Engine removal guide R32 Skyline GTR BNR32

Prepared by David Byrne

Version 1.0

GTR Engine Removal Guide

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GTR Engine Removal Guide

Table of Contents
Foreword...............................................................................................................................................4 Plan of attack (general order of events)................................................................................................5 Car shut-down, Radiator removal and Crank bolt loosening...............................................................6 First really simply items to remove......................................................................................................7 Power steering fluid drain....................................................................................................................7 Aircon gas and connecting hoses.........................................................................................................7 Ancillary belts, hoses and electrical loom............................................................................................8 Under the car (Gearbox, exhaust and rear propeller shaft)..................................................................9 Drivers side drive shaft disconnection...............................................................................................10 Passenger side drive shaft disconnection............................................................................................11 Getting ready to lift it up....................................................................................................................12 Engine removal...................................................................................................................................13

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GTR Engine Removal Guide

Foreword
My name is David. I'm not a mechanic, I am a pilot. I haven't studied automotive studies, but I can read a service manual that is in English. The closest I had done to this before was helping my mate pull his RB20 out of a GTSt and the strip down and assembly of a couple of motorbikes. If you want to learn pick up a service manual and a spanner and give it a go. Please use this as a quick reference guide to hopefully save you from sorting through the 800 page service manual for the GTR not as a full replacement for it I want to thank a lot of the guys who helped me with the bits I didn't know, especially the following; All the guys and girls on www.skylinesaustralia.com forums who have submitted their own guides in the past or helped in some way or another with my questions. -my close friendsVinny Garcia for answering my questions, hooking me into skylines way back in the day, and always providing me with some great youtube videos to help break it up a bit. Glenn and Chris Woodford, Tristan and Sloane for throwing a socket around for me when I was too tired, had too much booze in me or just lended a hand where they could. 'Jimmy' James Taffs for turning up night after night at my workshop and telling me to get going, putting up with all my questions and helping out the preparation, lending me tools, and not getting too mad when I broke the tools he borrowed from his fathers toolbox. Last but not least, the guy who filmed 'Two girls one cup', that is the single sickest piece of media ever to grace the internet, seeing something like that makes me want to be a better person. Hopefully this will inspire someone else to give it a go!

Regards David

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GTR Engine Removal Guide

Plan of attack (general order of events)
Forward from here I refer too the passengers side of the car as the left side, the drivers side is the right side of the car, this is the side of the car sitting inside it, not looking back at it from the front.
This guide is going to tell you how to pull the motor and gearbox out the top as a single unit, yes I know it can be done separately and yes I know you can lift the car up and leave the gearbox and motor on the ground, but that is not what I'm going too show you how I did it. I'm going to first list a heap of tools you will need over the standard 3/8 and inch drive socket set, extenders and ring spanners, allen keys you should already have. 1. A couple high quality 17mm ring spanners, don't get two the same length though as you will need one with a thinner ring end so it can slip in tight spaces. 2. A mm socket for the crank bolt, inch drive should be what you pick up. 3. Ring pliers (Cir-clip pliers). 4. Rust killer spray for any really tough bolts. 5. A 10 litre bucket for oil and fluids 6. A large volume drop tray, I think a rectangular one is better than a oval one for this. 7. Rags lots of rags 8. Plastic bags of the push to close type, cable-ties, plastic containers for parts, and a bolt/nut tray with lots of dividers. 9. 2 Claw style puller, 6 inch size will probably be best suited. 10.Engine crane, your engine and gearbox weight 380kgs together so make sure you get a suitable size. 11.Engine stand, the gearbox is only about 80kgs, so I'd recommend one that is guaranteed for at least 400kgs as otherwise they get a nice droop in them due to the length of the RB26DETT and the amount of weight on the front of it with the sump and turbos etc. 12.Engine removal balance bar for better angle of removal. 13.Gloves, goggle and earmuffs, look after your body because it you need it to get the engine out! Basic order of events. I. Remove bonnet, car shut-down and crank bolt loosening to make stuff easier later on. II. Easy stuff to remove before we get under the car. III. Gearbox disconnection and exhaust removal. IV. Drive shaft disconnection (its times like these you wish you had a RWD right?). V. Preparing the engine to be lifted out by harnessing it up etc. VI. Lifting the gearbox and motor out of the car.

