Engine and transmission removal - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

I'm pulling out the engine and transmission this coming weekend from my 2001 Boxster with 5-speed manual. Would it be easier to pull those together or first trnsmission and then engine? I have a two post lift, trannyt jack, lift table etc to help out. Seeking the time saving tips here and all advice from you who have done this stuff on Boxster before is most appreciated

The first major work I did on a Boxster was to change the clutch and I had a lot of trouble aligning the transmission with the engine when putting it back in. So when it came to removing an engine I did them together. It is a lot easier to mate the transmission to the engine when they are sitting on the floor. This does not exclude removing them separately, but if you have the equipment I don't see the advantage of removing them one at a time.

A couple of tips from my experiences. To make sure everything was disconnected I tied a string to the bracket on the top of the engine then got underneath and passed the thread all the way around the engine and transmission. Found a couple of things that were still connected. The red arrow is the attachment point, the blue arrow is the nut that helps drop the string down. Also the hand-brake cable gets in the way both during removal and installation, especially on the driver's side it can catch on the engine and complicate the installation of the fuel lines. During installation when you are reinstalling the A/C compressor with the engine several inches below its final installation point, verify the fuel lines are the right side of the cable.

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Great, thank you for these advices you posted. I had the paln to pull engine & tranny out as one unit and sound like it is the way to proceed :dance:

I pulled mine separately as I didn't know I had to pull my engine until I was already into it. Just be aware that together, they are a heavy hump of metal, I think around 600 lbs! The problems I had were not having the car up high enough. You need around 24" for clearance assuming you haven't removed the rear bumper cover. Then I'll second elgyqc's comment to be sure you've disconnected everything. I forgot to disconnect my aux air pump electrical connectors and broke the two connectors. Also, my fuel line got entangled and caused problems. It's very difficult to see if everything is disconnected and/or hung up so check, check, and check throughout the lowering or use elgyqc's method. I'm sure with a lift, it'll be much, much easier. Of course, you'll have to remove the lower cross member to allow engine and tranny clearance. On my car, this allowed the chassis to flex and not allow the cross member to be put back in. I've heard from others that this is somewhat common and the chassis can be brought back in with a ratchet strap when the time comes. (My time hasn't come yet but hopefully soon....) I don't think this is a big deal but nice to be aware of it when the time comes and to have a ratchet strap on hand when needed. Good luck on your project....

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Yes that works a treat...

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Thanks for a great info. Today's the day when those will come out The lift table I have is rated to 661 lbs (300kg), so it should be sufficient to drop the engine & tranny to. The chassis flex with cross member removal is a very good pointer, thank you again

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Trick here is to go get some bolts that are the same size of the tranny to engine and cut the heads off and slot them. Use them as guides pins -- once you have everything aligned and the clutch happy -- you put the rest of the bolts in -- and then back these out with a screw driver and replace them with the actual bolts. Mike

Engine is out :dance:

A good day's work for sure....congrats! Lessons learned?

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Thank you, the Lessons... Takes much more time that estimated - ok was not in rush. This is a nice project with my son to educate him same time to the mysteries of cars. Also a fantastic time spent together. Another one is that some 21 years ago installed palstic 'press-on' connection like fuel line is real tough to open... Fun project and next is clening of it, chain ramps change, RMS, IMSB, all vacuum lines change, clutch, flywheel, etc. Any advice on good clening agent to get the gunk upt from the aluminium without making it dull?

Ah cleaning! If you are taking your time, start with Dawn dish soap. Dawn is a mild, yet extremely effective grease and grim remover and it will not hurt the aluminum. Steam is also very effective. From there, degreaser and or pressure cleaner....

Congrats! Yes, although I've removed and replaced many engines before, my first time doing a Boxster was very trying and annoyingly difficult. But after looking back, I now realize compared to other cars, there really wasn't anything that difficult or hard to get at. In fact, it was the first car I've ever worked on where I could loosen every CV joint bolt without doing half and then turning the axle to get at the others. And nothing else was tough to reach. However, the first time is always much more difficult than subsequent tries. Also, when I was having troubles removing my engine, I posted some questions and photos and was admittedly annoyed but someone made me feel pretty stupid for not catching my error of lowering the engine with the auxiliary air pump and engine compartment fan still connected and breaking the connectors. However, after reading many posts over the last year of other folks removing engines, I keep coming across many others who have done the same so I guess with it being mid engine, it is a common problem to miss disconnecting a hose or wire. Also, the Boxster has so many unique or never seen before wire and hose connectors that I kept finding myself confused on how they even work. I remember having trouble with the fuel connectors at first until I figured it out. And then I was slightly shocked that the connection was so easy to take apart once I pressed it in the appropriate spots. It didn't seem secure enough for a fuel junction but every car I've worked on in the past has always had metal screw in hoses or simple hose clamps, depending on pressure. You never said why you're removing the engine?

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Thanks Like you mention, the design for disconnecting the engine and tranny is great. Easy, but fiddly due to some 'first time fuel line connections' and some tight spots around the engine bay. I have a luxury of two post lift and lift table that made the work much much easier that on the garage floor and jackstands etc. Clutch slipping at the track during last race of the season gave a great reason for this maintenance - this car is a fun hobby for my son and me to work on together - he's very interested to work on the car and to learn same time. Same time we'll replace at least: flywheel, clutch, pilot & throw out bearing, RMS, IMSB, all vacuum lines, chain ramps (5-chain engine), all 3 tensioners, refurbish driveshafts with new lubrication and boots, accessory belt, engine mount, etc. AOS we changed approx 1.5 years ago, like the coolant tank - both original Porsche parts, tranny mounts we did change spring 2022, so all those can stay there as they are now.

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That. I used that method when pulling my oil pan (so many bolts). RTV is the sealant. Not wanting to have to remove any smeared sealant then squeezing out more sealant I purchased four bolts... cut off the heads as you described... notched them with a Dremel tool... one bolt in each "corner" of the pan... then aligning the oil pan with the bolts so it went straight up. I purchased two?three? inch bolts so there was some wiggle room.