Hey Guys,
Looks like I'll need to remove the tranny so can anyone give me any words of wisdom when doing it on the ground in my garage?

Things like....
Jack it up from where?..cross member??
What did you use on your floorjack to lower and raise the tranny and was there a good balancing point?

Is there a trick to getting at the converter bolts?
Inspection cover then turn the engine from where ?

I'm trying to work out the details before turning a single wrench.

Last week....LCA bushings......This week ...the tranny!
Kenny s>

 

Word of advice--Extensions and wobble sockets--also try and get the top two tranny bolts from inside the truck and thru the shifter hole......

I am manual so i dont know what else would apply to the automatic--take off the T-case if that is possible and get a good trans jack--raise the truck on jack stands as high as your equipment will allow. And last but not least, i find bench-pressing the tranny into place is easier than using the trans-jack......my .02$

 

OMG, that's nearly "facepalm" worthy. Only thing stopping me is I've never tried to "bench-press" one in before so I guess I shouldn't knock it unless I've tried it. I guess that also explains why you like remove the transfer case, less weight to "bench press".

Ok here's my 2 cents and my way you just leave the transfer case on. I'm guessing you have an auto tranny.

Yeah get a tranny jack, or in my case an adapter for a floor jack (IIRC about $60). Get one that will allow you to tilt the angle, really helps going back in. Might need to get the truck off the ground some to get room to wheel the tranny out.



Of course support the tranny before you remove the cross-member.

It helps getting the rear drive shaft off if you have not overfilled your slip spline with grease.

You'll need lots of long extensions and a swivel or 2 to get the top 2 bolts loose. I recommend 1/2" drive stuff for that. I also would recommend using only 6 point sockets to keep from rounding the heads (12 point sucks unless you have 12 point bolt heads).

Be careful undoing all the wiring connectors, they can get brittle and break. It seems like every one of them has a different way of clipping together. IIRC some take a small screw driver to get loose some don't. Some are almost on top of the tranny.

Remove the torque converter bolts BEFORE trying to pull the tranny back from the engine. This is done by removing the inspection plate (dust cover) under the bell housing.



You can only get to the torque converter bolts one at a time, turn the crank bolt (clock wise) until you have them all out. Note: one bolt will be slightly different than the others (bigger shoulder and different color), it goes back on first to help center on the pilot.

Speaking of the pilot, before you go back on remove any rust and clean the pilot up, very lightly grease with anti-seize. This will help it slide back together easy.



You can see here on this A340F (with dual cases) there are 6 torque converter bolts.



Get a couple extra tranny bolts and cut the heads off and cut a slot into them. Use these as guide pins when putting the tranny back on. After you get a couple tranny bolts in place remove the guide pins with a flat head screwdriver.





If you have a leaky rear main seal this would be a good time to replace it.

 

Yeah--it is a little heavey--but doable for manual--once the input shaft is in the pilot bearing hole and dowels are in--stab some bolts and the rest is gravy--it not that bad....

 

Thanks for the photos Mt goat.
Yes , I have an automatic.
I'll go over to Harbor freight and get the add on for my floor jack with tilt.
Do you have a flat pce of plywood there for the pan to sit on?

Great pics of the inspection cover............too bad I can barely see mine.
It's buried above the rack......

Yeah.........I had no plans to crack the transfer case.........Kenny S>

 

Yes, a piece of plywood.

I didn't have to remove the rack on the Tacoma I took the tranny out of. Don't even remember it being in the way.

 

I 2nd or 3rd spending the money on a tranny jack.

To make your life easier putting the tranny back in, I suggest jacking up the front of the motor to tilt the back lower and allowing more clearance for lining up the tranny. With the auto-box you might be just fine anyway, but it sure helps when lining up a manual.

 

That's an awesome idea. Thank you for that.

 

I'd like to take credit for that idea, but I saw it somewhere on these forums. I can imagine it would really help with the "bench press" method.

 

Just a few more questions.......
Is it just easier to drain the fluid from the pan and disconnect from the 2 lines
on the passenger side?

Does anyone know which way the engine will fall when the tranny is removed?
Thanks guys........Kenny S

 

I'd pull the drain plug.

Mine wanted to fall forward without the tranny, see the block of wood holding it back here:

 

Thanks for your help.

Hmmmmm.....I'm wondering if I'
ll need to remove the fan or loosen the fan shroud to tilt the engine back a bit?

Kenny S>