Suggestions for separating trans from the block

[BrakeCheck]

Originally Posted by twistednoble

Hallelujah boys, we got a damn crack finally. More prying and wiggling is needed but there is some progress.

Fuck yea bro, good shit my man, I know that feeling when you finally have success after trying shit for hours lmao I would just keep sticking flat heads in it while going around it so you can eventually get to the bottom studs. if you pry it apart from the top the angle of the studs on the bottom will make it difficult to pull apart.

You should have seen when I was pulling my engine lmao that shit was a real cluster fuck. I left the tranny in the car and the studs were resisting so much and not letting me pull the engine off lol I ended up sticking my jack handle you know like the big 4-5 ft pip between the engine and tranny and absolutely going ham on that shit until I was able to fully separate the tranny and engine, and I was able to successfully pull the engine out of my car, and the tranny was still in it. As you seen in the previous pictures

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by twistednoble

I reviewed the thread, how much issue did you have getting it moving initially? My current clusterfuck is that the transmission is firmly mated to the back of the engine still.

I don't remember, sorry. I don't think that part hung us up too long. Getting it the rest of the way took a few days of thinking and coming back to it so that's what I remember. But it looks like you just got past that first part at least! Good luck!

[twistednoble]

I've been screwing around with it for a while now and I' probably gonna call it a day. I've got about a 1/4-1/8" gap around the whole thing but the right side is refusing to come as easily as the left. The gap is the smallest in the area around the LHS dowel so that is the current pain point. I'm wondering if this trans jack is putting pressure on it unevenly. I've messed around with the leveling nuts but it doesnt seem like it's helping. I might roll the floor jack over and support with that in the morning and use the trans jack to support the header.

[twistednoble]

Originally Posted by BrakeCheck

Fuck yea bro, good shit my man, I know that feeling when you finally have success after trying shit for hours lmao I would just keep sticking flat heads in it while going around it so you can eventually get to the bottom studs. if you pry it apart from the top the angle of the studs on the bottom will make it difficult to pull apart.

You should have seen when I was pulling my engine lmao that shit was a real cluster fuck. I left the tranny in the car and the studs were resisting so much and not letting me pull the engine off lol I ended up sticking my jack handle you know like the big 4-5 ft pip between the engine and tranny and absolutely going ham on that shit until I was able to fully separate the tranny and engine, and I was able to successfully pull the engine out of my car, and the tranny was still in it. As you seen in the previous pictures

Oh yea, this was a job I was expecting to be moderately difficult so I slated two days on it, and in typical fashion of car maintenance jobs I havent done before it's become a four day ordeal and its not even on the ground yet, lol.

First sticking point was that I didn't have a long enough wrench to motivate the diff nuts, then it was the stuck bellhousing, we'll see what else decides to rear it's head.

Hopefully it's smooth sailing soon. I'm getting tired of riding my VFR in 30F degree weather.

[EndlessAzure]

I had a curious issue with difficult transmission removal recently, but it was merely a hiccup in the process and not a big ordeal for me. Luckily my friends (who were both prior Toyota master mechanics) were on hand and dealt with it fairly quickly with big pry bars.

The issue: one of the transmission-to-engine alignment knock pins got seized for whatever reason (perhaps a little corrosion), and it caused the assemblies to stick. I didn't think much of it at the time (because I wasn't the one fighting with the engine that day), until I looked at the bell housing a few days later and noticed one knock pins stuck to the transmission. That's not supposed to happen; they are supposed to stay on the engine.

[Ultramaroon]

Enough feedback here to seriously consider stuck guide pins. I wouldn't have guessed.

[twistednoble]

Originally Posted by EndlessAzure

I had a curious issue with difficult transmission removal recently, but it was merely a hiccup in the process and not a big ordeal for me. Luckily my friends (who were both prior Toyota master mechanics) were on hand and dealt with it fairly quickly with big pry bars.

The issue: one of the transmission-to-engine alignment knock pins got seized for whatever reason (perhaps a little corrosion), and it caused the assemblies to stick. I didn't think much of it at the time (because I wasn't the one fighting with the engine that day), until I looked at the bell housing a few days later and noticed one knock pins stuck to the transmission. That's not supposed to happen; they are supposed to stay on the engine.

Dead on the money my friend. I got to keep both of them.

[twistednoble]

How does this look as far as bearing surface damage? Surface is a bit rough but no harsh ridges present so I think I can call it aftermarket grease retention features ��.

[86league]

Originally Posted by EndlessAzure

The issue: one of the transmission-to-engine alignment knock pins got seized for whatever reason (perhaps a little corrosion), and it caused the assemblies to stick.

2 (all?) of the dowels were very corroded and hard to get unstuck when I took the transmission out of my 2013. I mentioned it to the SA/Tech next time I was at the dealer and they just nodded and said that was fairly common, they often just drive a wedges between the engine and bell housing to get them separated.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by twistednoble

How does this look as far as bearing surface damage? Surface is a bit rough but no harsh ridges present so I think I can call it aftermarket grease retention features ��.

