Stubborn transmission removal help

[jmcarthy]

Pulling the m5od out of my '98 4.0 ranger. I can't split the engine & tranny. I removed (what I believe) all the engine/tranny mount bolts (8). I can move the whole engine & transmission assembly but cannot split it from the engine. I do not see any more bolts and have just sprayed some penetrating oil where I could get it in the seam but still cannot get them to separate. I see the 4 cylinder shows bolts coming from the engine side but I don't see any. Prying at the cast aluminum case seems a but risky. Can anybody offer some experienced advice here?

 

[RichD]

did you unbolt the Torque converter from the flywheel?

 

[jmcarthy]

It's a standard transmission.

 

[snoopdoggie]

There are eight bolts holding the trans to a 4.0. Six in the motor and two in the oil pan I think. There may also be a small bolt(screw) holding the spacer plate to the trans, low down on the passenger side. It should not hamper removal though. I've seen pilot bearings fail and grab onto the end of the trans input shaft and cause the same problem you are having.

 

[chvlfrk]

Umm...............

Have you removed the starter?

The starter bolts (on a 2.3L anyways) go from engine side into the trans bellhousin..........I've removed all the seen bolts & couldn't seperate the engine & trans and I hadn't removed the 3rd starter bolt that's hiden against the block..............

 

[jmcarthy]

Follow up:

The tranny did finally break loose. After little more than 5 hours of spraying the seam down with PB blaster and tapping and working it. Turns out there was a good bit of corrosion between the 2 mating surfaces. Although you would not know by looking at rest of the undercarriage. I was just looking to see if someone else had this problem and I wanted to post a followup in case somebody does. I did not expect to spend practically the whole day on this and have to admit a little anxious about not knowing for sure why it wasn't coming. I'm replacing the slave cylinder and clutch in case interested. Got one broken exhaust stud to remove then ready for re-assembly. I'm hoping that goes quicker. I think it's a tough job. Possibly worth having someone else do (at $500), but I didn't wanted to start that for fear it will be a slippery slope to me not doing anything in the garage.

 

[olranger]

trans

I just did my clutch/p plate/etc this weekend. i had to use a pry bar to seperate mine. Brother and me fought it for a while then remembered i had put the shifter back on to put in gear to get the drive shaft bolts out and forgot to take it back out i put it back in bymyself. Use a rachet strap to hold the tranny in place while you wiggle the trans around to get it to line up. Lay a pipe over the shifter hole and that is where the ratchet handle lays. when you get the trans up so far use a jack. You will have to go back and forth several times to make sure as you lift the tranny with the jack you tightened up the strap. So much easier than you trying to balance and wiggle the thing on a jack alone. I had mine in by myself in an hour. Good luck be careful

 

[jmcarthy]

The ratchet strap sounds like a good idea. Thank you.

 

[myold96]

i used two guide bolts and benched it in. my knees controled the tail end and arms the front end,the trannys not heavy just difficult. once it is on the guide bolts it slides right in, easy peasy lemon sqweezy.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

i used two guide bolts and benched it in. my knees controled the tail end and arms the front end,the trannys not heavy just difficult. once it is on the guide bolts it slides right in, easy peasy lemon sqweezy.

That's how I do mine, except I have to lift it a lot farther. My arms are fully extended and I have to use my feet. If this 145lb guy can do it by himself without a trans jack, there is no excuse for anyone.

I have an extra set of the longest bellhousing bolts, that I use to slide it in on. I ground the heads to the diameter if the bolts, then cut a slot in the end of them so they can be installed and removed with a flat screwdriver. My alignment tool is an old input shaft with the gear torched off of it, it's a more exact fit than the junk plastic ones. I can flat-back R&R my clutch within 1.5hrs. Practice (and good tools) makes perfect.

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk

EDIT: way to go reviving a 5yr old thread. You must've been deep in the search function...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I've always used a 2" ratchet strap to pull the trans rearward while I yanked and pried on it till it came loose.

I don't enjoy the thoughts of having to go through this again this year, but the slave is leaking again in the ol F-150.