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S13 KA24DE Engine Removal
18 Attachment(s)
I took some pictures to document the removal of my KA in preparation for my engine swap. I did this write-up to help anyone with little mechanical knowledge, like me Attachment 18652, who would be wanting to attempt to do an engine swap themselves in the future and are skeptical about the procedure. I'm not doing this myself because I don't want to spend the money to have a professional shop do it Attachment 18653 but because I have been building this car with my own hands, I've done the frontend conversion, suspension, climate, steering wheel, seats, brakes, exhaust, etc. and completing the engine swap myself would be the icing on the cake. I want this to be as complete as possible so if anyone notices something that I missed...please chime in and add to the write-up.Attachment 18654
Tools needed: Jack Jackstands Wrenchs Socket wrench Sockets(different sizes) Hammer Screwdrivers(flathead/phillips) Needle nose pliers Prybar Drain pan Line wrench 10mm My car is a '93 240SX with a KA24DE engine. This isn't a complete write-up on removing the engine because my car doesn't have emissions or the A/C components so those of you with those will have to look elsewhere about how to handle those systems. I'm just a regular joe doing this swap in the driveway of my apartment with handtools and time. Attachment 18655 The first thing I did was to relieve the fuel pressure so when I remove the fuel lines in the engine bay I won't have fuel squirting all over the place. Attachment 18656 To relieve fuel pressure go to the engine bay and pull the fuel pump fuse 15A from the fuse block, loosen your fuel tank cap, crank the car and run it until it stalls out. Attachment 18657 Next, I removed the battery cables and pulled the battery. You can put the fuel pump fuse back now. Attachment 18658 Done! Attachment 18659 If you have a front strut tower bar now would be a good time to remove it as well. Six 14mm bolts. Attachment 18660 Use a 14mm wrench to loosen the throttle cable nut. Attachment 18661 Done! Attachment 18662 I removed the MAF plug from the MAF sensor. Attachment 18663 Then the air filter... Attachment 18664 and the piping to free up some room. Attachment 18665 Done! After removing the battery, the throttle cable and the intake I concentrated on draining all my fluids, powersteering, transmission, oil, coolant and clutch. Attachment 18666 I began with the powersteering fluid by disconecting the two small hoses coming from the P/S resevoir... Attachment 18667 and draining the fluid into a bottle. Attachment 18668 Done! Gatorade's newest flavor...P/S grape mango...have some!? Attachment 18669 Of course there's some fluid remaining in the P/S pump and the steering rack so I just capped them off to prevent any spillage. Go ahead and remove the powersteering banjo bolt with a 23mm socket. Now you can take the P/S pressure hose off the P/S pump. |
26 Attachment(s)
Now for the transmission fluid, jack the front of the car up and place jackstands in the appropriate places.
Attachment 18626 You'll need a socket wrench with a 3/8 adapter for the transmission drain plug. Attachment 18627 The transmission drain plug is located directly beneath the transmission. Attachment 18628 Insert the socket into the drain plug and remove it, be sure to have your drain pan ready to move into place to catch the flowing tranny fluid. Attachment 18629 Done! Attachment 18630 To drain the engine oil you need a 14mm socket. Attachment 18631 Remove the oil pan drain plug.... Attachment 18632 and have your drain pan ready for the oil. Attachment 18633 Done! Now to drain the radiator coolant. Attachment 18634 The radiator drain plug is located on the bottom corner of the right side of the radiator. Attachment 18635 To remove the plug just use a phillipshead screwdriver. Attachment 18636 Drain the coolant out. Attachment 18637 One interesting thing I noticed was that because of the pressure inside the radiator I could use the radiator cap to control how fast or slow the coolant flowed as it drained, just like the controls on a faucet. Attachment 18638 Empty. Attachment 18639 Next, use a pair of needle nose pliers to remove the hose for the coolant reserve tank. Attachment 18640 You can let it drain off into the pan as well. Attachment 18641 Now you need to remove the upper radiator hose. Attachment 18642 Done! Attachment 18643 Remove the lower radiator hose. Attachment 18644 Done! Attachment 18645 Next use a 10mm socket to remove both radiator brackets.... Attachment 18646 and now you can pull the radiator. Attachment 18647 Finished with the rad. Finally you need to drain the clutch fluid by way of the clutch slave cylinder which is located on the bottom of the transmission. Attachment 18648 The clutch line is attached to the chassis of the car with this bracket which was not even attached on my car, not to mention the fubared way that my clutch hardline is kinked up. I'm gonna have to replace this hardline when I prep the engine bay, I don't like the "bendy straw" status of this hardline. The previous owner of this car was an idjot, yeah I mean id-jot!Attachment 18649 Attachment 18650 There is a bleeder screw on the side of the slave cylinder which can be used but since I am removing this engine and transmission I just disconnected the clutch line from the chassis hardline and drained the clutch fluid into a bottle. Attachment 18651 I used a 10mm line wrench to remove the clutch hardline from the clutch softline...god bless the line wrench! |
22 Attachment(s)
That concludes the draining of the fluids, now I'm going to disconnect the driveshaft. Jack the rear of the car up and place your jackstands.
