it's somewhat common on the KA24(d)E engines...

i have no idea where i'll be in a month or so...i wish i could just buy an S14 and make an instructional video and send it to people who dont like being rapped for hunderds of dollars on car repairs

 

Ok...I have no prob doing it myself...I have no garage to work in however...so whatever I do will be in the grass next to my house...not to mention I was told the tranny has to be dropped for this? If not...I would be MOST appreciative if you would tell me what it takes and if someone who is still in his learning curve can do it.

 

you dont HAVE to drop the tranny if you still hve the guides mostly intact. you will have to remove the 4 bolts on the front of the oil pan and losen the two others on each side to get the pan to move down enough to get out the timing cover.

then if any pieces did fall into the oil pan you may be able to fish them out. depending on what's left you can leave em or drop the pan.
dropping the pan isnt that hard at all...just a pain.
the easiest way to get it out is to roll the car up on some ramps,
put a jack on the bellhousing right at the junction between the engine and tranny( very strong part of the tranny)
unbolt the nuts that hold the two motor mounts together, remove the sway bar, and jack up the tranny. this will lift up the engin/oilpan enough to clear the crossmember and the oil pump.
you will have to curse and jiggle it around and mabey give the jack a couple more pumps but it will come out if you have enough clearance......
hope this helps...oh get a FSM also...it has great illustrations

 

Yeah, I need to pick up an FSM...would love to get one on CD, but nervous about gettin one from ebay. Problem with getting a jack on the tranny/bellhousing is that the car is litterally sitting in the grass, dont think the weight will push the jack down? I need to pave some area in my yard.