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GTR Engine Removal Guide

Car shut-down, Radiator removal and Crank bolt loosening
Remove the bonnet! Its two bolts on each side and it will make working on the engine easier and making removal of the engine go a little smoother. Start the car and remove the fuel pump fuse and allow the engine to stop from lack of fuel pressure. The fuse is under the dash, see below table;

Hold the throttle completely open now and crank the car for a couple seconds to reduce how much fuel is left in the return fuel rail. Drain the radiator fluid there is a tap on the bottom left of the radiator, or just disconnect the bottom hose. To remove the radiator undo the lower part of the shroud and drop it down, it has 3 quick clip connectors you need to push in. Now undo all the hoses from the radiator, and remove from the engine bay and disconnect the water sensor via the plug, don't bother removing it from the radiator. Now you only have the two brackets on top of the radiator and the whole assembly will be able to be lifted out the top. Remove the clutch fan, it has four 10mm nuts attaching it to studs on the water pump, you may need to rotate it. Fit a socket and a breaker bar to the bolt in the middle of the harmonic balancer, and then rest it on the chassis on the left side of the car, crank the car, you will only need to do this for a second or so and it will loosen the bolt for when you need to remove the balancer later on.
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GTR Engine Removal Guide

First really simply items to remove
Self explanatory, no guidance should be needed for the following; Battery Engine Oil Front Bar and front guards so you don't scratch them while working. Intercooler and all intercooler piping, and intake (including air filter/s). Lights if you want, the carbon canister needs to come out for the left light.

Power steering fluid drain

This can be done by first freeing the power steering reservoir then taking off the lid to the reservoir and tipping as much as possible into a container. Then place the container under the lines that run to the power steering cooler and open the lines that feed the cooler. Loosen the belt that runs to the steering pulley, and spin the pulley until no more fluid comes out of the lines, this may not be all the fluid but should be most of it. Now undo the two output lines on the pump itself and disconnect, move the lines away so they wont catch on the engine as it comes up. This step isn't a necessity as you can leave the pump in the car when you take out the engine but I wish to clean it up and the bay too so decided to do it together.

Aircon gas and connecting hoses

Once again optional how much you remove as the can remove the engine and leave the aircon pump in the engine bay it seamed a good time to me to re-gas the system, overhaul the compressor and check the condenser for leaks. Aircon gas is poisonous so crack a bolt when the car is in the open, I chose the one on the cylinder at the front of the car, as soon as gas starts coming out wrap a rag around the connector and leave the car alone until all the gas has come out. There are two lines that run from the compressor to the firewall, undo these and take them out so they don't get in the way of the engine when it comes up and out, you may wish to take out the condenser while the system is degassed.
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GTR Engine Removal Guide

Ancillary belts, hoses and electrical loom
Back to the engine bay its time to remove the ancillary belts for the alternator, power steering, aircon etc., they all have a locking bolt and another bolt to controls tension, you my have already done the power steering and alternator belts if you decided to remove the pumps and leave them in the car. Undo the bolts that hold the alternator on the car, slide it forwards slowly and disconnect the wires that are attached, now remove from the car. This is a good time to remove the primary earth from down there which bolts onto the engine itself. Undo the fuel output and return lines (circled) and put a joiner in to connect the lines and stop rubbish getting in them. Now the throttle cable and take off the clip from the throttle position sensor from the loom, it has a metal locking clip that will need to be removed to allow the plug to come off. Heater hoses that connect to the firewall on the left side of the car will need to be taken off as they connect to the motor, while over here disconnect the oxygen sensors on the turbo dump pipes so we don't forget them later on. The vacuum line that runs to the clutch and brake booster also need to come off. Take off the cam angle sensor from the exhaust cam, and follow the loom back and unplug everything including injectors (once again they have metal locking clips on the plugs) and take off the igniter pack and coil loom too, move the whole loom out of the bay and too the left of the car, disconnecting any remaining wires on the way. Now just do a visual check and disconnect any lines, cables or hoses that connect the car to something that will stay in the engine bay that I have forgotten to mention, but don't worry about the hoses under the intake plenum too much because you can get too them when the engine starts coming up.

