Part 1

Engine Front Cover

Special Tool(s):

Material:

WARNING: Do not smoke or carry lighted tobacco or open flame of any type when working on or near any fuel-related components. Highly flammable mixtures are always present and may be ignited. Failure to follow these instructions may result in personal injury.

CAUTION: During engine repair procedures, cleanliness is extremely important. Any foreign material, including any material created while cleaning gasket surfaces that enters the oil passages, coolant passages or the oil pan, can cause engine failure.

All vehicles
1. With the vehicle in NEUTRAL, position it on a hoist.
2. Release the fuel system pressure.
3. Recover the air conditioning system.
4. Remove the accessory drive belt and the power steering belt.
5. If equipped, remove the 6 screws and the underbody shield.

6. Disconnect the power steering cooler tube and drain the power steering fluid into a suitable drain pan.

7. Remove the degas bottle.
8. Remove the engine air cleaner and air cleaner outlet pipe.
9. Remove the battery tray.
10. Disconnect the 2 engine wiring harness electrical connectors.

11. Detach the 2 wiring harness retainers from transmission mount and the battery tray bracket.

12. Remove the nut and disconnect the power feed wire from the battery terminal.

13. Remove the bolt and position aside the ground wire.

14. Disconnect the vacuum hose and the evaporative emissions (EVAP) tube from the upper intake manifold.

15. Disconnect the upper radiator hose, lower radiator hose and 2 heater hoses from the thermostat housing.

16. Disconnect the transaxle control cable from the control lever.

17. Remove the 3 nuts and position the transaxle control cable bracket aside.

18. Remove the bolt and position the ground wire aside.

19. If equipped, detach the engine block heater harness from the radiator support, power steering hose, A/C tube and the engine wiring harness.
20. Detach the coolant tube retainer clips from the A/C tube.

21. Remove the nut and disconnect the A/C tube from the condenser.
^ Discard the O-ring seals.

22. Remove the 2 A/C tube bracket bolts.

23. Remove the A/C tube bracket bolt.

24. Remove the 2 nuts and disconnect the A/C tubes.
^ Discard the O-ring seals.

25. Detach the 2 wiring harness retainers.

26. Disconnect the 2 engine wiring harness electrical connectors.

27. Remove the 2 wiring harness retainers from the LH valve cover stud bolts and position the wiring harness aside.

28. Remove the oil level indicator.

29. Disconnect the hose from the power steering reservoir.
^ Detach the pin-type retainer from the engine mount brace.

30. Using a small screwdriver, release the retaining clip and detach the power steering reservoir from the cowl.

31. Disconnect the fuel supply tube from the fuel rail.

32. Remove the bolt and the ground wire from the engine mount brace.

33. Remove the 3 bolts and the engine mount brace.

34. Disconnect the powertrain control module (PCM) electrical connectors and pin-type retainers.

35. Remove the power steering pressure (PSP) hose bracket bolt.

36. Remove and discard the PSP banjo bolt and the 2 seals from the steering gear.

37. Place the steering wheel in the straight-ahead position and the ignition key in the OFF position.
38. Remove the 2 nuts and the steering joint cover.

39. CAUTION: Do not allow the intermediate shaft to rotate while it is disconnected from the gear or damage to the clockspring can occur. If there is evidence that the intermediate shaft has rotated, the clockspring must be removed and recentered.

NOTE: Index-mark the steering column shaft position to the steering gear for reference during installation.

Remove the bolt and disconnect the steering column shaft from the steering gear.
^ Discard the bolt.

40. Remove the 4 screws and position the LH fender splash shield aside.

41. Remove the 6 pin-type retainers (4 shown) and the LH splash shield.

42. CAUTION: The steering gear-to-dash seal must be removed or it will be damaged when lowering the subframe.

Release the 4 clips and slide the steering gear-to-dash seal off of the steering gear and into the passenger compartment.

43. Disconnect the transaxle cooler hoses.

44. Remove the drain plug and drain the engine oil.
^ Install the drain plug and tighten to 27 Nm (20 ft. lbs.).

45. Remove and discard the engine oil filter.

46. Remove the 6 nuts and the Y-pipe assembly.
^ Discard the gaskets and nuts.

All wheel drive (AWD) vehicles

47. NOTE: Index-mark the driveshaft for installation.

Remove the 4 bolts (3 shown) and support the driveshaft with a length of mechanic's wire.

All vehicles
48. Remove the engine roll restrictor-to-subframe through bolt.

49. NOTE: LH shown, RH similar.

Remove the cotter pins and nuts from the tie-rod ends.

50. NOTE: LH shown, RH similar.

Using the special tool, separate the tie-rod ends from the steering knuckles.

51. NOTE: LH shown, RH similar.

Remove the nuts and separate the stabilizer bar links from the struts.

52. NOTE: LH shown, RH similar.

Remove the 4 lower ball joint nuts.

53. CAUTION: When the lower ball joint is separated from the wheel knuckle, the lower arm may strike the outer constant velocity (CV) joint boot with enough force to damage the boot clamp. This will result in a loss of grease from the outer CV joint. Place a block of wood, or similar item, between the lower arm and the outer CV joint to prevent the lower arm from striking the outer CV joint.

NOTE: Once pressure is applied to the ball joint with the special tool, it may be necessary to tap the wheel knuckle at the ball joint area to separate the ball joint from the wheel knuckle.

NOTE: LH shown, RH similar.

Using the special tools, separate the lower ball joints from the lower control arms.

54. NOTE: LH shown, RH similar.

Remove the through bolts from the lower control arms.

55. Position the special tool under the subframe assembly.