I have a 2003 Grand Caravan in need of a 3.3L engine and radiator. It looks like the engine might come out the top with the radiator and support out of the way. Has anyone tried this successfully?

 

I didn't remove mine, but the shop that did replace the engine moved the upper radiator support out of the way to make room. I had taken the fans off before I took it to the shop. You can also remove the wipers and cowl to make more room. The hood can stay on.

I replaced my 2001 Carvan's dead engine with a 2004 engine. The valve covers, EGR, plastic manifold, and flexplate must be swapped from the old engine. I found this out the hard way: starting in 2004 the cam sprocket/timing wheel changed and for this, the engine wouldn't start up. Had to put the 2001 cam sprocket on. It would have been much easier to do this while it was on the shop floor instead of back in the van.

A 2001-2003 engine should drop in with no changes needed. You can put a 2004-2007 engine into it, but you will have to change the cam sprocket and flexplate along with the other parts I mentioned. The engine mounted sensors should be all the same, but you can always use your originals if there is a question.

 

Just replaced my 3.3 in a 2005. Best advice I got was from the junkyard guy. Said "we take em out all the time" Just remove the 4 big bolts holding the sub-frame and drop the whole thing down. I did it that way. Wasn't easy but we got it done. You do have to lift the body/frame way high to get the motor out from under. I did it with jacks and wooden blocks (lots of 4x4 blocks). I had to take out the radiator mount, windshield wiper assy, both struts, one drive axle, and pretty much every thing else in the dang thing!
It's a nightmare. I DON'T recommend diy.

 

I take themout the top all the time. just remove wiper assembly and hood. peice of cake. IDK why you'd need to remove the crossmember. when I pull a motor and trans as an assembly the crossmember never needed to be touched????

 

Welcome to DF
I remove the engine just like 22mopar22 had said. The only parts I remove is the water pump and crankshaft damper, to gain more space away from the transmission. And I don't remove any cross member for the radiator or the hood.

 

Thanks for your input. The job is finished. Took it out the top with no problems at all. Simply removed the wiper module and radiator support to make room. Also took the balancer and water pump off the engine. Came right out.