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GTR Engine Removal Guide

Under the car (Gearbox, exhaust and rear propeller shaft)
Time to climb under the car so ensure it is jacked up correctly and safely, as a rule don't use cheap pin type stands, never use the cars standard jack, and don't work on the car unless it is on a level surface, on stands and its probably a good idea to throw something under the wheels off the ground just to be safe. Remove the full exhaust system it will give you more room later on when you need it, drop the cat back off in one piece, then undo the nuts on the underside of the down pipes, you will need a long extender socket to get at there, now pull off the down pipes, remember because your car has two of them you will need to wiggle and shake them to get them to come down smoothly and in line with all four studs at once. Now its probably a good time to take off the heat shield that protects the gearbox from the exhaust. Mark the prop shaft and the gearbox bracket with mechanical paint so they go back on in line. Under the rear propeller shaft from the back of the gearbox, use ring spanners so you don't damage the bolts, putting the motor in fourth should stop the shaft moving too much. If you start threading the bolts you will need to split the prop shaft in two at the centre bearing, once again paint it first, then undo the allen key bolts and the bracket to hold up the bearing, a bit of wiggling will allow them to split, but be mindful of the ball bearings inside (they are walnut sized but be careful anyway). Drain the gearbox oil. The drain plug uses a standard drive tool stuck into it, I used a inch drive breaker bar. The plug is locate on the bottom of the gearbox in the middle but towards the rear. On the right side of the gearbox at the front you now need to unbolt the clutch slave and tie it up as mentioned elsewhere, this will stop you banging your head on it. You need to also need to remove the speedo cable on the right towards the back, and on the very rear remove the oil line that runs into the rear of the gearbox under the prop shaft, I didn't want to thread the main bolt so I undid the two bolts and removed the whole bracket, have an oil pan ready. Caution: Put down a covers on your interior in case there is any oil on the boot. Gear stick removal is last, to do this take off the surrounds in the car around the gear stick, to remove them you will first need to remove the gear knob by unscrewing it off. Remove the boot and using ring pliers remove the snap ring which will allow the whole assembly to lift up and out.

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GTR Engine Removal Guide

Drivers side drive shaft disconnection
First remove the wheel and with reference to the following picture (this picture is looking at the underside from the rear of the car looking forwards (the car parts are not actually this colour this is for convenience)) loosen the following bolts that I have coloured red, remembering some of them have split pins in that need to be removed before the nut will come off; The tension rod (blue) has a bolt at the front and two on the underside on the lower link (green), you will now be able to remove it. The lower link (green) will be able to be pulled down without removing if you have already removed the tension rod and undo the two bolts that hold the lower ball joint onto the hub, it might need a light bang with a hammer to loosen it. To remove the tie rod end (yellow) simply remove the bolt above it and with a large hammer hit the part it sits inside (pink) from the direction of the rear of the car. It is very important you do not try knock the tie rod end down by hitting the thread as it will just bend! Follow the drive shaft back into the engine bay and undo the CV boot that covers where it attaches to the sump. The boot is held on by a couple of metal ring clips, but the larger inner one is probably the only one you should bother removing for now. Now its time to remove your coil over unit, firstly mark with tool paint where it lines up in the engine bay, then move down the bottom and undo the bolt that holds it onto the wheel hub assembly. Get someone to hold the hub assembly and move back into the bay and undo the two nuts that hold the coil over up into the shock tower. Now a little wiggling will get the coil over out of the car, and allow you too pull the whole hub assembly outwards and upwards, this will pull the drive shaft out with it. Relocate the shaft to the rear of the hub assembly. Put everything back in so you can lower the car back onto the wheel if needed.