Attachment 18604 The driveshaft. To remove it you need a 14mm socket or wrench. Attachment 18605 I ran into a problem here. I had a 14mm socket but it would not fit flush against the shaft because of its shape. I couldn't get the socket on either side of the driveshaft bolts so I used a 14mm wrench which I could get to sit flush and hit the end of the wrench with my 3lb. hammer(Mjollnir) to bust the nuts loose on the driveshaft bolts. Attachment 18606 After you get each nut loose on the driveshaft, you need to go to the inside of the car and let the ebrake down... Attachment 18607 so you can spin the driveshaft with your hands which will allow you to move the next driveshaft bolt/nut into position for removal. Let the ebrake back up so the shaft won't spin on you and keep going until you remove all four bolts/nuts. Attachment 18608 Next, use a 17mm socket to remove the center bearing mounting brackets. There are two bolts on them. Attachment 18609 After that I used my hammer to knock the driveshaft loose from the differential. I couldn't budge it with my hands.Attachment 18610 Attachment 18611 Driveshaft. Attachment 18612 Use your hands to twist and pull the driveshaft from the transmission. Attachment 18613 Done! Attachment 18614 Stash something in the end of the tranny to keep any remaining fluid from dripping out. Attachment 18615 Now for the shifter removal. Attachment 18616 Remove the trim plate and center console. Attachment 18617 Remove your shift knob. Attachment 18618 Use a phillipshead screwdriver to remove the four bolts on the shift lever rubber boot. Attachment 18619 Attachment 18620 Two bolts here. Attachment 18621 Attachment 18622 Now you can pull the shifter out. I'm certain again that someone has messed up this car in the past because there was no snap rings on my shifter that needed to be removed which was quite odd. Attachment 18623 Attachment 18624 Attachment 18625 Finished with the shifter removal. |
27 Attachment(s)
Now I'm going to remove the grounds.
Attachment 18577 I started with the battery cable grounded to the engine. 10mm socket. Attachment 18578 10mm socket here. Not sure where this ground is coming from? Attachment 18579 10mm or a phillipshead screwdriver for the shock tower. Attachment 18580 10mm wrench for the alternator ground. Attachment 18581 Alternator grounds. Attachment 18582 10mm for the starter ground. Attachment 18583 Use a phillipshead screwdriver to remove this ground from the engine to the firewall. Attachment 18584 Battery tray. Attachment 18585 This is another ground on the rear of the engine near the back of the exhaust manifold. After that I moved on to the engine harness itself. Attachment 18586 I started by disconneting all the plugs of the upper engine harness in the engine bay. Attachment 18587 Two plugs near the battery tray for light control I believe. Attachment 18588 Done! Attachment 18589 Not sure what this plug is for? Attachment 18590 Or this one? Attachment 18591 Coolant temp sensor and coolant temp guage sender. Attachment 18592 The four fuel injector harnesses. Attachment 18593 You need a 10mm socket to remove two bolts on this cover before you can get the injector harnesses off. Attachment 18594 Distributor. Attachment 18595 MAF. Attachment 18596 Powersteering pump. Attachment 18597 The ignition coil has two harnesses, this one... Attachment 18598 and this one. You'll also have to remove the ignition coil, two 10mm bolts take it right off... Attachment 18599 so that you can remove the ground on it. Go ahead and disconnect the spark plug wire while you're at it. Attachment 18600 The rear of the valve cover. Attachment 18601 The O2 sensor. Attachment 18602 Done! Attachment 18603 Now to disconnect the harness from the ECU and pull it through the firewall. |
25 Attachment(s)
Attachment 18552
You need to remove the glovebox and kick panel to get to the ECU and the wiring harness. Attachment 18553 Use a phillipshead screwdriver to remove the two screws on the glovebox mounting tabs. Attachment 18554 Attachment 18555 Remove the four bolts holding the glovebox reinforcement. Attachment 18556 Next you need to remove the clips and bolts holding the kick panel on. Attachment 18557 Rocker panel. Attachment 18558 Door jam. Attachment 18559 Lower kick panel. Attachment 18560 Upper kick panel near the kick panel light. Attachment 18561 Done, but don't yank it out... Attachment 18562 because you have to disconnect the harness for the kick panel light. Attachment 18563 ECU and wiring harness. Attachment 18564 Use a phillipshead screwdriver to remove