3.4L Motor Swap Underway!

[insite]

so, the engine is in the car. i popped it in & installed the clutch & LWFW and a new RMS.

















i rotated up the resonance tube to get the valve as high as possible. this is REQUIRED to make room for the air conditioning lines. it was a total pain in the a$$ to get the AC compressor back in. that, and it's making a little noise now, like it's not aligned properly.....














i popped the tranny in:





along with some new transmission mounts from a 993 w/ some spacers installed to lower the transmission:




i had THREE issues with the transmission mounts. first, i tried to use 1" spacers; they don't fit on the trans mounts. then, i cut them to 5/8". everything SEEMED fine, except the stud protrusions from the motor mounts were a little long; they hit the subframe:




i cut off the studs below the nut. again, everything seemed fine. when i went to install the big crossmember that connects the subframes, it hit the transmission. looks like i'll need to cut antother 1/4" from the spacers. this will put them at 3/8".

[insite]

ok, so what's left?

1. cut 3/8" spacers to raise transmission above suspension crossmember
2. install suspension bits, bumper, etc
3. address apparent oil leak from cylinder 1 spark plug tube
4. drivability

this last one looks like we may have a small issue. i fired it up last night. the good news is that it started right up. the bad news is that i have a lumpy idle and a lot of smoke. it SEEMS like i have no fire in one of the cylinders. i plan on hooking up a code reader tomorrow to see what, if anything, has tripped. i'm hoping it's something simple, like a mis-connected spark plug wire or a poorly engaged coil pack.

i also seem to have a leaky spark plug tube. it's new, and so are the seals, so perhaps it's just not seated properly.....

i got a little excited toward start-up & took fewer photos than i had planned to. i will snap some more shots of the completed installation when i do some more work. until next time.......

[Oaktown 986]

Originally Posted by insite

i also seem to have a leaky spark plug tube. it's new, and so are the seals, so perhaps it's just not seated properly.....

i got a little excited toward start-up & took fewer photos than i had planned to. i will snap some more shots of the completed installation when i do some more work. until next time.......

When I put new tubes/spark plugs in, I missed about 3 proper "snaps", that could most definitely be causing a problem with oil leaking, but it wouldn't affect idle...

[schoir]

Originally Posted by insite

okay, update time! let's dive right in. when last i posted, i had an issue with some broken head studs. let's start there. these things were completely welded in place; no way to extract other than to drill.
....

this obviously took awhile. FYI, helicoils are awesome. they come in 1/2" deep inserts, but you can stack two, which is what i did in this case.

Insite:

Really, really excellent photos!

I went through something similar when installing headers in place of the stock exhaust manifold on a 10 year old Boxster. 4 of the 6 exhaust manifold bolts on the passenger side sheared off, the rest of them came out in one piece. I was able to drill in the center of each bolt until there were just threads left, at which point I was able to back some of them out and tap out the others.

Have you thought about installing studs onto the cylinder heads, instead of using bolts? After less than a year, the factory bolts that I used to install the new headers on my Boxster are already rusting, so I have sourced coated studs, phosphor bronze lock washers and brass nuts. I plan to replace the bolts with studs in the spring.

Thanks for taking the time to document your project so thoroughly!

Regards, Maurice.

[Gilles]

Insite,

Thank you for the great pictures..! You are almost ready to roll, congratulations !!

Q: how deep you drilled the holes for the helicoils..?

.

[insite]

Originally Posted by schoir

Have you thought about installing studs onto the cylinder heads, instead of using bolts? After less than a year, the factory bolts that I used to install the new headers on my Boxster are already rusting, so I have sourced coated studs, phosphor bronze lock washers and brass nuts. I plan to replace the bolts with studs in the spring.

i did think about using studs. i opted for ample amounts of anti-seize w/ the factory bolts. this has worked well for me in the past.

these particular bolts were by far the worst i've ever had to work. the bolts really somehow became part of the aluminum head. glad that's over.....

[insite]

Originally Posted by Gilles

Q: how deep you drilled the holes for the helicoils..?

i had two bolts that actually came out okay, so i measured the depth of the holes & tried to match that with my drilling. i believe it was like 31mm.

when drilling through the bolts, it's easy to notice when you're at the bottom. there is a gap between the end of the fastener & the bottom of the tapped hole; you can feel when the drill goes through the last of the steel. still, though, better safe than sorry!

[Topless]

Ugh! Extracting bolts that have bonded to the block is probably my least favorite job. I screwed it up more than once in my youth too. At least your motor was out where you could get some elbow room for turning wrenches and it sounds like you got good results.

From the looks of that motor I bet it saw duty on winter salted roads many times.

[schoir]

Originally Posted by insite

i did think about using studs. i opted for ample amounts of anti-seize w/ the factory bolts. this has worked well for me in the past.

these particular bolts were by far the worst i've ever had to work. the bolts really somehow became part of the aluminum head. glad that's over.....

Insite:

I did the same with my new bolts... I actually think that I have more anti-seize compound than bolts in there at this time! LOL!

I hope I don't have a problem when I go to remove those then 1 1/2 year old bolts in the Spring. I don't want to go through that experience again!

Again, thanks for the excellent documentation and photos you are providing to the community.

Regards, Maurice.

