Tilting the Engine

1. Disconnect battery.
2.Remove the bolts from the two dogbone motor mounts located at top of motor front of car.
3.Disconnect the upper radiator supports (this provides a little extra tilting room).
4. Use a ratcheting strap to jack/tilt the engine forward. Attach one end to an anchor point toward the rear of the engine and the other to the frame above the radiator.
5. Ratchet/tilt the motor as far as possible.
6. Remove serpentine belt.
7.Tie a rope or tether of some sort to the alternator.
8. Remove bolts from alternator (if i remember correctly there are 3).
9. Using the rope lower the alternator down behind the motor so you can remove it from under the car.

You will the reverse procedure for installing a new one. Other people will suggest removing the windshield wiper transmission or resevoir. But i prefer to remove as few parts as possible. This same "tilting" method you will use to change your spark plugs/wires. So use high quality plugs /wires at least for the 3 rear ones or you will be repeating this headache soon. Trust me.

depending on the make/model of your vehicle, the engine may require tilting. shoukld be done by a certified mechanic.

Hi there:
The engine uses an air flow meter and any vacumn leakages would cause the engine to shut off. I would suggest checking the air hose for leakages, hidden cracks that would only appear when the engine is shifted into reverse.


When in forward gears, the engine would tilt to one side, there are no leakages but when shifted into reverse, the engine tilts the opposite way, ( old engine mounts tends to allow the tilting to be quite substantial) causing the air hoses etc to open up any cracks and allowing excessive air to leak between the air flow meter and throttle body causing the stalling.


Hope this helps; also keep in mind that your feedback is important and I`ll appreciate your time and consideration if you leave some testimonial comment about this answer.


Thank you for using FixYa, have a nice day.

the crank shaft bearing cap is located ,either side of the crank shaft, to prevent lateral movement of the crank shaft, or re engine block the location is at behind where the flywheel will be when the engine is complete, or at the other end behind, main drive pully, when complete the bearing cap bhind the fly wheel, will now be covered by the transmittion, (tip) putting and engine together is easy, but must be done inthe correct order, all bearings must be lubricated, & metel to metal surfaces such as piston rings big end bearings, require, a light coating of oil, 10/40 viscosity, general motor oil, i admire you ambittion , as with anything if you know its easy, if not , well ,? good luck don,t rush, assume, obtain a manual, i believe you can download one, without this or a qualified mechanic standing over you, and you have niether or you wouldn,t be asking , do not begin,with out a manuel or you,ll destroy it.its worth it , and when you here it running/purring with no fluid leaks, or strange noises , it,ll be a day to remember, i hope this helps, peter.

I suggest that you get the vehicle specific manual for the exact process but here's the general idea:

Remove:
The hood, the front axle nut on both sides, the tie rod ends, and ball joint, as much of the brake system and suspension as necessary to get the axles removed.

Then, with it up in the air on sturdy ramps:

CV Axles (making sure to put blanks in their place to prevent anything in the transaxle from slipping out of place, the starter, shift linkage, grounding straps/wiring harness, shift cables, speedo cable or wiring as applicable, sometimes both, any lines going to the transaxle. Hydraulic clutch lines if a manual and trans fluid lines if an automatic.

You'll need to loosen the motor mounts and possibly the hoses to the engine as you may need to tilt the engine downward to get the trans. released and have room to pull it out.

You should have everything out of the way, a hoist over the engine/trans compartment hooked to a sling around the transaxle to lower it and remove it from the bottom side once you remove the transmission mount and the bellhousing bolts.

There is a bar designed to hold the engine in place so that it doesn't twist too much, you'll have to fabricate a means from underneath or above to keep it from tilting too far.

I'm an older guy and I can do one of these jobs in about 5 or 6 hours these days. (Lord help me the next day though.)

This is why you really need an illustrated step-by-step manual for your vehicle. It's a detailed time consuming job.

Keep a pan handy for holding nuts & bolts, springs & clips.

Good luck.

That likely means that you've blown a Head Gasket. Don't drive the car any further. You can seriously damage the engine. You'll need some pretty serious engine work done. So, ask around for a reputable mechanic that knows how to rebuild engines or can install a replacement engine if needed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_gasket

See if this video helps

Here's an illustration: Disconnect negative battery cable. remove radiator fan (next to alternator). Loosen upper alternator tension bolts & tilt/move toward engine to give slack to the drive belt. Remove drive belt & then remove lower alt mounting bolt & top tension/mounting bracket bolt. Disconnect alternator wiring/connections. Lift alternator out. Assembly is in reverse order of removal.

Your readiness test will allow your PC to reset & if u are going to get a check engine light that's going to come that's the time it will come on, after the "readiness road test" Take it out & dive high & low speeds. If that light is to come on it will.

The three front ones are simple and the three back ones are challenging. There are two ways to replacing the rear spark plugs on the Montana.
1. If your arms are long enough and you have longs extensions with a spark plug socket with a swivel build in to it, you can get to the plugs from under the Montana.
2. You can get to the rear plugs buy disconnecting the two dog bone engine mounts in front of the engine and tilting the engine forward. You can do this by placing the parking brakes on and disconnecting the dog bone, once that is done. Place your foot on the brakes and take the parking brakes off and push the Montana forward till the engine tilts forward enough to give you the room you need to get your arms over the top of the engine with the extensions and spark plug socket. Make sure you place the parking brakes back on and put a block at the rear of the engine to ensure the Montana will not move back and cause you to loose your arm or head.
Note that you need to keep the transmission in park when tilting the engine and that your going to have to replace the spark plug wires and do everything by touch to replace the rear spark plugs.
Thank you for using Fixya and use platinum spark plugs to give you 100,000 miles of service. Good luck and be safe.

To get the alternator out, I had to move that large electical fuse / relay box out of the way,and remove washer bottle and battery. then use a 3/8" drive ratchet to move the tensioner forward to get the belt off. I used a small mirrow to get a view of the back bolts on the alternator and removed them.[ I used meteric # 15 open end & closed end combo wench. Keep turning the back bolts until the alternator become loose.]