Hi everyone, did anyone of you guys had a chance of removing engine and gearbox in one peace? Any recommendations and tips would be appreciated , perhaps someone has some pictures?
Thanks in advance

 

The only way I remove the engine is to lower the front subframe with the engine/gearbox as a unit.

The gearbox can be separated and the engine lifted from the frame.

At the dealer we had two identical rolling tables to 'wheel' the subframe/engine away from the gearbox after the car was lifted up clear.

I borrowed two hydraulic tables with wheels for this operation here at my shop.

bob gauff

 

My uncle recently pulled the engine and trans as a unit out of his 2001 XJR. It was actually quite easy. the hardest part was just making sure everything was disconnected, as these engines have a LOT of connections to the chassis. But after he removed the radiator/fans/ac condenser, there was plenty of space to get it out the top. We used a chainfall attached to a beam in the garage with a load leveller (which we got at Harbor Freight for like $50). The leveller helped a lot, as we could tilt the assembly back, which made it a lot easier to clear the radiator support.

Here's a quick break down:
1. Remove hood.
2. Disconnect battery.
3. Drain cooling system, remove fans, remove radiator.
4. Disconnect the exhaust system (this can suck).
5. Remove intake tract.
6. Disconnect driveshaft.
7. Remove the rest of the engine/transmission to chassis connections (there are a lot)
8. Loosen the motor and trans mount bolts.
9. get your load leveller set up and take up enough slack that the hoist is beginning to hold the engine/trans.
10. remove the mount bolts/nuts.
11. Lift slowly. Check for the connections you inevitably missed, and disconnect them.
12. Run the load leveller so more weight is to the back and the tail of the trans droops. Bring the engine up until the trans is about to hit the tunnel. Then bring the engine forward (of the chassis back, if using a fixed hoist) until it's about to hit the core support. Then up, then you should be able to clear the core support, levelleing the assembly out as much as possible again.

 

I have done it a few times- it needs to be at quite an angle to come out of the tunnel, but overall pretty straightforward after you disconnect everything as Cabeza says. As a matter of fact, I am seriously considering it next time I need to do the upper and lower timing chains as access is much, much easier and I can take care of other issues at the same time from a chair.