[insite]

i used anti-seize w/ my other motor with very good results. they backed out easily even after some corrosion.

this replacement motor was particularly bad; i think they degreased it & then didn't rinse off all the degreaser. it then sat on a shelf in a warehouse for EIGHT years....PLENTY of time for nastiness to ensue.

[schoir]

Originally Posted by insite

another thing to deal with is the brake booster line. on the 996 manifold, it's on the wrong side. to deal with this, i cut off the hard line that runs up the firewall from under the car. it's possible to cut off the flexible section, exposing a barbed outlet.

to this, i attached some 16mm silicone vacuum hose that i routed underneath the manifold & up to the inlet. originally, i'd flipped the inlet upside down so it pointed downward instead of upward. it turns out that it won't clear my intake plumbing this way, so i put it back into its stock position.



...
oh yeah, i forgot to mention that the engine is in the car.......and that i've started it.

Insite:

Did you happen to notice exactly where the rubber hose that starts at the top of the oil cooler (in your photo above) is routed?

Did your '99 motor have a metal nipple protruding from the top of the oil pump housing at the front of the engine, and was there a hose that ran from that nipple towards the rear of the engine, to the coolant reservoir or to a Tee with a connection from the hose that comes from the oil cooler and then goes to the coolant reservoir?

The reason I am asking is because a previous owner of my '98 engined Boxster just plugged the top of the oil cooler with a short piece of rubber hose and clamped in a bolt to seal it off. I haven't been able to find the correct routing of that hose from the top of the oil cooler.

Regards, Maurice.

[insite]

absolutely. it exits the top of the oil cooler, routes behind the starter, and exits from beneath the intake manifold on the passenger side. it connects directly to the coolant reservoir. nothing connects to the oil pump.

Originally Posted by schoir

Insite:

Did you happen to notice exactly where the rubber hose that starts at the top of the oil cooler (in your photo above) is routed?

Did your '99 motor have a metal nipple protruding from the top of the oil pump housing at the front of the engine, and was there a hose that ran from that nipple towards the rear of the engine, to the coolant reservoir or to a Tee with a connection from the hose that comes from the oil cooler and then goes to the coolant reservoir?

The reason I am asking is because a previous owner of my '98 engined Boxster just plugged the top of the oil cooler with a short piece of rubber hose and clamped in a bolt to seal it off. I haven't been able to find the correct routing of that hose from the top of the oil cooler.

Regards, Maurice.

[schoir]

Originally Posted by insite

absolutely. it exits the top of the oil cooler, routes behind the starter, and exits from beneath the intake manifold on the passenger side. it connects directly to the coolant reservoir. nothing connects to the oil pump.

Insite:

Thanks for the explanation.

Regards, Maurice.

[extanker]

Originally Posted by schoir

Insite:

Thanks for the explanation.

Regards, Maurice.

werent you shown parts pictures of this hose months ago ?

[schoir]

Originally Posted by Topless

Ugh! Extracting bolts that have bonded to the block is probably my least favorite job. I screwed it up more than once in my youth too. At least your motor was out where you could get some elbow room for turning wrenches and it sounds like you got good results.

From the looks of that motor I bet it saw duty on winter salted roads many times.

Topless:

Here's a link to my adventure with broken exhaust manifold bolts:

http://www.ppbb.com/phorum/read.php?19,1552140,1552140#msg-1552140

Worthwhile reading for anyone contemplating removing exhaust manifold to cylinder head bolts.

Regards, Maurice.

[schoir]

Originally Posted by extanker

werent you shown parts pictures of this hose months ago ?

extanker:

Never got a conclusive answer.

There is still the mystery of the extra metal nipple from the top of the oil pump cover, but now I realize that this may only apply to '97 and '98 Boxster engines.

The parts diagrams show two different oil pump cover part numbers, and Insite has confirmed for me that no such nipple exists on a '99.

Regards, Maurice.

[JFP in PA]

Maurice, that line from the top of the oil cooler is a vent to the surge tank to release entrained air from the cooler, which happens to be the highest point of the cooling system on the engine. By getting rid of the air, the laminar flow exchanger works very well; with trapped air, its thermal efficiency falls off very quickly....

[schoir]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

Maurice, that line from the top of the oil cooler is a vent to the surge tank to release entrained air from the cooler, which happens to be the highest point of the cooling system on the engine. By getting rid of the air, the laminar flow exchanger works very well; with trapped air, its thermal efficiency falls off very quickly....

JFP:

Thanks again for your invaluable input!

It's always appreciated.

Regards, Maurice.

[Onizuka]

Awesome project, I'm really interested in what kind of real world performance it will put down

[insite]

okay, i hit it with a code reader today......no codes. another oddity is that even though i'm using the RoW program which should only monitor two O2 sensors, i'm getting readings from all four.....

so, here are some numbers at idle:

MAF: 0.95
Ign Adv: 12deg
Fuel Sys 1 & 2: closed
ST Ftrm 11: -11.7%
ST Ftrm 21: 9.4%

the symptoms are a lumpy idle and a very fuel-rich exhaust with some smoke. from the numbers above, it seems that one bank is rich & one is lean.....

i will work on prepping a diagnostic plan tomorrow. in the meantime, any ideas are welcome! as a first order of business, i will check to see if the small oil leak from the area of the #1 spark plug tube is somehow related.