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How to Remove your LB7 Duramax
For starters some of you reading this may not think you will ever need to pull your motor. However I can say that if you plan to do something like a turbo swap and head studs at the same time, removing the engine will make things much easier and will give you less chances for things to go wrong, again just my opinion though.
Your probably wondering, do you need to be a full time mechanic? Not necessarily, I would say this is for people with moderate experience, but the biggest part is having some experience and knowledge and just being comfortable with removing your motor and realizing that hey, sometimes you’ll mess up but that’s how you learn and in the long run you are still saving money.
So what all is needed to remove it? If you have access to a car lift it will make things nice but it is not necessary. A cherry picker(engine hoist) is a must and you will want one that has a long reach and extends fairly high in the air, also make sure it can handle the weight of the Duramax about 1,100lbs assembled if i remember correctly. For the rest you will need basic hand tools mostly metric from 8mm-19mm. The only really special tool you will need are some fuel line disconnect tools, which are cheap and available everywhere.
Now let’s get started.
How To Do It



2.Now that you will have the passenger side tire and fender liner out of the way, go to the drivers side and remove the wheel and fender liner on that side using a 22mm or 7/8" socket and body clip removal tools if you have them. There are wiring harnessess that fasten the to the fender liner so be sure to unhook them.
3.Now raise the hood into the service position. I suggest getting a helper, the hoods heavy. If you are tall like me you can hold it by hand and use your head to support it while installing the nuts and bolts. To do this first remove the ground wire running from the firewall to the hood using a 10mm then remove the bolts that connect the springs to the hood using 13mm tools and then flip the hood so that it is perpendicular to the floor, now you should be able to put the bolts through the service position holes in the hood and into the springs. And you now have plenty of room and light to work with, without removing the hood.

4.Now you will want to disconnect the frontpipe if you haven’t already using an 11mm deep well. These are locknuts so an air ratchet will help save your hands.

5.If you do not have your batteries disconnect yet, disconnect them using an 8mm wrench.
6.Now you want to remove your air intake tube by unplugging the MAF sensor, and loosening the two clamps on each end of the tube using a 7mm. NOTE: On 2002-2004 LB7s there will be an additional clamp which goes to the turbo resonator, this will need to be loosened as well. On stock setups the air box wont be in the way.