Well I'm swapping a new engine into my friends 08 coupe because his has a thrown rod bearing. No shop anywhere near us would install a new engine for under $20k (only one place would even attempt and that's what we were quoted) so we're doing it in the driveway. Front end is off and I've been trying to disconnect the wiring harness, do I need to remove part of the dash to disconnect what's behind the firewall?

 

$20K for a engine SWAP? What in hell are they smoking in your area?

You should be able to completely disconnect the engine from the harnesses right there in the engine bay. There should be no reason why you would have to access anything behind the firewall/ dash. Just mark everything and keep track of what goes where.

$20k for a swap... nuts.

 

They're trying to pull the motor with harness.

You dont need to pull the dash but you will need to pull the plastics at the bottom of the glove box (pulling the glovebox is easier)

Your best bet is to locate the harness part that enters into the battery area and start disconnecting it this way. In the engine bay will be a big black square connector that will need disconnecting. The rest are inside.
Locate the ECM and start disconnecting the smallest/3rd connector first and move it out the way. This will leave the 1st + 2nd connector and a long white connector that will need to be disconnected so the harness can come out of the car.

I'd suggest you swap this same harness back into the donor engine. Many times 1 year of a difference in trim will have your automatic/ reverse/ starter pins in other locations. The last thing you want is finding out the harness is different after installation.

 

Still not worthy of $20K.

Maybe I am missing something... seems too convoluted just to pull the engine, but I digress.

 

Right. I think that's just go-away pricing.

 

That's what I thought. Definitely right about go away pricing, I guess mechanics just expect people to buy a new car when this happens, except this was my buddies new car and it locked 2 weeks after he had it. dealer wouldn't do anything about it though I'm pretty sure they knew. He should have gotten it checked first but he was excited about having a nice car for the first time in his life.