How To: Remove Transmission

by Kalva | July 26, 2009 10:35 pm

This is a “how to” with some pictures that may assist in taking out our manual tranmissions. If your doing the removal yourself like I did you should alot 4 plus hours for your first time just to remove the tranny. It now takes me about an hour and half to drop my MT and the same to put it back. Its more prep time and making sure you don’t forget to undo something that may hang up the tranny when lowering it.

List of tools:

30 mm 12 point socket to remove the drive shaft nut (Ace Hardware)
14 mm 6 point socket to remove most bolts on tranny, engine mounts
17 mm 6 point socket to remove the two top tranny bolts and control arms
12 mm 6 point socket to remove battery tray, top engine mount bracket, ground wire to tranny
10mm 6 point socket to remove neg on battery etc
22 or 24mm 6 point to remove oil drain plug
Different length
extenders for sockets and universal joints for some angles to get socket on the bolts
1 Large flat head screw driver or small “pry bar” to pop off driver side axle
1 Jack two is better
3 Jack stands, two to hold up car one for engine when tranny is out (or jack to hold engine up)
Braker bar ( most tranny bolts are on with 50 ft lbs or less) not to bad
*2 cargo straps one with ratcheting ( time saver and makes removing / installing the tranny SO MUCH EASIER)
Dremmel or small hack saw to cut out small piece of the front engine mount to access the clutch release cylinder (so you don’t have to disconnect and bleed the clutch system)
1 Step stool
1 funnel
1 roll of paper towels

Now for the fun.

While the car is on the ground loosen the 30mm bolt holding the axle shaft. Make sure you bend up the locking tab on the nut I used a hole punch then a screw driver.

Remove the rear crossbrace (14mm) then battery and air box all the way up to the intake.

Remove the battery tray assembly 12mm

Remove the two pins holding the shift cables make sure to mark one of the cables to know which one goes to which pin. I use a paper towel and wire to mark the longest cable.

Remove the back up plug, bolt to ground wire 12mm

Remove the bolt holding down the wire harness to the transmission 12mm

Remove the top tranny bolt 17mm closest to the rear of the car

Remove the top tranny bolt 17mm closest to the front of the car. Its not easy to see but with a long screw driver or pry bar you can move around the engine hoses & wire harness to put on the socket

Now jack up the car and make sure you use jack stands. I have the smaller type 2 ton, you’ll need to raise the car high enough to slide the tranny out. I went three or four exposed notches.

When under the the car I started with the starter bolts 14mm

Then the two bolt holding the clutch cylinder 12mm

Then remove the the engine long bolt 14mm or 17mm and the three bolts 14mm holding the mount to the car and the bolt at the rear lower transmission 14mm

Remove the holding clip and then cut out a notch with a dremmel to slide the clutch cylinder out

Remove the two 14mm bolts behind the header. You might need extensions and universal joint with the scoket & ratchet.

Remove the lower tranny bolts 14mm

Remove the lower control arms bolts 17mm. The nut with the dial remove. The other control arms you must turn the bolt not the nuts. The nuts have a spike on back of them that will not let it turn. The bolts are the way to go.

Remove the three amigo header bolts and pop off the down pipe (you don’t need to remove the down pipe)

Place a oil pan under the tranny then remove the oil drain nut 22mm or 24mm. drain the oil.

I used an air chisel fork to pop off the axle a large flat head screw driver or small prybar will work (the air chisel fork was used as a pry bar only not hooked up to an air source, the bit has a turned up side like a fork has and that gives it a little more leverage). Turn the other wheel a little at a time until it just pops off. Don’t force it, keep turning the other wheel a little at a time until it comes off there is a C-clip that needs to slip down so the shaft slides out.

Remove the engine mount nut and bolt 17mm, then the 4 bolts 14mm to the car.

This part you’ll need a jack to support the engine and lower it a little to slide out the tranny (only one engine mount will be attached) don’t drop it to low. Also, I used a jack stand as add comfort, I placed it an inch lower (just in case)

First replace the strut crossmember brace, then tie off one end of the cargo strap to it and wrap it around the bell housing through the engine mount brackets and hook or tie off ( leave slack to lower the engine two to three inches) Then place the jack under the oil pan closet to the bell housing, I used the first rib line. Don’t place it under the lowest widest part of the oil pan, that is where the oil pick up is and you don’t want to damage it. Depending on how high your jack goes, up I used a 4×4 the same length as my jack, my jack is small 2 ton. Jack up the engine just to take the load off the mount.

Remove the engine mount nut and bolt 17mm, then the 3 bolts 14mm to the tranny

The arrow pointing to the left it where I place my flat head screw driver to pry the bell housing a little.

At this point slide under the car and slide the tranny to the wheel side. All its wight will be supported by the cargo strap. FYI the tranny weighs around 65 or 70 lbs. not to heavy

Go back up and lower the tranny using the strap to the ground, slide it out.

Putting it back

Slide the tranny back under the car wrap one of the cargo straps back around the bell housing through engine mount brackets over the strut crossbrace like before.

New part: next place the ratcheting cargo strap around the small end of the tranny. You want to angle the transmission up into place parallel to the engine. You want to zig zag the straps up.

Rotate the tranny in the straps to align the tranny up. I was turning the tranny counter clockwise a few times when I was ratcheting it up.

When you have the tranny line up with the straps slide back under the car and push the tranny up and towards the engine. If its aligned up it will slide into place fairly easy. When you feel the drive shaft slide into the clutch your all most home. Make sure the bolt holes line up and the two pins and it should pop into place. I hand tightened the bolt just under the “pin” next to the header and the lower bolt closer to the firewall, then snug them down. Then put in the top two bolts and work your way around. Do the starter bolts after the Driver side tranny mount is installed.

At this point you should have 5 bolts holding the tranny to the engine. Two large 17mm bolts on top two 14mm on the bottom and one 14mm bolt by the header. reattach the driver top engine mount bracket 3 12mm or 14mm bolts to the tranny then jack the engine/tranny up so you can slide the thru bolt to hold the tranny and engine mount together. The jack under the engine can come out the engine is supported by the two mounts. Then do everything in reverse and don’t forget to fill with gear oil.

Best of all we can use this cap (12mm bolt) at the top of the transmittion to fill with oil (no mess), unbolt and turn, its held in with a gasket

The final step filling with a funnel.

** IF YOU DON”T GET THE PINS TO LINE UP WITH THE BOLT HOLES SOMETHING IS MISS ALIGNED.** most likely the clutch is not centered after a clutch change. Don’t force the tranny in, just lower and check the clutch by loosing a few bolts on the housing and recenter the clutch and tighten it back to spec

Source URL: https://midshiprunabout.org/mk3/transmission-removal/