just swapped motors (same motor) 4L ohc, AT tranny (didnt swap trannies), and got everything back together, but when we try to start it, it clicks once, then nothing.
if we pull the starter and belt, we cant turn the crank by hand, it wont budge.
the starter does work, if we push the car the transmission spins, but the flex plate/crank doesnt move at all.
before putting the motor in, we were able to move the crank and flexplate by hand, but now that its connected it wont move at all.
what could be wrong? if something were jammed up, it doesnt seem like the transmission would spin (we can push it in drive even).
TIA!

 

is the torque converter engaged in the trans all the way? did you have problems getting the trans to sit flush with the motor? did you have to "pull" them together with the bolts?

 

maybe a little bit of pulling involved.... we managed to spin the crank by hand and get it to fit into place a bit once or twice, but it still didnt sit fully flush...


but the transmission DOES spin still, we can put it in drive and push it. if it were bound up wouldnt that NOT be possible?

 

that doesnt matter, the one way clutch in he trans will let the trans move without the motor, and nothing is engaged inthe trans because there is no physical link between the motor and trans, it is all done by fluid coupling

 

so what should we do? unbolt the trans, pull it apart and try to get it to lock in again?

 

unbolt the trans, slide it back and see if the motor will turn over

 

maybe this is a nOOb thing, but is it ok to turn it over with no tranny attached? and the starter bolts to the tranny....

 

turn it by hand by the crank bolt, you cant use the starter

 

never done that. how would that work without lopping a hand off on the fan? or do you just spin it and not actually turn it ON?

 

with the trans disconnected and ignition off, turn the crank bolt with a socket, how are you trying to turn it now?

 

weve tried turning it with a socket, it wont budge with tranny bolted up.

i thought you mean turn it ON, like running. my bad =p

 

noooo lol

 

is it possible to just unbolt the bellhousing and pull it back?

 

you need to unbot the converter too, and trans mount, driveshafts, shift linkage etc

 

why would we unbolt the converter? its bolted to the flexplate just fine, its just not lined up with the tranny. so unbolt tranny and pull back leaving the tqc on the engine, then realign tqc with tranny as we connect?

 

no. you need to put the converter in the tranny and align it into the pump then bolt the converter to the motor, also if the converter studs are hitting something you will need to remove it to check this, never leave the converter on the motor, you will damage the seal possibly and maybe the pump if it isnt engaged fully

 

alright, well we unhooked the tranny mount, the center driveline mount, and we have lifted the engine a little with a hoist, and STILL we cant get the tranny far enough away to break loose. theres literally 5 or 6 inches between the motor and tranny and its still attached. we cant spin the crank or flex plate to unbolt the tqc.
looks like we f'ed ourselves and may have to disconnect the WHOLE engine again and pull it out. how stupid is that?
it may be easier to take the rear shocks and u-bolts loose so we can move the whole rearend backwards and leave the engine in. thats actually probably the route we will go instead.

 

yikes... hope it all works out for you!!

 

Sounds like you're having a hell of time trying to get your new engine to live. It can be frustrating at times.

I did an engine swap when I blew the pistons apart in my 87 Dodge Shadow. Engine blew on my way home from College on the Friday before the March break (reading week). I had 7 days to find a new engine, swap it out, and then get it running so I could get back to school the following week.

I bought a Haynes book, borrowed an engine hoist, cleaned an area out in my parents garage, bought an engine from a scrap yard, and jumped right into it. It was sink or swim and I had no choice but to get my sh*t box to run again.

7 days later, I had a fully rebuilt engine implanted into the car, it ran, the car moved, I was enlightened and impressed on what I did. My younger brother helped to get the engine back in and to mate it to the tranny, but other then that, I did everything myself......with the help of the Haynes book of course.

Sorry for the hijack, but thought I'd share a engine swap story......LOL

Take the engine back out and make sure she turns over (using a socket and breaker bar), then double check everything before mating it up with the tranny. Not to say it's easy, but after mating the engine with the tranny, things should be looking up from there. Hopefully nothing was F'ed up in the engine. Did you do a rebuild or just a direct swap (without tearing the new engine down before installation?)

 

did you remove the rear driveshaft? and front (if it is 4x4?) theres no reason you should have to remove the rear axle

 

im a nissan guy myself, this is actually my brothers username ive been helping out (me posting this whole time), and frankly havent worked much with anything else.
we werent sure how to remove the driveshaft (not 4x4), or if we did if we would need to replace the u-joints.
could someone point us in a direction of how best to do that?
the engine did turn over when it was out of the truck, it was only once it was "mated" that it stopped doing so

 

is the truck youre workin on now manual or automatic? if its an automatic tranny unbolt the converter from the flex plate. unbolt the tranny and take it out turn the convert clockwise to engage the converter you should feel 3 clicks the third click it should be engaged reinstall the tranny leave the inspection cover off to allow you access to the converter bolts. after you have the tranny bolted up bolt up the converter


hope this helps

 

i think you missed the point lol.
we know to do that. the problem is getting the tranny out. we are having issues getting it far enough out to let the torque converter/flex plate spin to unbolt it.
we need to either drop the front end of the driveline (dont know how), or slide the whole rearend back tranny and dif and all.

 

take all the spark plugs out then try to spin the engine

 

Remove the driveshaft from the rear axel (4 bolts)
If a 2 piece driveshaft remove the 2 bolts holding the carrier bearing where the 2 shafts meet.
Slide the driveshaft out of the rear of the transmission.
Watch when tipping the transmission tail down as fluid will leak out.Wrap it with a piece of plastic and tape it in place over the tail shaft.