IMO, the thing that will kill your clutch fork and new TOB is if there are circumferential ridges/wear/warping developing. If you run your finger up the snout and feel catching or wavyness I would be concerned.
Longitudinal scuffing scratching should be fine if you are replacing the TOB.

When I did mine there were tiny almost imperceptible rings of wear. I had bought a sleeve kit for the snout and installed that along with it's matching TOB. Only afterwards when I drove it for the first time did I realize how not smooth my clutch was before. It's super smooth now.

[twistednoble]

Originally Posted by Spuds

IMO, the thing that will kill your clutch fork and new TOB is if there are circumferential ridges/wear/warping developing. If you run your finger up the snout and feel catching or wavyness I would be concerned.
Longitudinal scuffing scratching should be fine if you are replacing the TOB.

When I did mine there were tiny almost imperceptible rings of wear. I had bought a sleeve kit for the snout and installed that along with it's matching TOB. Only afterwards when I drove it for the first time did I realize how not smooth my clutch was before. It's super smooth now.

I'll look at it harder tomorrow afternoon. The whole thing's been brought to a screeching halt again because 86speed doesnt incude that wire retainer spring for the pivot ball in their kit even thought I took that upcharge for new TOB clips. The old one is about 1/3 to 1/2 worn through in some places so I'm not putting it back in. Ironically the TOB clips are perfectly fine and I could probably reuse them with no issues. I should probably fingerblast the pivot ball in the morning and check it for ridges as well.

New exedy clutch and flywheel is in, just gotta track down the stuff I'm missing. I might also get some new dowels, but that depends on if I trash the old ones ripping them out of the trans.

TOB was definitely the noise. Rotating the bearing sounds like stirring a red solo cup of limestone gravel. Not quite ruined yet though, the race is still held steady and the unit isn't falling apart.

[twistednoble]

Looking pretty good for a 90k mile clutch and flywheel.





Might chuck it on the classifieds in case anyone strapped for cash needs something to get by.

[spcmafia]

When I did my TOB replacement I saw this guy's video. Excellent description and very good tips, I think he also has a re-installation video.

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=f8f64...pVZmRtUQ&ntb=1

[twistednoble]

Going back together. I rode up to the dealer and picked up a spring clip and a new MLS gasket for the front pipe yesterday then spent the rest of the day thawing out. I did go out and get the new fork and TOB installed in the bellhousing. I drove out the corroded pins from the trans, hit them with a wire wheel and then smacked them back into the engine with a coating of antisieze. Looking back this may have been a mistake as I drove them out the front of the bellhousing and didn't think to try and clean the corrosion residue out of the holes on the trans.

Fast forward to today and things actually went pretty well at first. I heaved the sucker back up onto the jack and then popped it back up on the swaybar and back on the lower studs. A little wiggling and she shot right back through the clutch. I know I made it that far since I popped the trans into gear and could no longer spin the tailshaft. Right about here is where I ran into difficulties again. It really did not want to ride on both dowels at once. I suspect I either drove them in slightly offkilter or the remaining corrosion in the holes made it a challenge. I did the dance raising and lowering both jacks to make sure things were lined up but with no luck. Next step was putting in two of the lower bolts (by hand only) and flopping the trans around to try and work it down. This worked pretty well, I would work it back and forth and it would allow me to turn the bolts (by hand still) to gain a little bit at a time. Eventually it got to the point where I couldn't gain any more ground and I got out the wrench to start working things back and forth a little bit at a time. I also put in the top two bolts (and a ton of washers on the RHS to make a faux starter flange) to assist in keeping the gap even on all sides. I worked one turn at a time on each bolt and didn't force anything if it got tight.

I say that the RHS dowel pin was the problem since the LHS was much easier to draw down (to the point that I backed them off a couple times to keep the remaining gap even) and as I worked it down evenly I would get little puffs of red dust from the backside of the RHS pin hole from time to time.

Now that I've explained my sin...
What potential damage could I have caused by doing it this way and what are the symptoms? My primary concern is if the tip of the input shaft was in the pilot bearing or not by the time that the face of the trans is resting on the dowels. That's the only thing I think I really risked damaging doing this method.

I called it a night after wrasslin'/bench-pressing the trans for about five hours and countless up-downs to tighten the top and lower bolts evenly my arms were dead. I've got a tiny gap left between bellhousing and block and then I'll torque the bolts to spec and put the rest of the car back together pending any disasters or prophecies of doom from y'all.

I also need to clean and paint the front lower subframe braces before I put the skidplate back on. The paint's flaked off the welds and they're pretty red from the salty winter roads. They're probably gonna end up white since I don't have any black paint handy. It'll also give me a chance to lube the poly bushings on the front bar. That should hopefully address the pop I hear from the front left when I turn almost to lock or turn on an off-camber road.