Part 1. Preparation and safety
Objective
- Label, disconnect and organize topside engine components.
Personal safety
Whenever you perform a task in the workshop you must use personal protective clothing and equipment that is appropriate for the task and which conforms to your local safety regulations and policies. Among other items, this may include:
- Work clothing - such as coveralls and steel-capped footwear
- Eye protection - such as safety glasses and face masks
- Ear protection - such as earmuffs and earplugs
- Hand protection – such as rubber gloves and barrier cream
- Respiratory equipment – such as face masks and valved respirators
If you are not certain what is appropriate or required, ask your supervisor.
Safety check
- Remove the negative terminal of the battery first.
- Ensure the engine is cool before commencing work.
- Make sure that you understand and observe all legislative and personal safety procedures when carrying out the following tasks. If you are unsure of what these are, ask your supervisor.
Points to note
- Label parts before you disconnect them.
- Take accurate notes and photos of where parts came from and organize disassembled parts into storage.
Part 2: Step-by-step instruction
- Disconnect the battery
The first step when removing any type of engine is to disconnect the battery. Always loosen and disconnect the negative terminal first. This terminal is already grounded and is considered to be the safe side of the battery. If the negative terminal is still attached when you remove the positive terminal you can easily get a damaging spark – or worse, a painful electric shock – if your tool touches the metal of the car and the terminal at the same time. Always wear safety glasses and insulating gloves when disconnecting or handling a battery.
- Drain the radiator
Make sure the engine is cool before draining the radiator. At the bottom of the radiator there should be a draining valve. Place a container underneath and open this valve. The radiator will drain faster if you also open the radiator cap. If there is no valve, then loosen and disconnect the bottom radiator hose.
When the dripping has slowed down, most of the coolant will have drained from the upper radiator hose, and it should be safe to remove, but be careful in case there is some coolant left inside it when you disconnect it from the intake manifold.Dispose of the used coolant in an environmentally acceptable way, as determined by your local regulations.
- Label parts before you disconnect them
All engines are complex with many separate components that need to go back exactly where they came from. There will be schematics and diagrams in your repair manual but it is not always easy to identify each component after it has been removed. It is very important to be extremely thorough in labeling and organizing every single part that you remove as you strip the engine down.
Put a piece of masking tape or insulating tape as a label around every single wire, cable, hose, or linkage, and write a number on it. Put each number into a notebook, and using the repair manual as a reference to help you identify it exactly, write down the name of the component and what it was connected to. If you need to disconnect the other end of the line or hose, label that end too in the same way, so that they can be re-assembled correctly much more easily.
As you disconnect hoses and fuel lines, remember to put a rag under them to catch any leaking fluids.
- Organize disassembled components
One very useful way to support your accurate notes and labeling is to take still pictures or short video clips as you go. These will remind you how and where all the various items were connected before you disassembled them. This is especially useful for more complex areas like throttle linkages.
As you remove nuts or bolts or brackets, it will help you later if you can immediately put them back where they came from, either firmly attached to the engine or to the component being removed. If this is not possible, put loose connecting components in labeled bins or bags.
Internally, most engines are very similar, but externally, there are many different layouts for electrical systems, and for systems like ignition and fuel delivery and emissions controls. There is also a huge variety of optional accessories which may be installed. The diagrams and component lists in the correct repair manual for your vehicle may not exactly match the configuration of your particular model, so be very careful about accurate labeling, and taking detailed, legible notes.
