce the engine a bit while reaching under with your left hand to try and pull the bolt out from the bottom. I wouldn't be afraid to climb up on the engine and lean over the fender to reach under for the bolt if I had to. ;) For the last of those bolts, there is a trick. If you look up near where the strut tower is, you will see a couple little hard lines that come up on the front of it. Follow them down to where they turn again to go towards the windshield. Feel along under/behind them around there and you will find a little dent/recess in the tower. (They pretty much block it, but it's for that last bolt!) Take a long screwdriver and *gently* pry upwards on those hard lines up at the top of the tower. This should pull the lines out of the way of that little recess you just found. All you have to do now is take that last bolt loose as you can get it and use the jack to slowly raise the engine until you can slip the head of that bolt into the little recess. When you get it there, you will want to try pulling the bolt towards the front of the car, bringing the mount with it. From there, it's just a matter of sort of rotating the mount and bolt until it comes right up and out. Once that motor mount is out and sitting on the floor, take a step back, crack a cold one, and feel free to light up a well-deserved smoke. Getting that mount out is, imo, the hardest part about working on these cars. Period. Once you get that out, you're home free! Get under the car and unbolt the clutch slave cylinder. It's the little do-dad with the line going to it on the front of the transmission bell housing. You can't miss it. Then look between the oil pan (which you do not have to remove) and the transmission for the flat plate Ryan showed above. It is the access panel to the flexplate. There will be one little bolt at the bottom. Remove that bolt and you will be able to see the two brackets (front and rear) that also need to come off. Once you have access to the four flexplate bolts, I suggest taking whatever can of spray paint you have lying around and giving it one quick shot between the flex plate and bellhousing. The idea being that you want to get paint on the bolt hole on the plate AND the clutch behind it for alignment purposes when you put things back together. One of the four bolts is on a different circle than the others. It's not uncommon to get to your fourth bolt putting it back together, only to find the hole doesn't line up. More annoying than anything else. These bolts are heavy duty, so expect to use a breaker bar or be smacking on the box wrench with a hammer to break them loose. This is one area where you might want some help, since the flex plate can spin on you. It's more common when putting the engine back in, but either way, you can remove the starter and wedge a pry bar in there against the teeth on the flex plate to keep it from spinning. Once you've got those four bolts out, hang the engine on the hoist and put some tension on it. You're down to something like five bolts holding the transmission to the block and it's time to pull that sucka out. While you ARE trying to pull the engine UP and OVER, keep in mind that you can lower it down to where you can rotate it if it works better for you. I don't have any pictures to add to this thread, but tegster definitely posted some related images up. If you're tackling this during the week, keep in mind that there are usually about ten of us in the chat during the middle of the day. Even so, try tearing into things when you get a chance. If you get some questions, jot them down on paper and post 'em up. We'll be sure to get you answers. That's what this site is all about, after all...

Thank you for the additional information. I am at the point of what you say is the worse. My cherry picker is suppose to be arriving any day now. Only thing left on the removal is the motor mounts transmission bolts and flex plate bolts and of course the dreaded crank pulley as well(ill be making sure to get the Chrysler puller). So You say spray each bolt on the flex plate for realignment purposes? I am installing a new clutch at this time, i so wouldn't need to spray this as it doesn't seem as it would benefit me to spray it.

Originally posted by DR1665
Once that motor mount is out and sitting on the floor, take a step back, crack a cold one, and feel free to light up a well-deserved smoke. Getting that mount out is, imo, the hardest part about working on these cars. Period.

quoted for truth. I fucking hate that stupid mount. I can take it off blindfolded now but I *STILL* hate it.

omg dr that was so long of a reply haha. ps get better pics they were hard to see

I pulled mine from the bottom. Left the tranny in. I spent about 2 days worth of work.

Pull the head, pull all the acc stuff off, disconnect everything.

Pull your wheels off, drop the car to the ground resting on the brake disks (put some wood down to protect them).

Slide something under the motor that either rolls or slides easily that just rests under the oil pan/bedplate.


Take your flexplate to clutch bolts off.

Take the tranny mounting bolts off.

Kick block until it falls on whatever you have under it.

Jack car up, slide block out.

Crack beer.

Drink.

Repeat last two steps.


Easy as pie. Getting it in was just as easy. Cherry picker....pfft.

I have a Automatic I didn't fell the need to make a new thread so my ? is.
-What's the difference between the manual and auto when removing the motor?

I would also like to keep the transmission in the car when motor comes out if that means less work, if not I would like to see a write up on taking out motor with auto trans.

Or can a veteran on this site post a link to the tread that will answer my ?'s

Thanks

The process is pretty much EXACTLY the same. The automatic trans bolts to the engine/flexplate in the same way.

this guide will work fine for both the auto and manual transmissions.

I have pulled my motor twice now. While that still doesn't compair to some people on this site, here is my advice:
If you are going to take the time to pull the motor, don't make it difficult on yourslef. Just take the hub-nut off and the two other bolts you need to swing the hub out and just take out the axels. Seriously, if you are considering taking out the engine, this is no big deal. It shouldn't take more than about 30min. MAX.
Then, just pull the engine and tranny together. There is less jimmy'ing crap around trying to slide out the engine, and once it is out you can remove the tranny no problem.
I did it like was posted in the beginning of this post once. Then I did it this way the second time. Everything just seemed to go much smoother.
Take your pick.