Been on here awhile, basically since I bought the car almost six years ago and appreciate all of the information this forum has provided. Anyways since I got my 94' I knew I would have to replace the transmission in the next 30k which was when the car had 151k. Now I have 183k and the slow shifts from 2-3 are now constant even if the car is warmed up. The car will also jerks and makes a thumping sound after you let off the throttle the first time in the mornings.
I found a 91' transmission with 53k for $300 which isn't bad. Have the benefit of the lower first gear and yes I will have an external trans cooler. After a little more thought I went ahead and decided to get a replacement engine as well because I have a couple flaky injectors, failed knock sensors, is noisy when cold, and a dented oil pan. After reading a post where someone recommended a jdm engine supplier called Foreign Engine in Seattle WA, I bought the last one they had which cost $295 + 160 shipping. Not bad considering most suppliers are charging >$1000 now.
I dont have any pictures of unwrapping the engine or before I pressure washed it and removed the intake, sorry
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Valley is clean and intake runners wire wheeled to remove the corrosion.
All the injectors measured exactly 11.2Ohms, every, single, one. Wrinkle black on the fuel rails and lightly polished the caps, I also had some stainless cap screws from another set of rails.
Clean
More clean
No varnish or baked on crap like on mine.
Probably the most difficult thing on the entire pulling of the engine was getting this damn AC compressor unbolted. The bolt on the back side at the top was extremely difficult to get out. This was me being stupid and not removing the alternator first so the bolt could be accessed easily.
Removed, finally.
Ready to be pulled. I am doing this at my dads custom cabinetry shop so we used a forklift to remove the engine and trans together. A lot less back breaking than a hoist because you can tilt and move in all three axis's without breaking a sweat. Next time I will wrap the straps around all four exhaust ports, the engine and trans were almost vertical when it was out.
I will update this as much as possible, probably tomorrow. I just painted the valve covers the wrinkle black which looks very nice (said in borat voice). The intake that came with the JDM engine was spotless on the inside, probably cleaned at one point. The cooling system is also spotless. Hopefully I will also post some pictures of the differences between the JDM and the Cal spec VH45DE, quite a few small ones nothing major though.
