First DIY on Porsche-drop engine & trans.

I am now convinced that I must drop the engine and Mercedes tip together on a 2003 carrera thanks to the knowledge on this forum and rentech. I have my new ims bearing from LN and thought I was half way home to sleepless nites by pulling the trans. and popping in the new bearing. I am posting this to stall a little before I go into the garage and start pulling stuff apart per the shop manual to drop the engine & tiptronic. I guess if I had to narrow it down to just one question it would be what should I buy to get the eng. & trans. down & out with? An ATV or motorcycle jack? Any thing else? How high up must the car be to roll the eng. out? Thanks- John

Look for a thread by Shark Attack. I think it's called "going in alone" - or something like that.

i have a thread as well, very similar to Kyle's... https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-complete.html

Just remember: Safety First! You don't wanna lose a finger or end up crushed under your 911 do ya?

Thanks for the replies. I have read the posts by Shark Works and others and they are helpfull. I am going at it slow but steady. I am told that I must take out the engine & Mercedes transmission together as one unit (2003 tiptronic 996) I would love to find some info on the mercedes tiptronic since the info in my shop manual has nothing on it. I also am not sure what to get to lower them down with and roll them out from under the car. Would an ATV or motorcycle jack be best or something else? With any luck, I may be dropping this thing tommorrow.

GL... would love to see pics, looking forward to seeing the progress.

Here's my post in which I removed the engine AND transmission. Much more involved that only the transmission. I used a motorcycle lift for the engine and a regular jack to lower the trans (together). You have to really get the car up in the air to clear the rear cross members. https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...ed-engine.html I need to update it with closing pics and key shortcuts.... learned alot that was not in the service manual. Let me know if you have questions.

Thanks for the replies- 15psi- what jack did you use to drop your engine with? I hope to do this tommorrow.

Quotes source post: 7713891

looks like that's the man to talk to...

Quotes source post: 7714128

Here is the lift - $79. http://www.harborfreight.com/1500-lb...lift-2792.html

Quotes source post: 7714295

wow that actually holds the engine huh?

Quotes source post: 7714536

Worked great. Well under the 1500 lb capacity. And sits nicely under the engine. My only complaint or warning is that it drops FAST. Lower it in baby steps. Also wise to replace the Chinese fluid with better quality.

REPLACE THE AOS while you are in there!!!!

There are proper jacking methods. I dont trust using the engine since the motormounts can fail doing it and an aluminum engine block isn't my idea of where to place the heaviest end of the car. Even if the book says use the funny edge area near the rear of the block I wouldn't trust it and especially if the engine is going to be the support for an extended period.

I have a very similar Craftsman lift I used, worked great and has lowering catches so it won't drop too fast. Rick 99 996C4 87 944S

Thanks for the jack info- looks like I am headed to Harbor Freights. Still need any info on the Mercedes tiptronic- my shop manual has nothing on it.

Quotes source post: 7715017

From what I have read on the 'comments' on the HF site, to make the lift go slow, you have to jab the pedal all the way down, if your touch it lightly it will go fast. The opposite of what you expect. HF engineering.

Good to know about the jack pedal up front. I just got back from Harbor F. with $250 worth of stuff including the ATV jack. Probably will have to go back before it is over. I am having trouble getting all the power steerting fluid out of the upper resavoir- can't get anything down that crooked tube to where the bayonet mout is. I guess I will just remove it and mop up what spills.

Quotes source post: 7715969

Yes- I wasn't able to get it all out before removing the tube. You will need to get some Pentosin to "top it up". Here are some hints to removing the engine... Lowering the engine about 7" will make removing the AC compressor much easier. Remove the passenger side intake manifold - a few bolts. This also gives you move room to disconnect the PS hoses. The coolant hoses are a pain - 2 tools wil also make it fun. Hose clamp tool, you can get at Sears ($24) and a hose removal tool that will seperate the hoses from the pipes. It looks like a screwdriver with the end at 90 deg and pointed. Just stick it between hose & pipe and circle around. The corregated airhose had a plastic clip that is hard to identify. Kind of a horse shoe. Might of been grey. The gas lines to my surprise barely leaked any fuel. While you have the engine out, replace AOS, spark plugs, plug seals, and consider the cam pads & chains. The waterpump is also very easy to do with engine out.

