I'm trying to sell an old diesel VW rabbit which has a good engine but the body is pretty much rust. If nobody buys it for enough to pay off my other car (I owe $350 + sales tax) I might have to gut it and sell or use the parts. Does anybody have any tips on how to remove the engine? Here's a pic of the engine:
use a engine hoist and loosen everything up that includes piping and wiring. The unbolt the engine and transmission mounts and lift engine out. Then I would remove the entire wiring harness meticulously and the ECU (if it has one) label the wiring with painters tape on both ends so the next owner knows how it works. I would have bought that engine and tranny if you were closer for 350 but freight is a pain and expensive, especially on a heavy diesel engine. If I were you I would find the same year body with a bad engine or tranny and transplant that old diesel in there, if you do it properly you got a new lease on an old car and you end up saving one vehicle from ending up in the crusher.
Remove the battery, then all the hoses, cables and wires as he said, then remove the driveshafts. Take the weight of the engine with an engine hoist and undo all of the mountings. Lower the engine to the ground. Lift the car with the hoist and drag the engine out. That way you don't have to disconnect the engine from the transmission. You'll find it helps to lower the engine onto a trolley or wooden board. Remember to put a stopper in the fuel lines, I used the chuck end of some drill bits to block mine up then put the jubilee clips back on, this stops dirt getting in the lines and stops fuel leaking. EDIT: like so:
Leave it in til you get a buyer, that way you can show them it running. Then just whip it out, it'll take a few hours at most if you have the right tools.
It got replaced with one 110,000 miles younger . It was smoking, blue smoke, because the valve stem seals were leaking, the new engine cost me a tenner, plus the bits to service it, cambelt, waterpump, dizzy cap, rotor arm, new leads etc...
