I'll be helping my brother-in-law with an engine swap for his 2001 Stratus R/T in the coming weeks. I'm capable of doing the engine swap... but any quick advice for me?

I'm assuming the motor comes up and out of the engine compartment... not dropped out the bottom like on a Camaro. right?

Does the tranny (5 spd) have to be separated from the motor first, or can I pull them out as one piece?

Anything you've got for me is greatly appreciated.

 

Yes, the tranny has to be seperated. This is a FWD motor...you will have to disconnect the transmission and pull it out first. Unless you really want to tear off the entire suspension and then just drop the motor out of the bottom.

 

also, i am curious what engine you are swapping back in?

 

This is not an exciting engine swap... his factory motor has a bad rod knock. I located a low milage motor to swap in and get him back on the road.

Anyone interested in the old motor for parts or rebuilding? Its a 2001 R/T 5spd motor, 20k miles, ran great until this rod knock developed. My brother-in-law appearantly didn't save his oil change receipts, so the dealer wouldn't warranty the motor. Located in San Jose, CA. Email direct if you're interested. swilson@4x4wire.com

 

Well I started in on the swap. So far I 've got the all the fluid lines disconnected, radiator battery air intake removed. This weekend I'll be pulling the tranny and motor. On these cars is there any time saving tips on pulling the axles out of the tranny? Do the spindles have to be removed in order to pull the axles out of the tranny? Can I get away with popping just one of the ball joints loose on the spindles and letting the spindles lean out... hopefully that would pull them out far enough to pull them out of the tranny, but would allow me to leave the brakes/hubs still assembled on the spindles.

Scott

 

You know I think that the engine and the transmission have to go out the bottom, they do on the 4 door cars. I don't think that there is enough room to pull them out together, and you can't pull the motor away from the transmission leaving the transmission in the car. The only way I think that it will work would be to pull the tranny out first. Pop the ball joints loose and take the axle shafts out.

 

Unfortunately, you will have to disassemble the brakes/rotors from the spindle. The drive axles have to be unbolted from that spindle and then pulled out from within it.

The hard part about removing the transmission will be finding hands small enough to get into the drivers side area wheel well to remove bolts. I've seen people wind up removing all kinds of crap just to get to some of the mounts. You will have to take off the support arms underneath the motor as well.

This motor can be taken out from the top, but it is much easier and faster to drop it down thru the bottom.

 

Have any of you guys taken the motor out the bottom w/o a shop lift? I'm doing this at home in my garage. I'll I've got to work with is a the engine hoist, two floor jacks, and 4 jackstands.

 

I found out for myself last night, to pull the axle shafts from the tranny... you don't have to disconnect the ball joint from the spindle and you don't have to disconnect any brake lines to the calipers. Just pull the calipers off the rotor, and hang them from the coil spring... you can leave the brake lines connected to them (which means no brake bleeding later) There is no need to remove the rotor from the hub. And no need to disconnect the axle from the spindle. Instead of popping the ball joint loose from the spindle, just remove the two bolts that hold the spindle to the strut... then let the spindle lean out... which will bring the axle far enough out that it is out of the tranny.