Replacing engine on a Chevy Pickup

[DSL1138]

With me getting my learner's permit a little while ago and my 16th birthday not far away, my dad has given me his old 1994 Chevrolet Silverado as my first car. It's a great truck as is, but the engine has almost 200,000 miles on it, and various other problems to boot. So, my dad wants me to learn how to replace to engine once we get another one, and to be able to take the current one out and to put the new one in myself.

So, I have been searching on google and youtube for a while now, but to no avail. If anyone knows anything about these trucks or can provide a link that might help, it would be much appreciated. Specifics on the truck, it is a 1994 Chevrolet Silverado, Extended Cab, 350 cu. in. 5.7 L V8 Engine, 4-speed automatic transmition. Also, to anyone who is willing to help, please keep in mind that I am not a grease monkey by any stretch, and my knowledge of doing work on the truck ends at checking how much oil is in the tank. As I said earlier, any help I can get is appreciated.

[runfiverun]

you picked a good one to learn on,the chevy's are pretty easy.
mark everything.
the wiring and the vacume lines will be the hardest part.
follwed by the exhaust bolts.
if you aren't familiar with things either draw a picture [diagram] or take pictures.
put all the little parts in bags and lable them, along with the picture of the area.

the new vehicles look pretty intimidating but it's still just a motor under there.

[Mk42gunner]

you picked a good one to learn on,the chevy's are pretty easy.
mark everything.
the wiring and the vacume lines will be the hardest part.
follwed by the exhaust bolts.
if you aren't familiar with things either draw a picture [diagram] or take pictures.
put all the little parts in bags and lable them, along with the picture of the area.

the new vehicles look pretty intimidating but it's still just a motor under there.

If you have a digital camera, put in a new sd card and take pictures of everything as you go.

The vacuum fittings will be brittle after being under the hood for 18 years, be prepared to replace several of them. New vacuum lines will be a goood idea also.

The only thing I can think of that requires special tools are the fuel lines.

Robert

[greenbud]

If your doing an engine for engine swap in todays world of digital cameras take tons of picturs. Lable everything good masking tape and a marker

[CBH]

If you can find a good machine shop in your area, why not just rebuilt the current motor? Great learning experience and probably less expensive to boot. You'll learn much more rebuilding than simple replacement. I used a book "How to rebuild your small block Chevy" by HPBooks. Tells you everything . Just a thought. Good luck.

[tomme boy]

If it is running OK, the only thing that motor really might need is to have the distributur replaced. The bushings start to go out around 150K. It will start to lose power and miss. It will short out an leave you stranded. Very common for this style of dist.

[Stick_man]

If you can find a good machine shop in your area, why not just rebuilt the current motor? Great learning experience and probably less expensive to boot. You'll learn much more rebuilding than simple replacement. I used a book "How to rebuild your small block Chevy" by HPBooks. Tells you everything . Just a thought. Good luck.

+1 on everything said above. There is nothing easier or cheaper to rebuild than the small block Chevy (except maybe the Mopars from prior to the mid-70s).

Chiltons offers a pretty good book on the truck as well as the engine, although the HPBooks probably do a better job of detailing how to remove and reinstall engines.

Your local Auto Zone or Napa parts stores will have lots of information available.

[shooterg]

1994 is OLD ?

My "new" truck is a 1977 !!

[geargnasher]

Take lots of pictures, can't reiterate that enough.

Study every elecrical connector carefully before trying to defeat the latch, they're all different and if you break the latches they can be tough to replace or repair.

Buy several aftermarket repair books and read them. Follow the step-by-step, that way you won't forget things like torque converter bolts or the ground strap on the back of the passenger-side cylinder head.

Buy two cans of "PB Blaster" penetrant, and start soaking the exhaust flange nuts (the ones where the pipes hook up to the manifolds with the coil springs under the nuts) days before you attempt to remove them.

You will need some special tools that you can rent from Autozone or O'reilly's such as a harmonic balancer puller kit, installer kit, exhaust manifold spreaders, and a timing light to reset the distributor to "zero" after unplugging the timing connector.

If you don't own a 100lb torque wrench, buy one. Get a beam type, the "click" types are junk unless you buy professional grade.

Scribe the paint around the hood hinge bolts (reference marks for reinstallation) and go ahead and get it the heck out of your way right at the beginning.

All the bolts on the engine are fractional, all the others are metric. Many of the bolts, like the ones holding the transmission to the engine, have fractional threads and metric heads. You will need an inverted torx socket to remove the long stud going through the driver's side alternator/power steering bracket into the head. It's the one with the nut on it, the rest are bolts. The end of the stud has a six-point star on the end and you have to remove the stud to get the bracket off unless you take the whole front end off the truck.

That should cover the basics, it ain't rocket science, but there's a lot to cover here even with the simplest of engine swaps. At least the one you have only has five vacuum lines: Brake booster, PCV, cannister vent, supply to EGR vacuum switch, EGR vacuum switch to EGR valve, and HVAC supply.

