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Swaping engine and trans from top ( first timer)



Well, i guess its going off to the mechanic tmrw. you guys have done so much i really appreciate it all, Ill report back when he gives me any info.
 


I think so too Scotty, but worst case scenario, what's the worst possible vac leak there is and are they all fixable? Assuming it's not a lose hose etc
 
I was hoping I wouldn't have to leave my car there. I don't know anything about these leaks but I can't imagine its so huge if the car can run for so long regularly before it stalls
 
its called un metered air getting into the engine, it fights to run. runs, then stalls out when the pcm freaks out. remember a computer runs the engine these days.
 
This was a head scratcher for them too, hopefully by tomorrow Ill have an answer, nothing obvious popped up on the fancy snap on machine.
 


OK, so its been fixed for the better part of the day. The mechanic said somethings were loose like sensors near the ac and he also mentioned the wires on the starter bolt not making enough contact(I tightened the sh*t out of them?) It did take him a long time to figure out what the problem was, he called me few times to verify I had done things like tc bolts etc. Anyway it was not a vac leak or anything major just something petty and small I hope, Im not fully convinced by his reason but i dont care at this point as long as it stays working. That cost me 100 alone. I was glad to pay that at this point.

Here's a price break down if anyone cares or is wondering what this might cost. Extra parts not related to engine/trans swap can be deduced from total.

615 Engine(1k miles)
620 Trans(55k miles)
326 radiator hoses wires oil filters fluids coolant plugs carb cleaner etc
140 2 ton hf engine crane
68 tools
40 lower control arm(busted ball joint while separating knuckle to remove axle)
15 crossover pipe (busted it by lifting engine from here by accident)
43 code reader machine
15 3 separate admissions to pick your part
100 mechanic (after i couldn't figure out why car stalled after starting)

1982$

Now if if yore just doing engine/trans only with fluids,plugs wire etc it wouldve only ran me about 1500, I decided to put a new rad and broke some parts as well. I still saved a good amount on whatever i would have paid someone else for labor(lowest quote i got was 1000), some money couldve been saved had i borrowed or rented a hoist or tools but i decided to buy instead, also being careful when removing things could've saved me about 50 bucks as well. Overall it was a great experience I want to try to this in another car. But for now I will be looking into rebuilding the engine i have here, something tells me theres nothing wrong with it. Thanks once again to all he people who spent a lot of their time answering my noob questions having patience and posting pics etc.
 
what ever he did 100 bucks is a good deal really to hunt and find things and then get it to run again.

make sure you get an alignments now, with all the front end parts being changed, struts taken off the knuckle and all you need one im sure.

rebuilding these engine is not cost effective at all, will run you around 2 grand easy. why used engines are king.

good luck, hope it goes well down the road.
 


Its been about a year since the swap and I wanted to update the thread a bit along with some questions. Ive been very happy with the swap, it's been reliable after almost 20k. The engine has been great the transmission not so much. Ive been getting the 742 stuck off code and I get a stall and jerk during take off sometimes like hiccup. I also hear the sound of a disk making contact with something when I turn the car off, kinda like a bad rotor but coming from the trans area while stationary. Talked to a car guy and he mentioned I might need to get inside the trans to fix?

2nd problem- I replaced the down pipe to pass smog (was getting 420 code)now there's an exhaust sound, imagine the sound of those great little 80's toyota pickups taking off, that little rattle they ALL make like a few bbs are flying around in there. The sound gets louder as I accelerate, it's like a fast ticking sound. I first assumed it had a bad catalytic so I put the other one I originally had on and sure enough the ticking persisted. Could it be a faulty flange? The sound is embarrassing, made the car sound old and haggard, specially when going 2500 rpm+. The replacement DP didnt throw the code after a couple days and it looks in great shape(used),I hope that's not it. what do you guys think?
 
It's hard to get it recorded with the wind at those speeds but its a typical clicking tick that correlates with the acceleration. No more clean sounding purr more like a clanky old truck.
 
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