1987 THUNDERBIRD TURBO COUPE ENGINE REMOVAL
BY RANDY WILHITE, MAY 2014
As the original owner of a 1987 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe with 166,000 miles on it, I embarked on a
major renovation project in February 2014 to prepare the car as a gift to my grandson upon his high
school graduation. As a part of this project, I wanted the entire long block remanufactured. These are
the procedures I used to remove the 2.3L engine from my 1987 Turbo Coupe. I don't propose that this is
the only way to do it, but it is the way that worked for me. This procedure will result in a discharged AC
system as you will have to remove the AC compressor.
SPECIAL TOOLS YOU WILL NEED BEFORE YOU BEGIN THE REMOVAL:
1. Aluminum "Quick Connect" line tools. I tried the plastic ones and they did not work for me.
2. Power steering pump pulley remover and installer kit if you are going to replace the power steering
pump as I did. These are available as loaner kits from auto parts stores such as Advance Auto, Auto
Zone, O'Reilly's, etc.
3. A good supply of small and medium sized zip lock plastic bags and a fine tipped ink marker. At each
step, I strongly recommend you bag and label nuts, bolts, fasteners, screws, etc as you remove them.
4. Labels - either paper tags with attaching strings or white vinyl printed tags such as those produced by
the Brother P-Touch label maker. I tagged both sides of each electrical plug connector, vacuum hose
and connection point and sundry metal pipes. The paper tags work okay unless you want to power
wash and/or degrease the engine bay while the engine is removed.
5. Engine hoist and various lengths of chain capable of supporting 800 pounds.
REMOVAL PROCEDURE:
NOTE: Due to ultra tight space restrictions, this procedure removes the long block with the
exhaust manifold, turbo body and lower intake manifold still attached to the engine.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Set the parking brake and put front of car up on jack stands.
Remove both front wheels for better access while under the car.
Disconnect and remove the battery.
Disconnect both front fan electrical connections and clip off any retaining ties or wires. Remove the
two top and two bottom 10mm bolts that secure the fan shroud assembly to the front of the car.
Remove the 10mm bolts that fasten the two top radiator and fan shroud clamps. Remove the entire
fan shroud assembly. Now is a good time to test each fan to ensure they both work - use two jumper
wires from the car battery you removed in step 3 above.
5. Remove the radiator cap. Position a 3 gallon bucket under the right side of the radiator, open the
radiator stopcock and drain all coolant from the radiator. Remove the upper radiator hose from the
radiator and hold it down to drain all coolant from the hose, then remove the upper radiator hose
from the thermostat housing water outlet. Reposition the bucket to the left side of the radiator and
remove the radiator end of the lower radiator hose. Push the disconnected end of the lower radiator
hose downward to drain yet more coolant. Disconnect small coolant recovery hose from the radiator
fill neck. Lift radiator straight up and set aside. Remove lower radiator hose bracing tray.
6. Remove the entire air filter assembly from the right fender all the way back to the turbo VAM
assembly.
7. Remove VAM and intake air tubes from turbo intake horn.
8. Label hoses on the intercooler and remove intercooler - don't forget the 16mm nut attaching the
intercooler to the exhaust manifold.
9. Remove the battery tray.
10. Remove the three 10mm mounting nuts from coolant recovery tank, then remove the coolant
recovery tank and mounting bracket.
11. Mark hood bolts with white out, allow to dry, then remove the hood.
12. Remove both serpentine belts and the serpentine belt tensioners (18mm bolt).
13. Dismount the AC compressor then, using the quick connect disconnect tools, disconnect both AC
lines from the compressor. Disconnect the AC compressor electrical connect and lift compressor
out of the engine bay.
14. Tag all vacuum and electrical connections on the upper intake manifold. Disconnect each
connection. Disconnect the throttle and cruise control from the throttle linkage on the upper
intake manifold. Remove the 10mm and 13mm mounting bolts from the upper intake manifold and
remove it from the car.
15. Using a long extension and 17mm socket, remove the distributor hold down bolt and clamp (I
replaced this hold down bolt with a 5/16" allen head bolt and bought a 8 inch long allen wrench,
which future distributor adjustments a whole lot easier.) Unplug the distributor wiring harness plug,
the coil wire and individual plug wires from the plugs, and lift the distributor out of the car.
16. Remove the four 13mm water pump pulley bolts using an impact wrench. Remove pulley from car.
17. Remove the three 10mm shoulder bolts and one phillips head bolt from the outer timing belt cover
and remove outer timing belt cover by pulling lightly up while rotating top of cover toward left side
of car.
18. Remove the smaller coolant line from the thermostat housing, remove two 10mm bolts from the
housing, position catch pan under the front of the block and remove the thermostat housing and
thermostat.
