What a first post huh? I purchased a 1996 Blazer LS 4x4 automatic with a seized engine.

I've searched through the forums and the Internet. I'm not new to to wrenching but I am new to automatic transmissions and Blazers.

I'm obviously trying to figure out how to separate the engine and trans.

I sure would appreciate any advice.

Options that I've read about:

1. Pull engine and trans attached. Remove front bumper, core support, etc. Once out, remove oil pan, disassemble bottom end enabling the engine to rotate and go from there.

2. Destroy the oil pan while the engine is still in the car, disassemble bottom end, etc.

3. Separate the engine and trans in the car by taking the engine out with the torque converter attached to the engine and leave the transmission in place. I've read this has to be done carefully? Is this possible?

What's my best option to get the seized engine out and a replacement in?

Thanks!

Mark

 

I had to do this. What do you care about the pan? Cut that sucker! Once off you will know what needs to be done.

 

It is very hard to seize a motor BTW

pull the spark plugs all out and see if the motor will turn over with a socket and johnson bar on the harmonic balancer
the motor could be hydro locked (cylinder full of fluid) or tight enough that the starter can not turn it

 

Thanks guys, I appreciate the help. So the pan is way to go?

I agree about the difficulty to seize a motor. Here's the story from the guy I bought it from, and I believe him. He stuck to his story the whole time.

He was helping out a family member and found the Blazer for them. They paid him for it, and the teenage girl who now owned it took it to her boyfriend's house. He decided to be her hero and check out the car. He checked the coolant by removing the radiator cap and then didn't put it back on correctly. They went out in the cold night (Colorado a few weeks ago, in the 20s), had the heater running, it quit (first sign you're out of coolant), the windshield filled up with steam, and they decided to KEEP DRIVING! They were on the freeway and literally drove it until the engine seized up solid.

Good point on the hydro-locked. I was going to pull the plugs next. I had tried to rotate the engine clockwise with a breaker bar on the harmonic balancer bolt but the bolt was actually tightening and I was just waiting for it to snap. Hopefully it is hydro-locked and not seized!

Hard to seize an engine, yep... and you have to be really dumb to do it!

 

guy at work just pulled a engine out of a fullsize truck that was seized, he just unbolted everything like you normally would, unbolt the trans and leave the torque converter attached to the flywheel and pulled it out that way and just unbolted the torque converter when it was out of the vehicle

 

The problem with separating the engine from trans is getting the bell housing bolts. its pretty much impossible to get the top driver side bolt without redesigning the firewall with a BFH. If you have the right size special stubby socket with a 90* elbow built on it you can get to it but most people dont have one of those lol. Edit: Ok, if you have really small hands i think you can get that bolt from the top with the distributor and driver side head off. But the have fun getting a new assembled engine back in there.

First time i pulled a 4.3 out i separated the engine and trans. when i do it a second time the engine and trans are coming out as one lol.

 

It is possible to pull the engine without pulling the transmission. However, every time I've done it, it would have been easier to just pull the engine/transmission as a unit.

What I would suggest is remove the hood and radiator support. This will let you pull the unit out through the front. Going up over the radiator support is possible but with the support out, you can clean the engine bay up while it's out.

To separate the transmission from the engine just remove the starter and the transmission to engine bolts. The ones on top are a bear to get to in the vehicle. I've done it, but try not to. Once you separate the two pieces, take some spray paint and mark the flex plate and torque converter. Just a SINGLE blob of paint to match them up. This will let you match the flex plate and torque converter bolts up when you put it back. They are usually NOT evenly spaced around the plate. This is so the converter stays balanced. You also need to use THAT flex plate with THAT converter. Sometimes there is a running change on the line and there will be a difference. This bit me a couple of times before I realized that.

Lastly, I don't know if I'd trust that transmission. The radiator cools the transmission too. If the engine got hot enough to sieze a piston, how hot did the transmission get? I'll bet when you pull the dipstick, it will be black and smell burnt. If the transmission looks good or you use a different one, before you put it together with the engine, REPLACE THE FRONT SEAL!!! You're talking about several hours of aggravation for a $20 part. I've told several people to do this and they didn't, but did later.

 

Well, me again, 4 months later, time flies! Thanks for the great advice so far.

I finally got a donor engine, out of a 96 like mine, heard it running before they pulled it. Runs great.

I am finally almost ready to pull the seized engine. I'm going to pull the engine and trans together, then separate them once they are out.

I do have a question. Should I transfer the old flex plate off the seized engine to the new engine? The new engine has a flex plate on it but obviously it was mated to a different transmission. I've read the torque converter and flex plate should remain as a pair.

I sure hope the transmission is ok because I'm not replacing it. I will do the front seal as Ol' Grouch recommended. I'm also going to replace the oil pan gasket and valve cover gaskets on the new engine.

Thanks again.

Mark

 

Personally I'd do a complete engine rebuild on the donor engine before I even thought about putting it back into your Blazer as that way you will know that it will at least outlast the rest of the car. Nothing worse than installing another engine either if you have heard it running for a few minutes only to find that in a few weeks you have another problem to deal with.

 

In a perfect world, yep I'd do that... but I don't have the time or funds. This car is not a primary driver for us. It will only be used a few time a month honestly.