[RiverGambler]

New poster, love the Cadillac CTS, kinda my personal obsession car, always wanted one, but never could find a good project car to build. Finally broke down and bought one for my annual spring project. 2005 CTS withe 3.6 liter, allegedly blown engine (bought the car at auction), 147,000 miles on the chassis. Picked her up today, now it's time to start planning the engine pull. Too cold here for me to actually work in the shop, call me a wimp, but it was nearly -30 the past couple nights.

Anyhow back on subject. My alldata subscription says to drop the engine out the bottom. But I've seen pictures of them coming out the top, and much prefer to go this way vs dropping it out. Does anyone have a walk through on going out the top, or is it pretty much disconnect everything, brack the transmission up with a jack and board, and lift?

 

[AAIIIC]

When I pulled my CTS-V's LS6 out through the top (which isn't supposed to be possible) I found I had to loosen the cradle mounting bolts and drop the cradle about an inch in order to get the oil pan to clear. I don't know if the 3.6 will have the same issue, but that's one possible thing to watch out for.

Other than the cross-member clearance issue, for me it was pretty much as you said - I documented it all here.

 

[Static1120]

I know it is possible to do so on the 3.6, I had my engine replaced and the mechanic took the engine out from the top, not sure what troubles he went trough but for sure it was possible to do so.

 

[RiverGambler]

My very first engine swap was on another vehicle that was supposedly a huge pain to do. It was a 1997 Ford Expedition 5.4. After that, anything should be possible with a little elbow grease and some eye balling.

 

[Taz816]

I rebuilt my 06 last year. I would take it out the bottom every time. You will need three furniture dollies from Harbor Freight, and two jack stands that can rise to 23in. After disconnecting the wiring harness, drive shaft, exhaust pipes (not the manifolds), hoses and belts, and brake lines to the brake module and master cylinder, put the car on the jack stands with the taller ones to the front. There are other things to disconnect, but you get the idea. You will have to remove the bumper and grill, but its not that big of a deal. With the wheels off you can drop the entire front of the car down onto two of the furniture dollies, then unbolt the K-member, struts, and steering shaft. Be sure to keep the steering wheel in the same location so that you do not damage an internal component. It is helpful but not critical to have someone help you lift the body off the engine with a second jack. It saves a lot of time, but I removed mine by myself. You will need two to put the engine back in because you have to align the steering shaft correctly. While you are raising the body off the engine you will have to adjust the transmission so that the engine will clear everything. When you are done you will have the third furniture dolly under the transmission mount and you will be able to push/pull the entire assembly out under the front of the car. Preferably you want the rear stands set at 17in, so that when you raise the fronts to 23 you will get the 33in to 34in needed to clear the metal crash beam behind the plastic bumper. Just be careful and patient. It doesn't makes sense to be in a hurry. I have pictures that I downloaded to the forum last year, but I couldn't load them all ( I still don't know why) They should be on a link starting about March 1-5 and ending about May 5. There are a couple of other things you might want to know, and there are several links regarding overhauling or replacement engines on the forum. How much were you planning on spending on the engine repair/replacement?

 

[RiverGambler]

Put a battery in the beast today. Seems to have power to all 6 holes and runs as expected. But has a heck of a knock/rattle/tick. Has anyone had any luck just re-timing them when they sound like this?

http://vid19.photobucket.com/albums/b200/wrmahaff/20150217_162618_zps7a607891.mp4

As for how much I'm going to spend, that all depends. If I have to do the engine swap, I'll likely buy another one wrecked through the auction, and then part it out to pay for the cost of the car. So my engine cost will be zero or close to it. I've got a wrecked 3.2 liter 2003 that I need to sell or part out before I have enough funds to get another one, but that's ok, because it's freaking cold here in Northern Michigan, and I likely won't spin a wrench until Mid March.

I might try the timing set first though.

 

[nbull115]

Can definitely relate to the cold and snow, been working on my baby in my driveway in Milwaukee, any whoo, i might be interested in the 03 for parts that you were talking about or some parts from it. Got a range you're looking at for it?

 

[RiverGambler]

Can definitely relate to the cold and snow, been working on my baby in my driveway in Milwaukee, any whoo, i might be interested in the 03 for parts that you were talking about or some parts from it. Got a range you're looking at for it?

I think I have the 03 sold, put it on the internet on a facebook group for $2,200 obo, and have three guys wanting to look at it when the title comes in. 128,000 miles with the manual transmission. What parts are you interested in? I might be picking another one up here in the next couple weeks.