I finshed swapping an '04 engine into my '03 last night. Took me the better part of 2 full days and 3 evenings to pull the old motor and install the new one (yes, I'm very slow). Also spent one night prior to the swap replacing the front and rear seals, timing cover gasket, and oil pan gasket on the new engine. All in all, a tough be doable swap. The RAVE was priceless of course. The hardest and/or most frustrating part of the swap was the tranny bolts (upper 4). The torque converter access plug was also a pain to get back in (I spent 30 minutes trying to wedge the rubber plug back into the oil pan!).

After intalling the new engine which had sat for at least 1.5 years, I pulled the fuel pump relay and fuse and turned the engine over for about 20 seconds. When I reinstalled the relay and fuse, the engine fired within about 5 seconds. Oil light was on for about another 5 seconds while the pump built pressure. Engine started and ran smoothly immediately. I let it run for about 15 minutes to check for leaks, burn off oil/coolant/PS fluid/etc, and come up to full operating temperature. Went on a very short drive and everything seemed great. No check engine lights yet (old motor did have a light).

I will hopefully get a chance to drive it again today and will give another update.

 

Well done. Yeah your heart always stands still when you start up the first time.
I'm assuming that the PAS hose got sorted out then?
How did you get those 4 tranny bolts in? They were a bitch to get out and I'm not looking forward to that. My engine is on a stand waiting for some final parts to arrive next week, then in she goes hopefully next weekend.

 

It was kind of funny. I found myself subconsciously coming up with little things to do that weren't necessary. I think I was delaying the first attempt at starting the engine (and this was at midnight!).

The hose got sorted out. The problem ended up being the fitting that the hose screws into, which in turn screws into the power steering pump. I swapped the fitting from the old engine and the high pressure hose connected with no problem.

Getting the four bolts back in wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. Just do the reverse of the removal process and have the engine dropped as low as possible without the motor mounts installed. It's tedious, your hands will cramp, you might cuss, but it's doable.

 

You betcha, I was a sgt in the army and have plenty ammo
My wife stays way out of range when I'm working on something, it keeps us happily married.

 

I kid you not, the torque converter plug had me cussing more than anything else. There's nothing like wasting 30 minutes just to stick a rubber plug in a hole. I have no idea what the trick is other than brute force. I lubed it with WD-40, and that seemed to help, but still a pain. Your "ammo" will come in handy. ; )

 

I planned ahead and bought 2 new rubber plugs, my old one's were swollen too far to fit back in.

 

Smart man (and much smarter than this one). You don't need to take the Driver's side out, but it sounds like you may have already handled that one. Whoever pulled the engine I bought had removed them both.

 

Bundu - That is the only way to do it. I tried everything under the sun to get my old plugs back in- heat, cold, lubrication, force.... I finally gave up and bought new ones. I was able to get the new ones fully inserted with one hand in just a few seconds.

 

Congratulations, that is a great feeling to get the motor in and hear it run. Hope it continues to run well for you.

 

Hey Bryan, hats off to you. That's friggin awesome. When we did my swap, it was all fairly easy, although it wasn't without it's bugs. They're all mostly sorted out though!

Here is my first start up (as I was lucky enough to have it on video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLVQdO7PD8M