After a ****ty weekend with a stomach bug I finally felt well enough to make some progress. I wasn’t going to leave the timing belt up to chance.
I did a bunch of research and it’s weird but the 1mz is definitely a non interference engine and I can’t get any credible info as to whether or not the 3mz is or is not a non interference motor as well. Some say it is a partial interference but it’s virtually an identical design to the 1mz the cylinders have more volume which would lead me to suspect it is non interference but ultimately it wasn’t worth the risk so I took the cover off, removed the tensioner and repositioned the crank and now I feel much better about the alignment. I’ll be tearing this engine down either to rebuild or to sell spare parts in the future and I will be able to definitively say wether or not the 3mz is or is not an interference engine. I’m guessing. It is either non interference or partial interference.

We just got the engine in the bay an hour ago but unfortunately cracked the windshield on the edge -__-.
Will worry about that once the car is up and running again. So now we just have to mate the engine and transmission, make a bunch of vacuum and electrical connections attach the driveshaft the cv axels, radiator, compressor, alternator, the catalytic converter/ exhaust headers to the exhaust system. And I might as well do the back brakes while I’m at it. I should have cleaned the MAF sensor while it was out but I still plan on doing that.
What I really should have done was taken the plenum and the engine mount bracket off the engine while hoisting it into the bay then we probably wouldn’t have hit the glass. I ended up taking the bracket off anyway since it was getting hung up on the frame and compression lines lines for the ac.
But it’s all downhill from here.

the pics with the white paint pen marks are the redo and the purple iPhone mark up photos is what it looked like when I was worrying.

 

 

Good camera shot and marks!


>> Good camera shot and marks

>> Good camera shot and marks

 

the pics with the purple marks were the ones I was worried about the ones with the white are the redo that I’m feeling more confident about

 

Here is both timing marks on the crankshaft, qty 2 in total on the crankshaft.

This one goes on the "Dotted Line" on the belt if I remember- see "DOT" and "Reference Mark" in bottom right of image below.

(posted in fair use for commentary and discussion)




>> This is the other mark in your camera shots above.

 

you can just barely make out the dotted line on the belt from the angle I took the photo but it is there.

 

Ok cool, I got to thinking I remember there being two markings on the crankshaft sprocket and forgot what they looked like so I dug that up to compare for ya.

 

Finally was able to mate the engine and bellhousing. I put 1 or 2 wrong length bolts in but that is an easy fix now that the two are snug as a bug in a rug.

I tried everything before today. Using ladyfoot pry bars to align the bolt holes. Raising and lowering the engine and hoist in every direction while they were both free floating. Bolting the engine to the mounts to render it stationary and level, putting th transmission back in the front mount stud, taking it off. Jacking up on the seam between the two. I was at a complete loss of ideas.

I had to contact 5 Mobil mechanics. 2 said they wouldn’t work on anything that someone else had touched/ 1 said they couldn’t do it and 1 said it was impossible and could only be done by dropping the cradle. The first one I contacted though said he would look at it if I covered gas money. So $15 and he came by. When he came by he asked what I was doing with the other engine that was sitting on a pallet. He said he would mate the engine and transmission and help me button everything else up if I gave him the engine. But I really want to keep it to rebuild the engine. So after looking at it for 5 minutes he said he would try for 15 minutes to help me get them together then and there.

I ran in grabbed my tools and we began working together in harmony. I attached the hoist to the transmission which I had done yesterday in the 5 hours I was futilely working and struggling with no progress. He had me raise and lower the transmission with the hoist on his call and also loosen the bracket attaching the transmission to the mount and swiveling it to the side. After 10-15 minutes of jacking up the engine and hoisting up the transmission I heard the most satisfying clunk when the two fell into place and the flex plate went right into the bell housing.
the bolt holes on either side of the access plate were still 3/8” or so apart but we tightened them up with the bolts and closed the gap all the way around. It was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. Turns out this guy is 9 years younger than myself and he is a technician for the public transit bus company in my state.

As close as I could get things about A week ago

The way things looked as of 5 hours of struggling yesterday

The beautiful sight of success


best $15 I’ve ever spent. He also offered to come help me button everything up on Friday for $100 and I’m tempted to take that offer because the whole process of being unable to mate the engine and transmission together set me behind almost two weeks with the freezing weather, not being able to work and the 20+ hours I wasted on the exercise of futility that was my attempt to get This done.

looking back if I had to do it again I would either figure a way to drop the cradle or use an engine stabilizing bar, engine leveler and transmission jack in unison. So my list of tools to buy has slightly expanded. Now I need to button things up. I was hoping to have this done 2 and a half weeks ago/ by tomorow at the latest but it’s looking like I will have it done by this weekend (knock on wood)

Pulling this engine through the top/ out the front was definitely a lot harder than it would have been to drop the cradle/ subframe but with the limited tools at my disposal and my lack of experience doing engine work this was the only option available.

but the amount of stress lifted off my shoulders was immeasurable. I’m going to sleep like a baby tonight.

