Hello Everyone,

I have long been helped by this forum and have yet to post some info so I thought Id take the opportunity to help others or to show generally what I am up to with the car. I am not done yet so this is the first of many coming posts.

Background:
Car is a 2005 CL65 I purchased not too long ago. When I purchased it, I knew that I had to take care of some issues. First being the coolant leak from the turbo lines. Second, the car started to develop a whine when accelerating that I have traced down to the primary pump on the transmission. Lastly, when I went to change spark plugs I noticed that cylinder 12 seemed to be worse than the rest, and have traced this down to a valve seal. So with no further ado, I decided to tackle these issues head on.

While im in there I will do the following: engine mounts, trans mount, trans primary pump, valve seals, turbo coolant and oil line seals, valve cover seals, oil pan seals, all new vacuum lines, all new electric vacuum valves, new diverter valves, new crankcase vent valve, flush abc.

My mistake was to think I could work on this thing with the motor in situ. After wasting too much time I realized that the job required an engine removal (from the bottom of course). The most annoying thing is that the coolant line on the bottom of the turbo has a bracket on it that you cannot get to unless you remove the engine mount bracket. i got the passenger side off but the drivers side was basically impossible from the top or bottom. Engine out time

I have everything disconnected at the moment, and awaiting removal of engine. As I make progress I will post pics for anyone that is interested.

I want to give some advice, I think that removing the engine is not that hard, just time consuming making sure that all the connections are free. Past this, I believe that if you access to a lift such as I do, then you will be much happier with the outcome if you just remove the engine for any major work like this.




Steering rack disconnected and ready to go. So sad to see her like this but I know its worth it.





After wasting my time trying to do everything from the top.





A few parts. Man there is so many coming out I need a beer.

 

Basic steps for removal of engine (from bottom as attached to subframe)

1. Drain all fluids including abc. ABC must be siphoned from the top of the tank and the tank should be removed. Ensure utmost cleanliness and use some form of a plug or wrap to cover lines and protect from debris.
2. Remove fan shroud.
3. Remove Driveshaft.
4. Disconnect selector shaft from transmission.
5. Disconnect fuel line (braided) on top of engine)
6. Disconnect Brake Vacuum line at top of engine.
7. Disconnect Wiring harness loom from passenger side electrical box and wire-tie to engine.
8. Disconnect all water lines for intercooler circuit.
9. (fun part) vent ac and disconnect the two ac lines at drivers side below radiator (seal to protect from debris)
10. Disconnect ac line at suction side (drivers side fender)-wire tie up out of the way
11. Remove abc pressure regulator valve (with the pulsation dampner attached) and disconnect associated abc lines and remove from vehicle.
12. Disconnect steering shaft at firewall (pretty easy) and mark for re installation later. one bolt at top and one at bottom below u joint. Push steering shaft at firewall up and out of way and remove the shaft.
13. Disconnect steering rack tie rods from strut mounts.
14. disconnect control arms from subframe.
15. Disconnect bottom of abc strut from control arm (2 set screws). This allows the control arm to swing out of the way from the subframe.
16. Disconnect front abc line (that goes to passenger strut) from the front subframe. Vent the abc fluid out of the that line, and remove quick disconnect (cover to protect from debris).
17. disconnect electrical connections from starter motor and from alternator) tie wrap out of the way.
18. Lower car onto a work table and place mounts for subframe to rest on. Disconnect 4 subframe bolts and lift car off platform.
19. I cant remember any more for now hahah

Wish me luck on the rest haha

 

Very ambitious - very good luck to you.

Its not a recognised method, but you can probably do those things with the engine in situ. You just support the engine, loosen 6 ABC pipe brackets, disconnect the steering rack and drop the front subframe. Then you can access everything. Saves a lot of disconnections, but maybe you have gone too far now. In which case, can I suggest adding to your list:

Disconnect exhaust
Disconnect battery after removing driveshaft
Disconnect ABC regulator electrical connector
Disconnect PAS rack electrical connector
Disconnect all coolant pipes, including aux rad, alternator, washer reservoir and cabin heater.
Disconnect Lambda sensors.
Disconnect transmission cooling lines


And please don't forget that you must not under any circumstances turn the steering wheel once the column is disconnected from the rack.

All the best, Nick

 

Thanks for the encouragement.

I do agree that technically you could do this by dropping the subframe and leaving engine in situ. However, i have a few problems with it (although this is personal). First, I wanted to use a lift and not be on the ground so the car had to be way up in the air. Because of this, I did not feel comfortable supporting the engine on top using a support bar mounted on the fenders. The fenders are plastic and I just dont like the idea of 600lbs of engine sitting above my head that way. But to each his own.

I also want to torque everything back to spec and dont have a lot of room in my opinion to do it correctly.

I agree with your additional steps (i just forgot to add these)

Just as a question, not that I have done anything to it at all, but what is the concern of moving steering wheel once disconnected? I mean, can't the connections be marked in such a way that they go back the same way? I am probably missing something, so if you could help me understand this that would be great. Is it like "if the steering wheel is barely moved everything is ruined"? or is it "if the steering wheel is rotated around more then everything is ruined". Just trying to be cautious as always.

In future posts I will try and take a lot of pics and share with everyone if they are interested. I absolutely love this car and believe that the vehicle is in a class way above its "pay grade". So if I have to take some extra steps, its worth it for me. I pretty much plan on keeping this one in the family for a long long time. k cheers all

 

I'm jealous of your facility. I think I would drop the engine given the same.

I believe you will damage the steering position sensor if you turn the wheel too far. Short swings to L & R are probably OK.

A few other things I remembered:

Disconnect the transmission selector at the front, then at the rear, and re-connect in reverse order.

While the engine is our, replace the ABC line that runs from the pump to the pressure regulator and accumulator.

Definitely wrap all the accessible ABC hoses in aluminized fibreglass heat sleeve.

Nick

 

when the car is back together the front will seem raised up a bit, reason being is that when the sub frame is removed the bottom of the front shocks are not supported which in turn bends the brackets for the ride height sensors.

 

I disconnected the front shocks from the bottom of the control arms so they have no tension on them whatsoever.

Are you saying that even with this the ride height sensors bend?

I can see that the sensor is attached to the upper control arm not strut. So should I disconnect this or buy new bracket?

Thanks

 

just disconnect them from the top control arm and if the bracket appears bent you are straighten it

 

Ride height sensors are pretty fragile; you have to watch out for them. Old age, bad weather or infrequent use can lead to the ball joints seizing. Something else has to give, and the articulation is provided by the bracket, which will fail randomly. Under some circumstances, this can be catastrophic. Ask me how ......

In general, anything under the hood that's made of rubber or plastic will be fragile due to heat aging.

Nick