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GTR Engine Removal Guide

Passenger side drive shaft disconnection
On the left side of the car we can leave the suspension on all we need to do is remove the six bolts where the drive shaft connects to the output shaft on the left side of the sump. First mark it with parts paint so you line it back up correctly, then look for the six bolts that are in 3 groups of two bolts (two of these groups are circled in the picture) and undo these, this is all you need to do to disconnect the drive shaft on this side of the vehicle.

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GTR Engine Removal Guide

Getting ready to lift it up
Jack Gearbox up with a trolley jack, a good quality one that can go very low will make this easier, and make sure you put it in-line with the drive shaft as it will need to roll forwards as you lower it and pull the motor forwards. Put the plate on the jack right at the rear of the gearbox but where-ever you put it do not put it under the gearbox mount! Gearbox mount now needs to be removed first hit the the four nuts directly in the centre of the mounting bracket (in the picture the ones pointed too at the lowest point. Now undo the two bolts on each side which will allow the whole mount to come away and free the whole mount.

Remove the top half of the cambelt cover, and the cam covers themselves, using high tensile bolts you will need some that go through the bracket on the front right of the engine, and some nuts that will suitably work with the studs at the back right of the head, you will need to remove the oil and vacuum lines and the bracket that are currently using the studs. I used a balance bar to attach the chains too, these can be found online on the likes of eBay or purchased locally for a reasonable price.

Note that the crane is latched onto the rear hook in this picture but you need to hook on the forward point to allow the engine to come out on a better angle.
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GTR Engine Removal Guide

Engine removal
Remember your engine and gearbox weights 380kg with most of the bolt ons so use the 500kg or higher setting on your crane, you will probably need to jack the car up again to allow the crane to slide under the front, pay special attention to the location of the jack stands as the arms will hit them if not placed carefully. Now connect everything up and slowly try take some of the weight off the engine to ensure your chains will take the weight evenly. If the stands and crane will hold the weight lower the engine to its original position but keep the weight held by the crane, and now undo the engine mounts. I have circled them in red, you can remove the bracket when the engine has come up and out a bit. Now start slowly jacking up the engine slowly, you need to have probably someone watching under the car, and someone watching the engine bay. Only lift the engine a couple of inches at a time. As the engine comes up slide it forwards slowly, and lower the gearbox down slowly a bit at a time.

FORWARD UP STOP (Check lines and cables) GEARBOX DOWN REPEAT

This is a continual process, you will be able to get any electrical clips or hoses left on the car during the lifting out by simply stopping, looking around to what can now be taken off or disconnected (such as the engine mount brackets).

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GTR Engine Removal Guide

This is a very gradual process and it isn't too hard to get it wrong, just take your time, hopefully these pictures will guide you. Once the engine is out you will need to find something to put the engine down on, I recommend a thick old rug so you don't scratch your engine. The brackets on the bottom of the gearbox should come off so you don't bend them also. To split the gearbox and motor, take off the bolts on the front end of the front drive shaft after marking the connection with part paint, then undo the bell housing bolts. Pull the two apart from each other ensuring the engine is supported and doesn't topple. Now remove the clutch by undoing the 6 allen bolts on the outside of it and remove all the plates. Next is the flywheel which just needs the six bolts in the centre undo, there is a ring gear stopper on the top left of the flywheel that you can use to stop it from spinning, but I personally used a breaker bar to hold the flywheel stationary while I used a air ratchet to loosen the bolts. The flywheel and the protector plate will now come off. When mounting the engine on your engine stand, lift it up with the crane and bolt it on with the mounting points used for the bell house bolts, ensure you use high tensile bolts again so they don't snap. As soon as its on the stand it is a good time to start stripping the turbos, intake and sump off to reduce the weight on the stand (I will leave these for another guide). Ensure you take the weight off the crane slowly to ensure that the engine stand will hold the engine completely.

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