Yeah, to be honest it came out quite well. The worst part was probably disconnecting the exhaust downpipe – the bolts needed some heat.
I took my time and just made certain everything was properly disconnected and free. I think that was made a little easier in the knowledge I didn't have to label all the wiring, but I made sure I disconnected it properly rather than just snipping, because I wanted the experience for the XC.
I was very surprised that there wasn't much information out there but I managed to piece together what help I needed from various forum guides.
FWIW this is roughly what I did:
- Removed front bumper
- Drained fluids, inc. fuel line (mine was empty anyway from all the compression testing..!)
- Removed the strut tower bracing and engine covers, charge air piping, air box, etc
- Removed the intercooler, radiator, cooler assembly from the front end. Hugely helped by the fact I cut the front crash bar out.
- With car in the air...:
- Remove the front brakes inc. the calipers, pumped out some brake fluid
- Removed the front drive shafts – bit of a fight here with the ball joints
- removed the AC pump and the aux belt (probably didn't need to)
- Removed the coolant bottle and moved the power steering bottle out of the way. Removed hose to the PS pump too and tied it up.
- Slowly removed the electrical harness, sensors etc and moved aside
- Removed the heat shield and the exhaust downpipe. Found that after removing the bolts to the rear section of exhaust this was easier – must've been under some stress.
- Remove the AWD driveshaft. Access to the 8mm hex bolts is good and with the front wheels off the ground you can spin the shaft. After dropping out the mid-section support the shaft ends almost came out. I gave it a knock with a block of wood to push it out the rest of the way at the front. Then the rear needed a solid back-forth tug.
- Checked for anything else still attached that might be in the way..
- disconnected the fuel line (almost missed it!)
- removed the auto trans cable at the 'box end and set aside
- removed the brake fluid bottle
- Lowered the car again
- Removed nuts from all of the engine mounts – ready to lift!
- Realised it was a good idea to remove the ABS module and move the hydraulic lines out the way.
- After that it was up and away, just careful to adjust the position and angle it out. You definitely want a load leveller for this.
