Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and chasracer
Member
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2010
- Messages
- 10
- Transmission
- Automatic
Wow, this has to be the longest I have ever worked on a minor project like this, but the total lack of information is a killer. I am going to post some tips here that I hope might help someone else and avoid some of the issues I ran into.
First off it helped that I was able to get the truck blocked up to a reasonable height that allowed plenty of work room. Being able to move around, reach things and have enough room to turn a wrench or breaker bar is essential.
After the basics of getting the driveshaft, shifter, rear crossmember, connectors and starter out of the way, you are ready to tackle the transmission to engine bolts. Most of them are not too bad to get to, but the top two can be a real test. I found that putting together just about every extension I own and a 1/2" swivel socket worked the easiest. I had to use a flashlight to see the bolts too.
With the transmission loose the next test was getting it slid back, now I have read that some just say it slides right on back - not on my truck! Between the firewall interference and the brace for the suspension arms there is about an 1/8" of clearance to get it started coming back. Once the input shaft has cleared the pilot bushing, you can start angling the transmission down some which will help with its removal. BUT, before you go to far, you have to pull the hairpin that is holding the clutch feed tube in place. I was able to use a long thin screwdriver and pop it out, it is too tight to pull with your fingers.
With transmission on it's way back, I found that I had to keep lowering it to clear the transmission tunnel. Nothing big, just have to move it back a little, lower it, move it back and so forth until it is clear.
Now you can get to the clutch pressure plate which has it's own set of issues. Ford uses pins to locate the pressure plate, not a huge problem but you have to make sure you remove them so you can put the new ones in. I replaced the flywheel and at 115k, it needed to be replaced. The original one was shot. I also replaced the pilot bushing by filling it with grease and then using the alignment tool to force the grease underneath the bushing and push it out. It makes a mess but it will work. Make sure you clean the new flywheel surface with brake cleaner or some carb spray and paper towels. It needs to be as clean as possible of oils, etc. Use the alignment took and put the clutch plate in place taking note of the correct direction, then put the pressure plate in place. I started a couple of bolts, then using a hammer tapped the new locating pins in. Finish up the bolts and then check to make sure the alignment tool slides in and out easily, if it binds you are not lined up correctly and need to loosen the bolts and try again.
With the new clutch in place, it's time to take a look at the throwout bearing. This is where the bulk of my problems occurred. If the clutch you are replacing is original, then you have the old style throwout bearing in place. The new replacement is about an inch longer and a totally different design. What you do not know is that there is a spacer sitting kind of inside the slave cylinder. It is not that noticeable but it has to be removed. The easiest way is to apply a little bit of air pressure to the port of the slave cylinder (very, very careful here, you do not want to blow the seal out!!!!) and this will force the spacer out to where you can grab and remove it. Once that is removed you can now take the plastic retainer off of the old throwout bearing, clean it up and fit it to the new bearing. The instructions that came with my clutch kit flat sucked about all of this information. Only through a lot of pain did I figure this stuff out.
With everything replaced, you can now reverse the process which sounds easy enough. Check the port of the slave cylinder and make sure the o-ring is still there before you get started. I found that once I had the input shaft into the pilot bushing, I had to rotate the transmission back and forth to get the splines engaged in clutch plate. Once that is done, then you can start working the transmission closer to the engine. Oh, don't forget the block plate either - that has to be in there too. I could get the transmission on the engine pins about a 1/4" and then started using a couple of bolts to help me get it slid together. But again, before you get ahead of yourself, make sure you get that hydraulic clutch line back in place and put the hairpin clip in place. BTW, while you had everything apart, it would be good idea to let the clutch fluid drain into a plastic bowl or bottle. It should all be replaced as it is normally rather nasty by now.
After everything is back together, you need to bleed the clutch - you will need an assistant for this part. The bleed screw is a 5/16" and a closed end wrench works the best. Fill the master with fluid to the top, remove the rubber bladder and put the top back on. Have your assistance pump the pedal 10 times, then crack open the bleeder, then do it again. On my truck it took repeating this 4 times and I had about a 1/4" of fluid left in the master. Make sure you get 2 good squirts from the bleed screw before calling it done. Fill the fluid up to the normal level, put the rubber bladder back in and your done.
