Hi there .. I have been away from this forum for a long time but in the past I've received good advice, so here goes. I'm a true believer in hydorstatic lock, it's not just folklore.

Driving the 1997 Eclipse 420A through a rainstorm the what I thought was puddle turned out to be a mini-lake, very deep. Well, the AEM cold air intake doesn't take too kindly to deep water and guess what -- My best analysis is the water made its way to the cylinders and Viola --- Broken rod on #1 cylinder. Block seems OK but the piston is no longer connected to the crank. Other cylinders seem OK.

The car has been in the driveway for a while now and I need to get it fixed, at least to stop the oil leaking on the pavement. So here's the problem. Do I fix the #1 cylinder with the engine in the car. That's a real pain, I just did the head and timing belt and I'm not really fond of working in the cramped spaces around the timing belt area.

My other option is engine removal, with the transmission (Automatic). But it doesn't seem line the whole thing can lift out past the shock towers. What's the trick here. Has anyone done it the other way ?? i.e. drop the cradle out the bottom lifting the car over the whole drive-train?

I need to get this going soon, I'm wasting $$$ and time, not to mention the gas in the tank is about to turn to glue. Also, any suggestions on draining the gas out of the tank in a convenient manner. Is it too late to put fuel stabilizer in the tank?

Thats a lot of questions but I really appreciate the help.
Send replies or send me private messages.
Thank you. Gary -- Atlanta.

i don't think you can pull out the engine wiht the transmission, i think you need to do it separate, i can be wrong though

Does the gas need to be drained? Mines been sitting for several months with a blown engine and should be running again in about 2 weeks; Should I drain my gas tank?

Two months is probably OK depending on atmospheric conditions. More than that I would drain the tank.

I have a manual car but when I removed mine in one piece I jacked the car up so that the bottom of the front bumper was about 3 - 3.5 feet off the ground and dropped it out the bottom.

So when you pulled the engine out the bottom, did you disconnect the entire cradle so the transmission, engine, and hubs came down as one unit?

Or did you remove the half-shafts so the spindles stayed in place and just the engine/transmission was removed. Was it simple to put back together? It seems a lot easier to drop everything out the bottom than fight with the tight spaces going out through the hood area.

Regards -- Thanks for the advice.
Need to get this going soon.

Remember you gave to remove the axles from the transmission.

You can pull it out in one piece but use a strap to support the transmission.

Like loop the strap around the housing and then connect it to the hoist.

My car sat 6 months with a full tank and once it actually started the gas was fine.

yea, gas doesn't go bad as quickly as everyone thinks. I've never used a stabilizer in any of my dirt bikes or cars that sat for 7 months throuhgout the winter. I had a talon that sat in a garage for a year and a half and fired right up on the same gas but I guess it depends on other factors.

If you want to remove the engine from the top you have to take the crank pulley off first. I've never taken it out from the bottom but it would probably be a good idea to remove the axles just so there is less stuff you have to worry about when dropping it all down. That automatic trans is heavy

You will break something if you leave the axles connected, namely... the axles.

^^ things like that was what I would be afraid of happening so yea I just removed my axles when I did it. If you pay attention to what your doing and you make sure you know how everything came out In my opinion its not to terribly hard.

That connecting rod had to slap that piston in ways it shouldn't be after it broke. (If it did brake) Your cylinder wall is probibly gouged to hell. If this is the case the block will have to come out and be machined. Not fun at all. Do it through the bottom though and leave the tranny bolted to it untill you get the entire assembly out.

Thanks one and all for the advice.
I think I'll remove the engine out the bottom.
It's the first time I've tried to remove an engine that way, sounds like fun.
Now I have to find the time to get the job done.
From the replies so far I guess I don't have to worry about stale gas.
As long as I fix this thing within the next few weeks.
If my schedule doesn't allow me to fix this beast, maybe I'll part it out.
Regards
Gary J. Atlanta, GA.

ah man, don't part it out... fix that monster! thats the fun of cars.. fixing what goes wrong XD.

haha. you wanna know how to get an engine out?

a friend and I were at the junkyard looking for a cylinder head for his eclipse. we found one that was perfect and had 70,000 on the od. So we thought it would be better to get the hole thing out..got 3 ppl lifted the car up and put 3 tires under in to get the front end up.
rented an accelene tourch(sp) and cut that mother out

then carried it out.

that was fun.

Well, I agree that the fun is in fixing the beast. I am impressed with the design
of the suspension and most other systems in the Eclipse. But like most people
time is a scarce resource. I hope I don't have to wait for retirement to have
enough time to fix the car.

I'm the only person in the family that spends time working on vehicles, so I
basically have to maintain a fleet of 5 cars, all having over 100k. So
there is always something to fix and being a person with modest income, I
cannot afford to just drop the car off at the repair shop for every thing that
goes wrong.

It's the old resource triangle, Time, Talent, Treasure. You can't have all 3 so
you need to trade off one to have the other two.

when i took my engine and tranny out in one piece it was a **** but we got it. just pulled out the axles disconnected everything and pulled off all the motor mounts. it took time cause we had to pull it up some and then wiggle it past something and then move it a little more do some more wiggling but eventually it came out. i would recommened putting it back in one piece to. we decided to put the tranny in first then the motor second on mine and ended up some how bending the flywheel.

You put it in backwards. engine first then flywheel.

oh that makes sense ill remember that next time. it was my brother in laws idea and he is a diesel mechanic so i thought i could trust him. thanks

On your eclipse it would be better to drop the motor out the bottom. Thats what I did. And dont just fix one cylinder if your goin to put it back in. Fix the whole motor up. Unless you just want to drive it again. Remove your axles and anything else from under the car. It will help to take your radiator out you will get ALOT more room. And make sure ALL the wires and hoses are disconnected. Theres one thats kinda hard to see but is IMPORTANT. I missed it when I did the motor swap. Remove your gas line from the intake manifold or when you drop it you will tear the line out from the fire wall and tear up your intake manifold.

Hi there, I am new to this site but I also pulled my engine and transmission (Automatic) out from the top... while doing that I did an engine swap with a 1998 Dodge Neon R/T engine... one problem... I need to remove the pilot bearing (or bushing). I need to find out where and how to remove it. Btw I am not a mechanic by a long shot, but I do have a mechanic trying to help me and teach me while I am doing it. Any advice would be appreciated. It's only been 3.5 weeks since I started this project when I threw a rod, and figured it was time to do some upgrading. I am very eager to learn so if anyone could help me I would greatly appreciate it.