Here are some pics....

did you dig into this yet? I would go to the turbo forum, 996 & 997 both use an AWD variant of this trans and those guys may be able to give you some help (ignore front driveshaft and diff info, otherwise should be near the same at the trans end in terms of lines and mounts, except potentially at bell housing, as I remember it the m64 block in the turbo is the old g50 bolt pattern there) Alternatively pick up a 997 shop manual , that is the same trans as well, and almost exactly the same procedures (use your head though)

Thanks 15psi for the tips and pics- the ac is the next thing in the shop manual and I had not even looked at those lines. I have read that that back bolt on the compressor is a bear, so I may try dropping it first for access. Thanks htny for the recommendation of the TT &b 997 forums. I read somewhere that if the trans. is not placed in the install position that the pump will fail. The trans. pictured in my shop manual is not the one in my car. I think it may be the ZF in my manual So while I am trying to avoid an IMS fiasco, I don't want to have to replace a transmission instead. I guess I am at stage 13 of about 27 steps to remove the engine. The early steps are kids stuff, the heavy stuff still to come.

Quotes source post: 7716818

good luck, btw i'm not sure an atv jack is going to do the trick, but if you do separate jacks for engine and trans and drop them into a cradle or onto a table or multiple stands, you should be fine, i just hate the idea of putting that much faith in some chinese-made lifts holding all that german steel re: the tip, be sure to look at the bell housing before you try to do anything big, i'm pretty confident that these mb tips are not directly bolted on n the tt or mk2, there almost has to be an adapter if i'm not mistaken. i would recommend following the tech info previously presented, pull the motor and trans together

The back bolt is only hard the first time. Don't bother taking off the intake manifold, that is more work. On the passenger side between the first two intake runners (working from the back of the car) is a engine compartment heat sensor that is pushed into place between the runners. Take this out by pushing it toward the side of the car. Once it is out of the "socket" it fits into you can go straight down with a socket (I think it is 13mm) and a 3/8" 6' long extension. Once it is on the bolt head, which can be tricky, then insert the socket wrench and it will loosen pretty easily. You do have to draw it out of the bracket some to pull out the compressor. Another this to look for it fuel lines to the AC compressor. Not found on all cars, but my 2000 C4 has them (for fuel cooling). If you have them you need to undo them.

Another helpful hint I thought I would give you. To get the engine and trans out from under the car, with the engine on the ATV jack, the car needs to be up pretty high. I think I had my rear jackstands at 18"-20" plus at the jacking points. I also used a piece of 2x12 on top of the jack to spread the pressure out over the oil pan ( I have used this method to raise the car with a jack under the engine as this allows easy access to the jacking points on the side of the car for the jackstands) so you don't damage the oil pan. The 2x12 piece is 14"-16" long. It is possible to damage the engine mounts jacking it by the engine, but I have not had this problem. Now I was using a motorcycle jack under the engine, and when the car is high enough to get the engine out from under it the jack is not tall enough to reach the bottom of the engine. Here is what I did, a two step process. I put the 2x12 on top of the jack, then 3-4 bricks on their side, then another piece of 2x12 on top of that, giving the jack an extras 4"-5" of height. Then I lowered the engine onto some cinder blocks under the heads (or exhaust manifolds if they are still on). The removed the upper 2x12 and the bricks, jacked the engine up off the cinder blocks, removed them and let the engine down the rest of the way. Also had a separate jack under the trans, you will need this, and used a peice of 2x12 there too. Kind of a cumbersome process, but it worked for me. Also, get a long extension (24") and you can get at the bolts holding on the axles to the trans from the wheel wells a lot easier that from underneath the car. Having dropped my engine and trans 5+ times I can now have it out of the car in 3-4 hours, and that is with a C4 with the front drive adding time. I have a friend that takes off the engine lid and uses a lift from above, and he gets his out in 2-3 hours. Practice makes perfect.

Quotes source post: 7717080

It is when you are installing the compressor that removing the manifold saves time. It is very difficult to keep the spacer [1st pic] from moving while you blindly align compressor and then insert looong bolt. (I wrestled with it for 30 mins) Manifold comes off in 5 mins [6 bolts] and installing the compressor is super simple. But the engine has to be lowered about 7" to make it real easy, with full access. (a mechanic friend suggested this and I ignored it til I was putting the compressor back in) The clutch slave cylinder is another thing that is 10x easier to remove/replace with the engine lowered.

I spent 3-4 more hours today pulling stuff off the car and got most stuff done on the engine. The only thing I could not find was the fuel lines. The manual shows them on the left side of the car and gives a daigram but I could not find them. I got all the sway bar, angle braces, etc from under the engine except one bolt I will have to cut. I still have to disconnect all the stuff on the tiptronic... but I am done for the day. No wonder Brumos Porsche quoted me $2,600 to pull the transmission & engine! John

Quotes source post: 7718934

On my '99 they were on the driver side, above the valve cover. Find the fuel injectors on top of head and trace back... here is a pic ... see the red circle on the left.