With the rear wheels off the ground still, you should fire it up and check to make sure everything is as expected.
Hope some of this helps you out.
First off it helped that I was able to get the truck blocked up to a reasonable height that allowed plenty of work room. Being able to move around, reach things and have enough room to turn a wrench or breaker bar is essential.
After the basics of getting the driveshaft, shifter, rear crossmember, connectors and starter out of the way, you are ready to tackle the transmission to engine bolts. Most of them are not too bad to get to, but the top two can be a real test. I found that putting together just about every extension I own and a 1/2" swivel socket worked the easiest. I had to use a flashlight to see the bolts too.
With the transmission loose the next test was getting it slid back, now I have read that some just say it slides right on back - not on my truck! Between the firewall interference and the brace for the suspension arms there is about an 1/8" of clearance to get it started coming back. Once the input shaft has cleared the pilot bushing, you can start angling the transmission down some which will help with its removal. BUT, before you go to far, you have to pull the hairpin that is holding the clutch feed tube in place. I was able to use a long thin screwdriver and pop it out, it is too tight to pull with your fingers.
With transmission on it's way back, I found that I had to keep lowering it to clear the transmission tunnel. Nothing big, just have to move it back a little, lower it, move it back and so forth until it is clear.
Now you can get to the clutch pressure plate which has it's own set of issues. Ford uses pins to locate the pressure plate, not a huge problem but you have to make sure you remove them so you can put the new ones in. I replaced the flywheel and at 115k, it needed to be replaced. The original one was shot. I also replaced the pilot bushing by filling it with grease and then using the alignment tool to force the grease underneath the bushing and push it out. It makes a mess but it will work. Make sure you clean the new flywheel surface with brake cleaner or some carb spray and paper towels. It needs to be as clean as possible of oils, etc. Use the alignment took and put the clutch plate in place taking note of the correct direction, then put the pressure plate in place. I started a couple of bolts, then using a hammer tapped the new locating pins in. Finish up the bolts and then check to make sure the alignment tool slides in and out easily, if it binds you are not lined up correctly and need to loosen the bolts and try again.
With the new clutch in place, it's time to take a look at the throwout bearing. This is where the bulk of my problems occurred. If the clutch you are replacing is original, then you have the old style throwout bearing in place. The new replacement is about an inch longer and a totally different design. What you do not know is that there is a spacer sitting kind of inside the slave cylinder. It is not that noticeable but it has to be removed. The easiest way is to apply a little bit of air pressure to the port of the slave cylinder (very, very careful here, you do not want to blow the seal out!!!!) and this will force the spacer out to where you can grab and remove it. Once that is removed you can now take the plastic retainer off of the old throwout bearing, clean it up and fit it to the new bearing. The instructions that came with my clutch kit flat sucked about all of this information. Only through a lot of pain did I figure this stuff out.
With everything replaced, you can now reverse the process which sounds easy enough. Check the port of the slave cylinder and make sure the o-ring is still there before you get started. I found that once I had the input shaft into the pilot bushing, I had to rotate the transmission back and forth to get the splines engaged in clutch plate. Once that is done, then you can start working the transmission closer to the engine. Oh, don't forget the block plate either - that has to be in there too. I could get the transmission on the engine pins about a 1/4" and then started using a couple of bolts to help me get it slid together. But again, before you get ahead of yourself, make sure you get that hydraulic clutch line back in place and put the hairpin clip in place. BTW, while you had everything apart, it would be good idea to let the clutch fluid drain into a plastic bowl or bottle. It should all be replaced as it is normally rather nasty by now.
After everything is back together, you need to bleed the clutch - you will need an assistant for this part. The bleed screw is a 5/16" and a closed end wrench works the best. Fill the master with fluid to the top, remove the rubber bladder and put the top back on. Have your assistance pump the pedal 10 times, then crack open the bleeder, then do it again. On my truck it took repeating this 4 times and I had about a 1/4" of fluid left in the master. Make sure you get 2 good squirts from the bleed screw before calling it done. Fill the fluid up to the normal level, put the rubber bladder back in and your done.
With the rear wheels off the ground still, you should fire it up and check to make sure everything is as expected.
Hope some of this helps you out.
