Ok Guys and Gals......

The answer to the question we have been asking.....

Can a 3.0 be pulled out through the front of and Aerostar?
Yes I do believe so.

Here is why...Thanks to the fine gentleman at my local wrecking yard that let me play doctor on a some of their wrecked Aerostars I found out that if you move the Air Conditioner radiator & the one for the transmission out of the way. Then take out the 4 bolts(8mm socket) on either side of the frame that runs across the top with the latch in it. That whole piece will come off leaving a nice big gap to pull you engine through.

Tried it on a 90, a 92 , & a 94 or 95. All the same thing.

Oh and you'll have to remove the plastic grill from the front too.

 

Hi Jay,

That sounds like the procedure for pulling the 4 liter engine out the front. I guess you didn't have a chance to actually try to pull the engine out of any of those vans?

eugene

 

No but I made sure they were 3.0 engines. I also took a string and checked the space and engine. It looks like I can pull the engine forward then I might have to tip it up to slide it out.

The question for me now is... leave the transmission on or remove it first before I try to pull the engine.

 

I'd really be interested if anyone really does pull the 3.0L engine out the front.

I've spent over 26 hours just trying to get the heads off, and I've removed everything on the top and front of the engine.....I still don't have them out because the exhaust manifolds are 'frozen" on.

Next, I think I'll just buy a power tool to cut those bolts off. An I8" 1/2" breaker bar has no effect because of little to no clearance in which to use it., plus I've already ruined one socket, when I could get some pressure.

 

Are you talking about the bolts that holds it the heads or the other ones on the flanges?

If it's the ones on the flanges I just used an extension and my Air impact wrench. Took them right off. I also use a little Transmission fluid on rusty nuts and bolts to loosen them up. I put some on the day before start.

 

Yes it will come out the front. We have done 3-4 aero engine swaps at work. It's tight but does fit. I suggest pulling off the front bumper cover as well, to protect it and get a little more room.

 

Is it possible to take it even one step futher?
Can the bumper and the front sheet metal be removed as well, or is all the sheet metal welded in?
It seems to me removing everything would really open it all up and make access easy. This might be a lot of work, but it might be a solution for those who don't have any way to lift the van, as in taking the engine out the bottom.

 

Hi all,
Definitely the engine can be removed thru the front. I had my engine replaced on my 92 3.0L aerostar thru the front, after I blew the head gaskets off the previous engine after it overheated. The mechanic took off the radiator, front grilles and bumpers. and maybe some other stuff as well.
I don't know if this helped at all - but the engine CAN be removed thru the front.
Thanks.

 

I just, about 20 minutes ago, finally finished removing both heads "out the top" off my 3.0L engine. Twern't easy.

It took me 29 hours to get them out, but its good that I did order two new heads and a complete gasket set. Both head gaskets were blown, the driver's side worse than the passenger side.

Two notes of interest to those of you who do not remove the engine, either top or bottom, to repair the heads.

One, I found that a "bent" handle rachet with a swiveling head is alsolutely the only type of rachet that will remove over half of the head bolts, the upper intake manifold bolts, and about a third of the exhaust manifold bolts.

If you have to pay big bucks, buy one because it will save you hours of grunting and moaning.

Two, hidden behind the wiring harness, at the back of the head on the passenger's side, is a ground wire from the passenger's side fuel injector wiring harness. You really can't see it until you start to remove the passenger's side head, after all of the head bolts are out.

That ground wire is on a stud bolt that is mounted on the back of the passenger's side head. The nut holding my ground wire on mine must have had 200 ft. pounds of pressure on it because I finally just cut the wire right at the nut so I could get the head out of the engine compartment, and then removed the nut with a breaker bar, while standing on top of the head to hold it down.

It would have been easier to remove that nut with the head still bolted in place, but I didn't know that until the head was half way out of the engine compartment.

Now, all I have to do is re-install the new heads correctly. Maybe after another 30 hours labor, with the engine in place, I might get that done.

Next time, if there has to be a next time, I'll remove what ever I can unscrew, unbolt, or saw off, the entire front body sheet metal, fenders, bumper, etc. etc. The Ford idiots who designed that setup deserve to be castrated.

 

WOW 29 hours? really? I just R&R both heads on my 92 3.0 in 5 hours.

 

I could have done that too, but my engine wasn't sitting on the garage floor. .......and I'm being very polite in my reply.

 

Niether was mine, never removed it from the van. For 22 years I have made my living as a mechanic. Not the average weekend warrior.

 

Well, I am a weekend warrior, and week nights too. I make my living as a business consultant, working mostly with computers, design and management.

I travel all over the United States, and when I'm in a location for two or three months on a project, I pick up a vehicle to pass my free time. I bought that 93 Aerostar at an auction here in Oklahoma City, and am now rebulding it.

At home in Nevada I have, licenced, insured and running...

1999 Mercury Sable Stationwagen
1994 Ford F-150 4X4
1998 Mitsubishi Diamante LS
1989 Honda CRX SI

In the process of being restored in Reno....

1951 XK-120 Jag Roadster
1966 Mustang Convertible
1968 Cadillac Eldorado

In Oklahoma City.. 1993 Ford Aerostar.

In the last 12 years I have done 5 frame up restorations, and I do all of my own repairs and maintainance on my four licenced vehicles. I use each one for a certain duty, aside from the Mercury Sable that my wife drives.

This Aerostar is the worse piece of engineering design that I'm ever come across. The best was a 1961 Volkswagen Bettle.

 

Aerodude:

A few questions.......

1. Where did you tie back the Air Conditioner and it's radiator at so as not to break it or loose it's charge?

2. Did you pull the engine thru the front with the tranmission attached or removed?

3. Where did you attach the sling or chain on the engine at?

I was thinking to the engine mounts.

Also is there anymore tricks I should be aware of?

Thanks

 

Got your e-mail and sent one back to ya.