 

Kudos for making it work! FWIW, with subframe dropped, and both dowels in place, several beers needed to align tranny and engine without the car in the way. Well done.

 

in hindsight I would have loved to do this with a 2 post lift. Probably would have taken 1/3-1/2 the time and effort but I could only work with the tools I had available to me.

was debating using the hoist to lift the front end and making some tall jack stands out of 4x4’s but thankfully that wasn’t necessary.

 

Awesome job man!
I think the tech that came out to help easily deserved $100 for helping get that motor get mated to the transmission even if it only took ya'll 15 mins especially if he will come back and do more work IMHO

I helped a relative wiggle in a transmision on a jeep and there is no way they could've done it on their own.
Me and my bro in law laid the transmision on our chests laying under the truck and lifted it up in with a 3rd person spotting and guiding it, only took 10 mins but impossible for one guy without the car on a lift.

 

he definitely deserved another 25-35 bucks but I am broke. He wanted the money to cover gas to take a look and then offered to help me for a few minutes to see if it could get done. When I asked him for a price before he came he said it could be dirt cheap or up to $100 depending so I think I got lucky especially considering he works on diesel and hybrid busses this was child’s play to him.

the u151f is not a transmission i would ever want resting on my chest. It weighs 250 without the t case. But I’m going to try to get $100 together so he can come back and help be button this all up. It’s taken way too long to get this job done because of the hold up first waiting for parts a few struggles removing the engine and then the worst part was mating the powertrain back up. So if I can turn the last 10 hours of labor into 3 with my fiancé myself and this fine gentleman that would be perfect.

I was tempted to trade the busted engine for labor but I really really want to get that rebuilt and sold. Or rebuilt and then I’ll put that one in rebuild the other one and sell that. As horrible as that sounds it could be a way to get 500,000 more miles out of this beautiful vehicle.

I think $100 just for 15 minutes would have been excessive. If I were a wealthy person I definitely would have given that just as a tip but the $15 was literally the last of my money. Need to get this car running to have a steady source of income again. Thinking abo it starting a limited Mobil mechanic service as in if anyone asks me to do an engine swap it would have to be a very small engine with a transmission that could be pulled out with the engine and lifted by hand to mate outside the engine bay easily.

 

For sure, I see what you're saying.

No way I could do it in my older age but when I was younger I could do it with a helper. lol
That Jeep tranny weighed about that I'm guessing and we grunted shoving it up in there.

 

im only approaching 33 but I definitely feel my advance in age every year. When I was 15-22 I used to work at a hardware store most of that time as a color matched in the paint department but I started in warehouse and I pretty much ruined my back neck and shoulders by unloading about a dozen 2500-3000 pound 45 4 gallon case pallets of paint and other coatings each weighing around 60 pounds. Grabbing them all with my back and throwing them onto a conveyor belt in rapid succession one every 2-3 seconds then moving the next pallet in with a jack. That combined with rotating the old stock and stacking the new inventory in the basement / warehouse just destroyed my back and every year I feel the ramifications of that god aweful job that wasn’t worth the money or the experience. But I did learn how to use tools everything about paint and coatings and fasteners which has come in handy many times over. But man my back pain has been a major issue in my adult years.

 

So close to the finish line I should have her ready to turn over tomorow.

Today I attached the cv axels, reconnected the driveshaft to the t case and rest of the driveshaft. Put the hood back on, attached the front exhaust manifold to the engine, put a new air filter in and hooked up all the vacuum lines. I was able to get 7 of the 8 bellhousing bolts in but for some reason the one in the front at 3 o’clock will not thread in.
had to go to Lowe’s and get some bolts and then Walmart to get some super tech Asian red coolant since the peak green concentrate I was going to use was making me feel uneasy about using it. It is silicated iat so I figured p-oat is better for peace of mind.

What I have left to do is to install the radiator and condenser, hook up the air snorkel, get the battery connected, put the bumper reinforcement bar and front fascia back on, fill all the fluids, connect the torque converter bolts and put the access panel cover back on, fill the t case and rear diff, torque the crank bolt to 162 lbs/ft which I Should have done before I put the engine in but it is what it is. I have to drop the transmission pan again and make sure the filter is nice and snug because my fiancé doesn’t remember if she tightened them enough 🙄.
I would like to put new pads on the rear brakes but I can wait to do that. After that I can put the tires back on the front and take her off the jack stands that have been her home the last 2 months.