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There is a possibility that I might have to remove the engine from our 2006 4.2 XK, naturally aspirated The workshop manual procedure is to remove the catalytic converters and lift the engine out from the top. Does anyone happen to know whether it is possible to remove the subframe and steering/suspension components and lift the body off the engine with the catalytic converters still in place?
You'd have to remove the rear end too if doing that, seems to bit significantly more labour to remove the entire drive train from the vehicle rather than just the engine and that's the only way I've seen it done.
You'd have to remove the rear end too if doing that, seems to bit significantly more labour to remove the entire drive train from the vehicle rather than just the engine and that's the only way I've seen it done.
I don't understand. I've removed the drive shaft already so why would the rear end interfere with dropping the engine as there is now no connection between the two?
I need to remove the gearbox and I'm having trouble with the cat converter flange nuts, as I expected. It doesn't appear that there is sufficient room to drop the gearbox without removing the cats. If all else fails, I could remove the engine but the manual suggests that the engine cannot be lifted out unless the cats are first removed so that just leaves dropping the engine and gearbox as a unit.
As a last resort I could angle grind the cats off but that will be very expensive! ☹
Sorry, I've misunderstood. If you've got it on a lift, then the transmission can be detached on a stand and the rest raised away. Have you tried heat on the bolts or something like PB blaster?
Sorry, I've misunderstood. If you've got it on a lift, then the transmission can be detached on a stand and the rest raised away. Have you tried heat on the bolts or something like PB blaster?
Dropping the transmission is what I want to do with the car up on the lift and the transmission supported by a transmission lift which I can then lower once I've removed all the bell-housing bolts which is the next step. Do you know whether there is room to pull back and drop the gearbox without removing the cats? The workshop manual states that the cats need to be removed but official manuals often do not always tell the whole truth.
Good news. After a failed attempt to release the cat converter flange nuts with a long breaker bar, I decided to get the manifolds hot by running the engine at fast idle for 10 minutes and then try my most powerful air rattle gun. Part of the problem is that there is only straight access to one nut on each side. The other flange nut needs a wobble bar or universal joint and both of those sap the power of the rattle gun. Anyway, the two straight runs came free after around 30 seconds of gunning although in both cases it is the stud which came out rather than the nut. The non-straight runs take a lot longer before they finally start to turn with the last one taking repeated bursts at full power over several minutes! Only one stud of the four is left in place.
The bolts are now removed from the flex plate and the gearbox fluid drained and next I will be releasing the bellhousing bolts and finally dropping the gearbox. I'll post some photos at that stage as the results will, I expect, be rather interesting.
The photo shows the coolant mess I was faced with in the bellhousing. However, apart from it now being very simple to snip the duckbill with a pair of scissors, the gearbox removal was not only rather difficult but was a complete waste of time. ☹
"complete waste of time". Just curious, why? Oh and by the way: what's the problem with the 4.2?
And before you put the ZF back in, a tip. Replace the rubber interfaces connecting the mechatronics to the clutch section. Real easy to do when the ZF is out. And when the engine is out is a great time to do the engine mounts and refresh the various hoses.
Last edited by panthera999; Jun 22, 2024 at 04:44 PM.
4.2 X150 Engine Removal
