I'm going to change the 302 in my 87 E-150 van with one of my friend. Is there a place on the Internet where they give a step by step procedure or something like that? Do you guys know what I should take care of? What are the part that I will have to replace during the process?
Sorry for that bunch of question, but we are both unexperienced and we need exterior help!
Any tip is welcomed, even what seems to be the most obvious.

Thanks!

 

I did my 89 engine replacement. You take it out forward thru the grill area. You'll need to remove everything on top of the block that is above the valve covers. (upper intake manifold, carb/tb, etc) and all the accessories including the distributor, and the exhaust manifolds. I left the transmission attached (AOD) and took it out that way, and reinstalled the same.

Its nothing fancy. Just a lot of unbolting everything keeping it in there and yanking it out. the engine hoist has got to be able to be as low as the engine and be right on top of the lifter valley area. real short chain, if you even use one.

Label all hardware (bag and tag).

 

One thing I like to do before doing any engine work on a van is remove the front seats.
It makes it much easier to get in to work on the back of the engine. There are only 4 bolts or nuts to remove on each seat.

 

If your replacement engine is from a van, it'll be a direct swap. If it's from a car you may have some issues with peripheral parts. The water pump may turn the opposite direction and exhaust manifolds may not line up. Save the parts and pieces from the old engine! , they could come in real handy.

 

Thanks to everyone for the tips! Please keep saying whatever comes to your mind, even the obvious, we're newbes! and we'll do the replacement this week.

The engine comes from a F-150. How long do you think it's going to take? We are 2, quite newbee and we will have full lenght days of work.

 

It will take about 6 hours just to dissasemble the front end and the top of the engine enough to get it out, but takes about 2.5 to 3 to put it back in. Then you may have 3 days of going "what did I forget to do?" when it doesn't run! (been there, done that)

 

That was done. My best advice: if you are not really really well equiped, pull the transmission out with the engine. We spend 6 hours trying to aling these two together.

Removing everything went fine. My old engine had better valve covers and oil pan, so we swapped these. Soon, we realized that the new engine was not fuel injected. Desperation took over. And we had to drive 1h twice a day do work on it. 6 days of no sleep and 14 hours a day mechanics. Finally we kept going, swapping the lower intake. The day it was all back in (3am), we fill it up with coolant and we eard a lovely huge dripping sound. The gasket on the lower intake manifold to the heads was so screwed up that the coolant was just going out like a river. And it was not starting anyway. 2 days later we strike back. We remove the intake manuifolds again, redo the gasket. No leak this time. Then we adjust the timing. It runs. Wait till it gets hot, pressure builds up, everything's fine. WAHOO! I just wished we had much more time, we had to do this in a hurry. Not that that the job was rushed, but we would have had time to change oil pump, head gasket, refusbish the heads and all the things that are lovely to do when the engine is out!

 

Funny story about oil and new engines.

I finished building my last engine and before I installed it I decided to spin the pump and get some prelub done. Selected the right size tools and hooked them up to a drill, stuck it in, then proceeded to prime the engine, and dump 5 quarts of oil right onto the floor. forgot to install the oil filter.

After I cleaned up the Valdez spill, I installed the filter, refilled the engine, and primed it again. this time it was a geyser as I forgot to install the oil pressure sending unit.

did end up with a VERY clean floor.....

 

First of all get a Haynes Ford van manual, it is quite good in explaining the procedure. I do not remove the intake but use a lifting plate; there are carb and FI versions available. You may need to shorten the hoist chain to only one link and the hook depending on the hoist used.

It makes life easier if you completely remove the exhaust manifolds and motor mounts both for removal and installation. Since hoist height is often an issue you need all the wiggle room you can get.

I see absolutely no reason to remove the tranny. With 2 people involved aligning the converter should be a 15-20 minute job. It helps to have a jack under the tranny to fine tune the alignment especially if you dont have a hoist with a nice & slow release ram. Drain the converter while you are at it and change tranny fluid and filter.

 

you said any advice so here goes. do the tune up stuff. wires cap rotor and plugs. get the codes from the engines and see if something might be in need of replacement. motorcraft when possible.

if any one knows if you can leave the exhaust manifolds on or maybe just the pass. side, that would help you. there a little tricky to get off due to rusting. i soak the bolt with wd-40 and try not to break the bolts. get a kit with new bolts and nuts and gaskets if you need to take them off on the f-150, i guess not though. new gaskets for where the mani. connects to the exhaust too. also these manifolds are somewhat defective any are prone to cracking. check the new engine for damage. i used a place called 1aauto i think and got one for 40 bucks. don't replace with junk yard stuff even if you can find any.

you might want to use a digital camera. if you get alot of photos of the strip, it could answer alot of questions later. the manuals are kinda generic and might not show your actual engine set up.
when taking out your radiator, you might be able to pull it with the tranny cooler. if not, u might have to clip plastic fasteners my 87 150 302 had. i found garden shears work well but wire cutters should do the trick. also be careful working with the fitting for the tranny cooler at the bottom. easy to strip the brass or copper. its like plumbing stuff. if the fittings are rusted they can be made up. might as well check the rad. to if its rusty or falling apart it might be a good time to replace.

anything on the new one do now. simple valve cover gasket change is an engine puller on these vans. go slower on the bolt on part. make sure everything is as it should be. if not, even if it starts up you could be trouble shooting leaks and rattles for a while. take your time and give your self enough so you don't feel rushed. better to sleep on a problem then to due something that forces you to reverse the process again. good luck

 

Thanks you very much racinebob, but the job was done 6 months ago. A was just telling how it went.

 

Make sure you check the oil pans, it may be different and the truck motor's oil pan may not work in the van, the crossmembers are usually different. Take your time, get some masking tape and label every connection with where it came from to make reassembly easier. Digital photo's as you disassemble will help also. Standing in the driveway at midnight with a part you don't remember where you took it off from is no fun. Document, document, document, it'll make life so much easier, Ken

 

The Job Was Done Thanks! The Job Was Done Thanks!