If any of you have already done the PCMofNC (Formally PCMforLess) EFan conversion, this is a quick run down of what was done. We only removed parts we found that were in the way or a major inconvenience.
Shout outs to Fishsticks' old thread here, of which some of this is borrowed and modified.
This write up also assumes that you have an understanding of mechanics and grasp some of the implied meanings.
With the EFAN in place, you will not need to remove any hoses for the cooling system. We did not need to touch the motor mounts or break any AC lines loose. Just disconnect the battery, but removing it is not needed.
1) Place jack stands on frame rails near door/fender alignment and remove front wheels.
2) Drain diff fluid. (13mm IIRC. This should break free with ease as there is a plastic washer in place to keep the surface from corroding)
3) Remove ABS and brake line hold downs from spindle to prevent breaking later.
4) Separate upper ball joint from upper control arm. This can easily be done with a small wedge and a ball pein hammer.
5) Place a jack under the lower control arm, near the ball joint. Remove nuts from top of strut assembly.
At this point, you should be hanging on the CV and lower ball joint with the jack keeping everything from binding.
6) Use the jack for leverage and pull the CV shaft from the disconnect/differential. Be sure that you are not stressing the brake line, it will be fairly tight and the reason you'll want the jack under it. Once the shaft was out, we moved the jack to the other side for use, laying the control arm on a wooden box. We did not feel the need to remove the strut completely or the tie rod ends, as others have done. They did not get in our way. If you feel the need to remove the struts, anti seize the tapper when reinstalling so it will be easy to remove later.
7) Unbolt the PCM and fold it back out of the way.
8) Unbolt the keeper near the PCM for the wiring harness, this will give you a little more room.
9) Remove the belt and unbolt the engine lift bracket.
10) Unbolt the alternator, removing the plug and main power wire.
11) Unbolt the idler pulley bracket. The 'dust shield' is part of the bracket, be careful not to break it.
12) Unbolt the AC compressor. Unplug the main harness to it and the pressure sensor. Fold this harness back onto the motor mount, out of the way, once the compressor is out.
13) Unbolt the AC hard line keeper on the passenger side of the motor to allow more room for flex.
The compressor will not go very willingly, the short flex line going to the condenser will fight you, but it'll work. Fold the compressor into the hole you made where the PCM was and bungee it in place.
14) Remove the disconnect motor and the 4 bolts that hold the disconnect in place on the oil pan. There are 8 total that are visable, 4 to the oil pan, 4 for the disconnect housing itself. The disconnect can be a pain to remove from the pan due to corrosion, so be weary of prying to hard against the aluminum pan.
15) Remove the stub shaft. If it is stuck and you need leverage, pull one of the 10mm bolts from the PCM and thread it into the shaft. This should be plenty of leverage to overpower the seal that is holding the shaft in the differential.
16) Remove the front drive shaft.
17) Remove the 4 bolts from the differential. There are two on the front, one on the bottom and one in the rear. The one on the bottom will back all the way out, but you cannot remove it from the housing until you pull the diff free. PUT THIS BOLT BACK IN BEFORE YOU ALIGN THE NEW DIFF IN THE PAN, or you'll cuss yourself.
18) Remove the differential from the oil pan, good luck. Remember not to pry too hard against the oil pan. Remember when I talked about anti seize? There is no anti seize here. You'll likely be in for a battle to get it removed.
19) Remove the breather tube from the diff and then remove the breather barb fitting. This will give you the extra inch of room you need to snake the diff around the frame rail.
20) Twist, jiggle, drink beer, rotate, and pull it out.
21) ???
22) PROFIT
23) ANTI SEIZE the $#%* out of the oil pan housing for the disconnect and diff. Sand and clean the corrosion first, if needed.
As a reminder, NOW is a good time to replace the seals on the diff and the disconnect, especially the outer ones. Check your bearings and tear down the disconnect to regrease it. Make sure you seal the disconnect motor well so water does not work it's way back in to the housing. Its been mentioned here, and elsewhere, for years. If you're going this far, you should already know this.
CURRENT (Early 2015) GM part numbers can be found in the pictures below. Pictures are both seals for the differential and the outer seal for the disconnect. Both differential seals will have metal tabs on the back that will fold in to place to hold the adjusters for the carrier in the diff. These are offset on purpose and will not match the adjustment rings in the diff housing. This allows you to seat the seals in any orientation and still allow it to grab the rings with 3 tabs. If you don't understand now, you will once you remove the seals. I do not have the part number for the inner disconnect seal, I ran out of time on the project, due to removal of the diff that had jammed in the oil pan, but my seal was in perfect shape and holds grease instead of oil. Most dealers will try to sell you the outer diff seal and the outer disconnect seal, so cross reference the parts correctly. These are identical seals to the OEM AAM ones that you'll be pulling out.
Hope the helps save some headache. The overall tear down is pretty easy, but the separation of the oil pan and disco/diff will likely be your enemy.