19. Remove three 13mm bolts from the water pump housing then remove water pump from the car.
20. Tag all vacuum tubes, oil and coolant lines on the turbo body and disconnect them. Disconnect the
electrical connection plug to the O2 sensor on the upper exhaust pipe and tie back out of the way.
Remove the four 13mm bolts that connect the upper exhaust tube to the rear of the turbo body this entirely disconnects the exhaust system from the engine and allows removal of the engine with
the turbo body still bolted to the engine.
21. Remove the power steering pump and mounting bracket.
a. Using a catch pan, remove the lowermost, larger rubber line from the power steering fluid
reservoir and drain the power steering fluid.
b. Remove the smaller rubber line from the power steering fluid reservoir and drain into catch pan.
c. Remove the 10mm mounting screw from the underside of the power steering fluid reservoir and
remove reservoir from car.
d. Position catch pan under power steering pump and using a 5/8 open end wrench, disconnect
the high pressure power steering hose from the power steering pump - drain into catch pan.
e. Get under the front of the car and use a 13mm shallow socket to remove the nut securing the
cross-engine wiring harness and battery negative cable. Then, using a 13mm deep well socket,
remove the wiring harness mounting bolt with the stud.
f. Still under the car, remove the front bottom bolt securing the power steering pump bracket to
the block.
g. Now working from over the left fender, remove the two 13mm bolts that secure power steering
bracket to the engine and lift out the bracket with the power steering pump still attached.
WARNING: This pump will seep power steering fluid for what seems an endless time, so be sure
to put it into a large pan (such as a cheap aluminum turkey basting pan). If you want to replace
the power steering pump (about $40), now is the time to do it. This is where you will need the
power steering pulley remover and installer kit I referenced in the Special Tools section at the
top of this procedure.
22. Remove the braided grounding strap from the firewall directly above the rear end of the valve
cover.
23. Loosen hose clamp on coolant line at lowermost point of lower half of intake manifold. Remove
the two 10mm bolts that secure the fuel injector rail to the lower intake manifold. Gently rock the
rail to loosen the four fuel injectors. Disconnect electrical plug between #2 and #3 intake runners.
After tagging each, gently disconnect the four fuel injector wiring harness plugs. Remove the four
injectors which are held in place with rubber O-rings - tag and bag them so no dirt can get into
them. Disconnect the knock sensor wire quick-connect plug and remove the injector wiring
harness. Swing the injector rail with both fuel lines still connected up onto the firewall of the car.
24. Remove the top 18mm nuts from the left and right engine mounts.
25. Attach hoist and lifting chain to right motor mount (I ran the chain through the gap between the
block and the two arms of the mount) and lift right side of motor approximately six inches. to clear
bolt and stud heads from rubber isolators. Remove the 13mm stud nut on bottom rearmost bolt
and pull off the starter wiring harness retainer, then, using 13mm open end wrench, remove this
stud/bolt from the AC compressor mounting bracket.
26. Use 13mm socket to remove the three remaining AC compressor mounting bracket and remove this
bracket from the car.
27. Using two long extensions and a 13mm socket, remove the top starter mounting bolt. Get under
the car and remove the two lower 13mm starter mounting bolts. Disconnect starter electrical
connections and remove starter from under car - you must have the right side of the engine lifted up
to gain sufficient clearance to remove the starter.
28. Block up the front of the transmission. From under the car remove the bolts attaching the clutch
inspection plate and the bell housing to the back of the motor.
29. Lower the right side of the motor back onto the motor mount. Center your engine hoist over the
engine. Attach a chain to each motor mount top as described in step 25. Attach a third chain from
the hoist to the turbo body - this third chain has little weight but does serve to keep the engine level
as you are removing it from the car. Lift engine out of the car.
With the engine fully removed from the car, you can now access all of the lower intake manifold
mounting bolts, the turbo mounting bolts and various sensors. I highly recommend you soak the turbo
mounting bolts in several applications of Brute Blaster, Liquid Wrench or whatever penetrant you use
before attempting to remove them.
SPECIAL NOTE ON ENGINE REBUILDERS: Engine rebuilders have various standards about what they
include in rebuilding an engine - be sure to ask exactly what will be done. Normal business practice is
for them to accept the long block with all external components removed. The exception to this is that
all timing components required to set the static timing must be present, i.e. the crankshaft front gear,
timing belt, camshaft timing gear, timing belt tensioner and rear timing belt cover. The timing belt and
tensioner will be replaced by the rebuilder with new components and they will set up the initial static
timing between the camshaft gear and the crankshaft gear, which can be a real pain in the butt.