996 Engine lowered, can?t raise it back up

Hi there Forgive my naivety as I�m new to the forum but need some expert help! I own a Porsche 996 C4 I just had to change the coolant expansion tank / bottle due to age faults in the plastic. I read all the procedures online I chose to put the rear of car on Ramps And lowered the engine (to extract / replace) by removing the nuts on the 2 rear engine mounts and lowering the engine on a Trolley Jack. The problem is I have done everything but cannot raise up the engine without lifting the car. Any ideas? It�s very scary for me�.. any risk of damage leaving the car like this? Thanks so much in advance Martin

How much did you lower it? Sounds like the studs the rear engine mount hangs from have pulled from the holes in the hanger.

Hi there - thanks for answering I dropped it down 1 1/2 inches - perfectly measured ;-) The mount bolts look very well aligned to the holes� I even took a mount off last night suspecting it was snagging� but it seems not to be the case� what do you think?? Thanks so much

Is the car level ? If not I would not be surprised it the studs are trying to go straight in the holes but the holes are sightly tilted in-line with the car. If it were me, I would likely try the fiddle, wiggle, fiddle with it until it works method. A 2nd set of hands would likely be of benefit.

I am not understanding what you did "putting the rear of the car on ramps?" How did you support the engine, with a jack as you lower it? I think the car on the ramp only at the rear maybe your problem. It allows the weight of the engine to shift toward the front of the car and won't align the holes with the studs. You will need a second pair of hands to bend the studs and wiggle the tips into the holes. As soon as you can get the big nuts to thread one to two turns on the studs, tighten up the nuts and it will pull the engine in place.

Hi Yelcab and Zedbomb Thank you both for replying - I so appreciate your expert views. To answer your question - I put the car up on ramps at the rear to have access. And supported the engine with trolley Jack when letting it down. I have now removed both engine mounts to ensure no snagging on those.. indeed no snagging on those studs and both mounts look in good shape. perhaps you are right and I need to take it down from the ramps� ? just concerned then I won�t get access to the engine mounts to do them up.. and quite how I could move the weight of the engine and transmission forward or backward.. A worried 996 owner� did you think I could have bent something letting it down? ?? regards martin

Something on the front/top of the engine (the end that bolts to the tranny) is contacting the body/tunnel. Put the rear of the car on jack stands (make sure it’s solidly supported at rear jack points) and lift the front of the car til it’s level. You may have to wiggle the engine around a little bit but you should be able to get it/the mounts back in the right place this way.

Hi to all you experts for your help and responses. Whilst I am not finished I can confirm I reviewed all potential snagging with a scope behind to show what I could not naturally see. I took a 2nd opinion from a good friend also. And we tried all the wiggling possible but no hope! My conclusion there was nothing snagging the engine going up. So I decided to lift the engine higher even if the car suspension was being collapsed by the Jack lifting and hey presto my engine is now in place and mounts suitably tightened. So my conclusion is that I was being too light handed and should have pumped higher on the trolley Jack. All a good experience and now I have hands-on experience ;-) Whilst I have not assembled everything yet thank you all again. It�s a testament to these forums and you tube videos that we can get things done ourselves and learn more about our cars. I hope to help others one day. Regards Martin

Yay for getting it done ! Always nice when people post resolution to their problem posts.

Good job. Next time get the front up too. Keeping the car level as possible.

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Martin- Thanks for posting this discussion. I'm about to do this job and it was very good to get to see the conversation and the final outcome. Glad it was a simple fix and that you didn't break your car! best, fcb

Just a sidenote, not sure how my indy did it exactly, but he put in new expansion tank without dropping the engine and did it all in less than an hour. He's got big hands too so a big thumbs up for his effort. He said it was easy. I had read the posts on changing it out and thought better to have him do it. It can be done without an engine drop I guess Nick