How do you pull a van's engine?

Unless the whole scheme of things has changed in the newer vans, the easiest way to drop the engine is to drop it. Unhook all the stuff on top, wires-hoses-etc and take the lower balljoints loose take the 4? bolts out of the crossmember out and raise the van off the engine. Leave the tranny connected and you get it all in one operation. Putting it back in would be fairly easywith a couple of all-threads in the crossmember holes to guide the whole mess back up. Working with the springs is the only downside. They are pretty potent if they take a notion to "free" themselves when you don't want them to. I chain them to the A-arm to limit their freedom to reach out and touch anything.