the two bolts holding the ECU to the chassis. This is the lower bolt... Attachment 18565 and this is the upper bolt. Attachment 18566 Done! Attachment 18567 Disconnect this brown harness. Attachment 18568 Use a 10mm socket to remove the bolt holding the wiring harness to the ECU. Attachment 18569 Done! Attachment 18570 ECU Attachment 18571 There is another harness that needs to be unplugged here. Attachment 18572 There is a fastener on the wiring harness that holds it to the chassis here...remove it. Attachment 18573 Use a prybar to remove the rubber stopper on the firewall. Attachment 18574 Slowly start pulling the wiring harness through the hole in the firewall. Attachment 18575 You may have to go inside and work it through but eventually it comes out. Attachment 18576 Done! Upper engine harness. If you plan to have the wiring done through a wiring service you will need your SR, CA, RB, etc. wiring harness and the KA upper engine wiring harness to send out to them. |
14 Attachment(s)
After that I checked the engine bay for any other things connected to the engine, mainly the lower engine harness for plugs still connected to the car.
Attachment 18538 These two. Attachment 18539 This one was from the starter. Attachment 18540 Not sure about this one. Attachment 18541 Alternator harness. Attachment 18542 Oil pressure sender. Attachment 18543 I'm gonna be glad to get rid of this oil leak. Front main seal went out so no more autocrossing for me. Attachment 18544 I also removed the heater hoses from the rear of the engine going to the firewall. There are two of them. Attachment 18545 The fuel filter hoses need to be removed also. Attachment 18546 Done! Attachment 18547 The brake booster hose needs to be disconnected from the engine. Use a 10mm socket to remove this bracket. Attachment 18548 Done! Attachment 18549 Use a pair of needle nose pliers to remove the end of the brake booster hose from the engine here. Finally, I removed the motor/transmission mount bolts. Attachment 18550 You need a 19mm socket to remove the four transmission crossmember bolts. My car only had 3 crossmember bolts on it....WTF!!! Attachment 18551 You need a 15mm socket to remove the left and right motor mount nuts, one under the exhaust manifold and the other located under the intake manifold near the oil filter. From this point the engine is ready to be chained and hoisted out of the engine bay. I will update this thread with pics when I get a hoist and pull the motor. |
nice work
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i expected a... Done! at the end haha nice write up
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cool guy, cool writeup. noice
sticky? |
good write up. this shud come in hand in a year or so from now
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i just want to say that this write up is amazing. thank you for the details and the pictures that go with them. keep up the awsome work.
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good job bro.. with all the engine swaps i have done.. i should have been had this up there.. some of the steps i dont use, but awesome work
thank you |
Wow. It looks like it took longer to write up this post w/pictures than it did to actually remove the engine. Thanks, this is good stuff!
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Update!!!
5 Attachment(s)
I got a engine hoist and pulled my KA yesterday. There were only a few things that I needed to do before pulling it but it went very smoothly. I bought a 5ft. chain and two links from Lowes and we were ready to get to it.
Attachment 18346 First off, this harness which I couldn't identify before turns out to be the speed sensor harness. Attachment 18347 The speed sensor which you will need to remove with a 10mm wrench and unscrew so you can swap it to the SR. After that, I only had to remove the bolts on the header connecting it to the exhaust manifold and the cat. Attachment 18348 Remove the hood latch, four bolts with a 12mm socket. Attachment 18349 Chain the engine up good, we ran a chain through the intake and exhaust runners... Attachment 18350 and pull her out slowly. Be careful of the firewall clearance so go slowly and when you get the block clear of the bay have someone get into the bay and pick up on the transmission which is light because the hoist is supporting all the weight. You can then pull it completely out and you are done! |
awesome write up i hope this gets stikied so i can use this guide when i do mine in a few months time
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