TRANSMISSION INSTALL HELP!
 

Hey guys, swapped out my clutch this weekend, having issues reinstalling the transmission. My issue is i cant get the tranny to sit snug against the block. i can get it about 1 inch away. and then it seems to hit a snag... any help would be greatly appreciated. i know im aligned and that the input shaft is going into the clutch disc.. should i try to use the bell housing bolts to put the trans to the motor? im stuck...

thanks for everyones help in advance.

sound like yoy got it bound up on something. Can you check for clearance all around the transmission grind sure its not snagged on anythibg

You have not yet engaged the "splines" on the clutch disk.

Did you use a clutch alignment tool to make sure the clutch disk is perfectly centered in the pressure plate? "Eyeballing it" is not always good enough.

If you are sure that the drive shaft is IN the clutch disk (but not engaging with the splines) then you can try this trick.

While pushing in on the transmission, have someone engage/disengage the clutch a couple of times.
IF you can get the throwout bearing to press on the pressure plate release tabs to relieve pressure on the disk, then the driveshaft will usually self-center the disk, and it will slide in.

yea i checked for wires and anything that could be interfering with it going back in didnt see anything that could be in the way....

Also check vertical alignment, you may have to jack the front of the engine up. I suspect, as others have said that the splines aren't aligning with the clutch or with the engine. They always come out easy but going in is much more difficult. Also rotate the transmission shaft a little bit to see if you can get better alignment.

i am confident that the splines are lining up and going into the disc, i greased the input shaft, and i can see grease on the shaft inside of the clutch disc.

yea i had to jack the motor up a bit to get the tranny to slide on. once i did that the tranny slide right on and stopped about 1" from being flush with the motor. and couldnt get it to go any further

question, if the input shaft is properly aligned and inside the clutch disc, will i be able to rotate the shaft still from the back of the tranny where the driveshaft goes in??

@AZFA20 prying upwards got success

It was a bitch

Is the trans in neutral? If it's not then you could still rotate it, but not very easily.

The trans on these cars are so tiny I figured it'd be easy to deal with. I did the clutch on my F250 in a parking lot one time, I think the clutch/flywheel on that weighs more than the whole Alsin trans in these cars.

yes transmission is in neutral. ive changed clutches on fwd cars, but never a rwd. im no where near a professional and learn as i go. havent tried to reinstall anything since monday night. i have to wait until tomorrow have a few buddies dropping by to help out. im sure we will get it in, but right now its stressing me the eff out. it should be easy, considering there are guide studs at the bottom of the motor, and yea this trans isnt heavy, abut 85 pounds. but u also need to worry about the actual angle the engine is sitting at bcuz when u remove the trans the motor dips forward.

Don't use the bolts to close up that much of a gap. My bet is either the trans is not 100% aligned in which case wiggling it around should allow for movement or you may have to tilt the block back etc. Or the splines aren't aligned. The clutch trick mentioned above or drop the gearbox and put it in 5th or 6th and rotate the output shaft to align.

I haven't yet pulled the gearbox out of my 86 but I have pulled the gearbox out of my celica more times than I can count and these are the two things I have encountered several times.

Oh, the other thing is if you didn't use an alignment tool the nose might not be sliding into the pilot bearing. Did you replace the pilot bearing as well? There is a small chance it is the wrong size.

Try turning the crank shaft with the crank pulley bolt.

I have done several of these on the FA20 and the problem is not a shaft alignment with the clutch disk or spline alignment issue. It's the pilot bearing not lining up to the input shaft. When you take the weight of the transmission off the back of the engine the rear of the engine tilts upward by a couple degrees. The trans tunnel does not go high enough to make for easy re-install. It's not hard per se but just tricky. Be gentle and most of all PATIENT. Depending on whether you are using aftermarket or stock motor mount you may need to just loosen the lower mount bolts a tad to get some engine tilt. Stock mounts are uber soft so you can manipulate the engine easier. Once you have the engine and trans parallel to one another it will go right on like butter. The pilot bearing hole and the input shaft pilot bearing surface are just tight tolerance andndo not allow for any angle during insertion that's all.

Some go super easy and others are more time consuming.