Dunkley

Here's the list of stuff I'm planing to do to my car. It's a 98 Honda civic dx manual.

Transmission rebuild (bearings going bad)
Clutch kit
Rear main seal
Engine pan gasket
Timing belt and water pump
Accessory belts and and idler pulley
Driver side CV axel
Exhaust gaskets (exhaust smell in car)

So am I better off pulling the engine to get to everything or leaving it in and working around it? I get the feeling pulling the engine might be easier in the long run, but then there's also the trouble (and cost) of the a/c system, finding a stand for the engine (I would think), a bunch of other things I can't even fathom, and me being pretty inexperienced with cars.

carlos8

If you not have hoist and stand. Just drop the transmission out and work the engine in the car. Anyways you have to disconnect the passenger mount to slide the belt so the engine it's gonna be completely loose.

You be better taking it off by the bottom and working it out.

goldsy

Also if you do decide to pull the engine out, unbolt the AC compressor from the engine first, you can leave the entire AC system hooked up and don't have to worry about it then.

ih8speedbumps

^^

94EG8

It is easier to do the timing belt out of the car. The rest of the stuff doesn't make a whole lot of difference. If you're already pulling the transmission anyway you've done most of the work to get the engine out.

Tips and tricks if you're going to pull the engine:

• Disconnect the harness at the ECU and feed it out through the firewall (you will need to remove the battery tray) and leave the harness connected to the engine, this is much easier than disconnecting all the individual plugs on the engine and eliminates having to figure out where each plug goes later.
• Pull the rad (it's a single bolt), disconnect the lower rad hose at the thermostat housing, connecting this end to the upper waterneck on the rad, this keeps any residual coolant from spilling out of the rad. Pulling the rad give you more room, you wont accidentally swing the engine into it, and it lets you remove the 3 bolts holding the lower torque mount bracket to the transmission with an impact gun by using a couple of long extensions through the grille.
• Unbolt the A/C compressor and power steering pumps and swing them the side, don't disconnect the lines from either, simply pull them over and tie them up with heavy ty wraps.
• unbolt the slave cylinder from the transmission but don't disconnect the line, simply unbolt the line from the brackets and stays and swing it out of the way, this way it is not necessary to bleed the clutch.
• Do not unbolt the lower rubber torque mounts from the frame rail, the welded nuts inside the frame like to break off. Rather unbolt the bracket from the trans and block and remove the nut where the stud goes through the rubber mount.

B_Swapped93

As said you may as well, gives you a chance to clean the whole bay out and clean the engine off with BPC. just be carful not to snag any of the harness when you're removing it or putting it in zip ties can be your friend. You'll need a hoist not a stand just rest it on a tire impact guns and PB-blaster recommended but no necessary.

Dunkley

Awesome. Thanks for all the pro tips. You guys saved me headaches I didn't even forsee haha. I really appreciate all the help. I'll probably take the challenge and pull the engine, It doesn't sound so bad now.

The engine has ~154,000 miles on it. Is there anything else I should take care of, specifically while it's out and/or before I take it out? I want to do a compression test before I remove it, but that's all I can think of...

94EG8

Pulling the engine really isn't bad. After you do a bunch of them you can get them out in a few hours.

Cam and crank seals. The best advice I can give you is buy a genuine Honda waterpump and the same for the seals and accessory belts. The timing belt can be either OEM Honda or Gates.

Dunkley

Thanks man. Will do.

Dave _eg

I'd rather work around it.