Gear

[MT Gianni]

Tape similar bolts together. Use masking tape and write on it where they go. If there is an odd long or short one note that and which hole it goes into. Keep your parts clean, that means cover them up with old sheets or plastic.
I would also diagram what your compression was at each cylinder before you tear things down and anywhere else that looks to be important. Measure fuel and oil pressures. See what rebuilding will do for it.
I think a battery operated impact wrench will save your knuckles and still allow you to learn things. Get a good set of impact sockets. When you are done keep enough tools in it to do minor repairs. You will know a lot more then most folks do when you have finished.

[darkroommike]

Look into a Haynes manual, I prefer them to the Chilton's (both are good). And if you have a digital camera or camera phone (and what 16 yr. old doesn't?) take LOTS of pictures and write down every step. If it has AC do NOT disconnect the lines, just unbolt the compressor and move away from the block and you might not even need to recharge the AC. And if your school or community college has auto shop classes get to be a friend with the instructor.

[375RUGER]

Get a manual and study it. I've always used Haynes. Get a manual, I cannot stress this enough for someone your age to learn to use a manual.
My first engine swap was without manual but it was easy on a '69 442, and I had a mentor who knew what to do anyway.

[Hickory]

If no one has mentioned it, and I did not read all the posts.
But, with 200,000 miles you need to rebuild the transmission also.
And check and replace any needed front-end suspension joints.
With that done you should have a good truck for the next 15-20 years.

[Olevern]

I understand the benefit of learning on this job, but you might be buying an engine and doing a lot of work when that engine will probably last several more years before giving out on you. Average usage is probably about 12,000 miles a year, if you live rural add maybe 3 or 4 K more. My 1995 4 wheel drive chev. 350 is well over 300,000 miles and still runs and drives very nicely. It is a smoother ride than the 2002 Chev venture van my wife drives. Why spend a lot of money on transportation when there are guns out there to buy? Just my 2 cents worth.

[Reg]

If you decide to also go through the tranni, don't mess with rebuilding it. GM offers a factory reman ( auto) for about $2500.00 ( installed ) and it comes with a 3 year or 100,000 mi guarantee. If you put it in your self it will be quite a bit less. Can't mess with the old one for that and the guarantee is good.

PS

The older ones are better !!! Rode to Denver over the week end in a 2010 Silverado. Noisy and rode like a lumber wagon. Will keep my 96 GMC going as long as the fenders do not fall off !! Very quiet, no squeeks or rattles, very smooth ride,18 MPG and its PAID FOR !!!

[DSL1138]

Thanks for the input everyone, and I probably wont be rebuilding it as I know someone who is willing to sell me another truck of the same model (although it's transmission is broken) with an almost-brand new GM crate engine that has only 10,000 miles on it. Now, I am definately going to look into a manual, and I'll remember to use my camera as well as masking tape and markers, and I'll see about getting my uncle and grandfather (who are both grease-monkeys) to help me out to.

[MtGun44]

putting the bolts back in place immediately after removal or put them in groups into
baggies and label the baggie with a sharpy.

Read what gear said twice more and take notes.

Replace the belts, radiator hoses, water pump, and all vacuum and other rubber lines unless you know that they have been replaced within that last 5 yrs for certain.

[Blammer]

go to autozone get a Haynes manual for about $25 and read it!

It will have pretty much everything you need and have pictures. It's a good place to start.

I have a 1992 Chevy Silverado extended cab with the 5.7 aka 350 with TBI on it, with auto trans with OD aka 4 speed.

I recently pulled the motor had it rebuilt and put it back in. I may have some pics hanging around somewhere if I can find them. If you have some specific questions feel free to PM me.

Is your's Fuel Injected? or Throttle Body?

Oh yea, when you replace the motor, put in a new fuel pump too. Trust me, you'll need/want it.

[wallenba]

Think it through, make a check list. Then review it with your dad, in order to put it in a logical order. Take pictures, make notes. Have baggies to put small parts in, label them all. Put tape on all vacuum lines noting where they go. Lastly, don't skimp on the stuff you can fix easily while the engine is out. Such as the transmission converter seal.

[BD]

I put a crate motor in my '93 2500HD about 8 years ago. That 350 with the throttle body fuel injection is really pretty simple. If the motor you're getting didn't get a new distributor and oil pump when it was installed 10,000 miles ago, I'd replace them along with vacuum lines and ignition wires at the same time. Gear pretty much covered the tricky points that I can remember. When I did mine I had the time and space to pull the radiator and support which made things much easier to get at, and I had some profession help, (in exchange for a few cold ones), swapping the manifolds, setting it back up, timing it and getting it started. If the transmission has been maintained, and not abused, I wouldn't worry about it unless it demonstrates some issues. I plowed serious snow with my truck for 16 years, often with peg chains on all four wheels, and the tranny was still going strong at the end. That truck finally succumbed to rust last winter.
BD