Engine replacement in my SE-R

[Aaron Kurchev]

	Well, at 142,000 miles, shortly after a complete transmission
rebuild, my 1992 SR20DE engine died.  90% leakage around the piston
rings.  So I'm doing the only thing I can...I'm replacing it.  I found a
new engine with only 60k on it out of a '92 NX2000 with back end damage,
and began to do the job myself.  If anyone is doing this on their own
soon, I have some pointers on getting the old engine out:

- you MUST take the tranny out.  I tried to get around it, but there is
not enough lateral clearance for the flywheel and clutch to clear the
tranny housing.  That means taking off the driveaxles as well, and
pretty much disassembling EVERYTHING in the engine compartment and the
suspension.

- There are no good places on the engine to attach hoist hooks (unless
you don't care about the old engine), but if you have a few adjustable
straps, it is much easier.  Loop one underneath just behind the tranny
mount bolts.  Loop the other underneath the steel section of the oil
pan.  If you're careful, no harm will come to the oil pan.

- It is much safer to completely take apart all auxilliary pumps and
tubing.  The A/C tube and the power steering pump are big problems,
especially.  I was able to take off the A/C hoses, since my system has
been out of coolant for some time now (I never use the A/C anyways).
Remove the A/C compressor, alternator, and power steering pumps before
you remove the engine from its mounts if possible.

- Be sure to drain ALL fluids.  I thought I had gotten everything, but I
still ended up with a large mish-mosh puddle of fluids under the car.
Get the oil and filter, coolant (from the radiator and especially the
block drains), the power steering fluid, and the transaxle fluid.  I
think I had at least a little of each on the floor at the end.

	Most importantly, be as careful as possible with all parts of
the old engine.  I found that some important pieces were missing from my
new engine that I almost damaged in pulling the old one.  Hoses are
especially important to preserve, since most salvage yards will simply
cut hoses wherever.  I found that the majority of the hoses on my old
engine were still in great condition.
	At this point, I have the engine out and hanging from the hoist.
Now I'm prepping the new engine.  I'll keep everyone updated on my
progress.

Aaron
Akron, OH