Transmission removal woes
 

I'm in the middle of trying to get my transmission out to replace the throwout bearing, clutch, flywheel, etc. I got everything disconnected and unbolted without too much trouble. The transmission slid off about 3/4" and is stuck there. One of my friends and I spent about 8 hours yesterday screwing around with it... jacking up the engine a little... jacking up the transmission a little, lower them, raising, prying all over the place. No luck.



As far as I can tell the alignment is good. I have some 1x2 wood scraps at the top, bottom left, and bottom right so I know the gap is even all the way around. That should mean they are parallel. I stuck one of the bolts back through to make sure it's not off center left/right or up/down. It threaded right into the engine with no trouble so I think that's good.



I don't know why it isn't coming out unless the pilot bearing or spline on the clutch disc is messed up and stuck or something.


My next step is going to be to cobble together some screw mechanisms to force them apart with a nut.


I attached a couple pictures. One shows the gap at the top, the other is with a little snake camera I got inside.


Any ideas??


Thanks

i would push it forward onto the shaft slightly and try to jerk it back to try to overcome any bad/worn/grease spots that might be preventing full removal.

You have to support the front of the engine AND the back of the transmission! Why do you have a block stuck in the top? You probably warped the friction disc as soon as you managed to pull the transmission far enough to disengage the pilot bearing. About 3/4"

I got mine off by supporting the engine on the pan with a block of wood and then using a transjack to put it up a bit higher than normal and split it with a pry bar. Putting it on both times took 2 hours and 3 respectively.

The engine is supported with a floor jack on the oil pan. The transmission is supported with a transmission jack.


The block of wood is to prevent the gap on the top from closing when prying the transmission back from the bottom. There are blocks of the same thickness on the bottom left and bottom right. The gap is even all the way around - it is pulled straight back.

Thanks, that's a good thought. I did try that once yesterday without any improvement but I had forgotten about that idea. Going back and forth a few times might help.

but if the engine isn't supported like ultra was saying, yanking harder really isn't the right answer

The engine is on a floor jack

Ok, gotcha. Can you get it back together, or is it jammed?


If it goes together, and you're certain there isn't something else jamming the transmission, perhaps a couple smooth, "assertive" pulls will free it.

It does go back together. I tried pushing it back together and pulling it apart a few times. Maybe some progress, hard to tell. I'll mess with it some more tomorrow.

Maybe spray some wd-40 in there, but only if you intend to pull apart the clutch to clean everything with brake cleaner or acetone.


Staying tuned.

If the TOB is caught on the housing, you might push the clutch pedal in with your pieces of wood between the bellhousing and engine. Or work a pry bar behind the TOB.

Prying apart or forcing it together is not a good solution with a transmission. When you get the transmission loose the nose of the engine will dip down. Support the front of the engine. Take a look at everything else you may be missing something.

The TOB moves freely. I can slide it back and forth with the top of the clutch fork easily. I can see it through the gap between the engine and transmission and it doesn't appear to be caught on anything.

Pretty much every guide and instructional video I've seen says to use a prying tool to push the transmission back. I don't know how I would get it off without prying.


I am supporting the front of the engine with a floor jack. I've tried numerous small adjustments of the angle by lowering and raising the jack slightly.

I got them a little farther apart. I took this picture showing the shaft completely out of the clutch disc. It's currently in a little farther than this (engaged but probably just barely) after various attempts to remove it.


Once the shaft and clutch disc are separated the only things that should still be in contact are the two studs in the bottom, right? The two alignment pins are completely out. The studs don't seem like they're binding. I can push the transmission around up down left right and it moves freely through a small range of motion. It will move slightly back and return slightly forward when I let go. When I try to push it backwards with a pry bar on the bottom, the back of the transmission just tilts up until it hits the underside of the car.



It seems like either something isn't lined up exactly perfectly (I don't know how perfect it needs to be), and maybe once it's aligned to within a microradian it will come off. Or maybe the pilot bearing came out of the flywheel and it's stuck on the transmission shaft?? That seems unlikely.

Sounds stupid, but has the wiring of the gearbox dropped?

Have you disconnected the drive shaft?

Good catch...looks to me like all the starter wiring has not been taken loose...if the splines are that far out, it's not binding there...is the shifter disconnected? Drive shaft? all wiring?

I finally got it out last night! I'll post more details when I get home from work this evening. Short version... The bracket that the transmission is pinned to at the top near the shifter was stuck hard and wouldn't budge even with the pins removed. It required major persuasion to dislodge, but once I did I had the transmission out within a few minutes.

Oh yeah... that bracket got in my way too. We'd disconnected it fine but it got pinned between the body and the trans and was preventing us from sliding the trans out fully. It was pretty much impossible to see too, only noticed it by feeling around.