Removing my M60 engine today, any last minute advice?

[LysanderSpooner]

I am in the final stages of preparation to pull the engine out of my '94 740i, and I'm not really finding any comprehensive step-by-step guides. This will not be my first experience with engine removal, but the last time was a Peugeot 604 back in the early '90s. Prior to that was my first car, a '73 Chevy Vega(!) back in the late '70s.

I have the car up on stands and a cherry picker to do the job. I believe all that is left to do from under the car is:

- Unbolt headers at the downstream end (just did this recently when I pulled the cats so no issues there)
- Unbolt engine mounts
- Remove the last few bolts from the bell housing

After that I plan to drop the car down to ground level, remove the hood, and hook up the cherry picker. I will have a buddy to help make the job easier.

My biggest question is will the torque convertor will come out with the engine or stay attached to the transmission? I hope it's the latter, because I don't want to pull the front clip or the A/C condensor if I don't have to. If the torque convertor stays attached to the engine it looks like forward clearance could be tight.

Any last tips before we embark on this?

engine-ready-to-pull.jpg

[shogun]

use this, it is an M30, but procedure similar http://bmwe32.masscom.net/johan/engi.../engine_1.html
you have to remove the 3 or 4 bolts from the driving plate http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/E3...eel_automatic/ which hold the torque converter on the engine http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/E3...eel_automatic/
access from bottom of the bell housing where the plastic cover is for airation.
Have not done it on M60, only M70.

Here in the E34 forum they recommend to remove the M60 engine and trans as one assembly https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...ur-Experiences
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tooTDGVp5Q

[m735is]

When I do my engine removals now, I remove the tranny with the motor. You will need to leave the car up the air a little to get the picker legs under it. I actually go from the side if another motor is being installed and leave the hood on. I've only done 6 cylinder models though- e34 and e32.
I take the tranny with it because I find it easier to get the tranny on and off with it out of the chassis. I'm usually working alone though, so since you have extra hands it may be easier to leave the tranny in place ??

[LysanderSpooner]

We pulled the hood, and as m735is said we left the car slightly elevated with half height cinder blocks under the front tires for a little extra clearance underneath. The hood comes off pretty easily and allowed us to pull the cherry picker straight back in line with the car, which is surely much easier than trying to swing it sideways to get the movement we needed.

Turns out we needed the extra clearance under the car, because as the engine was coming out the torque convertor wanted to come with it, only at a weird angle. Shogun had mentioned that there are three or four bolts that hold the TC to the flywheel, and the Real OEM schematic showed three, and I had taken out three and spun the engine over and could have sworn all bolt holes were empty... oops! There were four. So back under the car I go, and once I got the fourth one out the only other issue was clearance at the steering knuckle, but a combination of turning the steering a tad to create a little more clearance and then lowering the tranny down to let the headers slip past the bell housing did the trick.

Now I need to put my old starter on the "new" engine and find out if the guy who sold it to me did in fact do a compression check. The rust on the ring gear tells me otherwise. There is no evidence that a starter has engaged with it for quite some time, so my fingers are crossed pretty tightly until I get my own compression readings.

Onward!

the-engine-is-out.jpg

[shogun]

well done. Maybe you also used it, I have on the engine crane a load leveler, that helps to adjust the engine level when you remove and install it, something like this https://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...0934_200640934

[LysanderSpooner]

well done. Maybe you also used it, I have on the engine crane a load leveler, that helps to adjust the engine level when you remove and install it, something like this https://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...0934_200640934

Yes, that would come in handy. We did have to lower the engine back down once to move the chain a few links to one side.

One thing I forgot to mention is that we accidentally crushed the AC condensor a bit with the bolt that secures the AC idler pulley tensioner. It's the one bolt that sticks out the most in the front of the engine when everything else has been removed. I don't think the damage is bad enough to cause a leak though.

I also left both the AC pump and power steering pump in the engine bay so that I wouldn't have to drain and refill them. I secured the AC pump off to the side with some stiff wire, and the PS pump just hung down below the frame rail.

[LysanderSpooner]

Did I just trash my transmission?

The new engine is in, but I have noticed a couple things that have me concerned.

The first is that my transmission is now leaking fluid from the very rear. It seems to be coming from the upper left side just above the output shaft and it is running down onto the pan and then dripping on the ground.

Also, as I was putting in all of the star head bolts through the bell housing and into the engine block, there was some resistance where the two surfaces did not want to come together over the last 8-10mm of travel. Working around progressively through each bolt, the two finally came together with a rather loud “ting” sound.

It also concerns me that the torque convertor is now trapped against the flywheel, and rotating the crankshaft via the Jesus bolt rotates the torque convertor as well, making it impossible to line up the four bolt holes that hold the two items together. I have not tried holding the torque convertor in place while turning the crankshaft to get things to line up.

But getting back to the leak and the sound I heard, I have this dread that the torque convertor was not in place correctly to begin with, and that the sound I heard was in fact a death knell that somehow caused the leak, and that my tranny is now trashed. Then again it did need a valve body rebuild anyhow, and there is a low mileage tranny at the local wrecking yard with my name on it.

Thoughts?