Performing FA20 swap with new FA20
 

So I have a 2014 brz with stock everything, motor unfortunately blew at 60k so I’m doing a swap. This is my first engine swap, as of now she’s nearly ready to be pulled. I believe I just need to unbolt tranny from engine and then pull Manifold off and then the engine mounts. My one question is do I need to hoist the engine before unbolting the tranny or engine mounts? Also since I have a manual trans, do I need to find an engine from a manual trans as well? And finally my brz is a 2014 so I should only use a motor from 16 and below correct? Sorry for the amount of questions I’ve never done this prior. Thanks in advance!

If you have room where you are pulling it, it would be easiest to pull both at the same time. If you are like me amd have a small garage, I would drop the tranny first and then pull the motor. Will save you time and frustration compared to pulling only the motor.

I can’t just pull just the motor with just the tranny in place?

You can definitely pull the motor out of the car separately from the transmission. Unbolt the transmission from the back of the motor. When pulling the motor out, have the front of the motor angled upwards to match the angle of the transmission, so that the motor can slide right off the transmission spline. Pull the motor out of the engine bay. Have a beer because you did it. :cheers:

I you just read the manual (google is your friend). But short summery (not in perfect order and probably missing stuff) from memory is:
- Disconnect battery
- Disconnect wiring harnesses and ground wires
- Drop the lower engine cover and manifold
- Depressurize the full system and then disconnect the fuel lines (search YouTube for the zip tie method)
- Drain coolant and disconnect hoses
- Unbolt tranny (7 bolts if I recall and all very easy to reach)
- Disconnect AC and push it to the side.
- Put a bolt back (I think I used a tranny bolt here) in the hole where the AC bolted and wrap it in duct tape to protect the threads. This will be used as a front hook for your lift
- Unbolt the engine mounts from the lower cross member.
- Lift the engine

It’s crazy easy to pull this engine. I followed the manual and when done I spent about and hour just looking everything over to be sure I didn’t forget to disconnect something. All the wiring hardnesses are in one area so it’s just click click click done. You don’t have to pull the radiators or remove the front bumper. The bolts are all very easy to get to. The only pain in the ass is the AC. The lines don’t allow for much movement and you don’t want to bend them. I did all the work alone other than having my 12 yo son hold the AC to the side as I lifted the engine. When the engine was out I used wire to hang the AC in it’s normal resting place so it wasn’t stressing the lines for weeks while I rebuilt the engine. All total it took me about 4 hours. If I did it again I think I could do it in 2.

To answer your question, no you don’t have to support the engine while unbolting the tranny. The engine rests safely on the lower cross member. There is no risk of the engine or tranny dropping on you. The tranny will hang on the tranny mounts but you will want to support it with a jack. I just used the jack from the trunk for that.

I don’t recommend pulling the engine and tranny as one unit. That would be dramatically more difficult. If you want to pull the tranny just drop it out the bottom once the engine is out. That is also an easy task on this car.

Getting the engine back in is more challenging. Plan to have a friend to help with that. You have to yank it around a little to get it lined up and back on the tranny. Still dramatically easier than any other car I’ve dealt with.

I agree on some engines but not this one. It’s so crazy easy to pull it with the tranny in place. If you pulled it all at once you would have to drain the tranny fluid. Mark and remove the prop shaft. Remove the shift linkage. Remove the tranny mounts. Once all that is done you’d have to figure out how to angle it out without nailing the radiators. You could remove the radiators but that isn’t necessary when pulling the engine without the tranny.

Doing it as one unit would be a massive pain in the ass.

I see you said to put a bolt in where the AC was for the front lifting point but what about the second lifting point? I’m going to be pulling my engine this weekend.

There's a lifting point next to the harness connector near the rear of the engine. Should be able to find it pretty easily.

Make sure you take off that little air box bracket on the left just in front of the engine. I hit my VVT plug and had to get a new one.