Transmission Archive

Step 21 - Support the tranny with an extra floor jack and then unbolt it.

Tools Needed: 17mm Deep Socket Wrench, Floor Jack, 2×4 Piece of wood.

Place a 2nd jack with a piece of 2×4 wood under the tranny. Then get your friend to grab a hold of the rope with some gloves. Once the tranny is supported you can start unbolting the lower front transmission mount using a 17mm socket wrench. Then Tell your friend to hold the rope tight and start unbolting the last 3 top engine mount bolts using a 17mm socket wrench.

Step 22 – Grab the tranny and wiggle it left and right to dislodge it of the engine.

Tools Needed: Gloves

Grab the tranny with your hands and start wiggling it left and right to dislodge it off the engine. Careful not to move the engine to much so it does not fall of the jack support. Once you get the tranny loose, hold it while your friend removes the 2nd jack out of the way and you can slowly lower it to the ground.

Step 18 – Support engine with a floor jack and piece of 2×4 wood

Tools Needed: Floor Jack and a 8-12″ Piece of Good 2×4 Wood

Position the jack under the engine oil pan, and place a piece of 2×4 between the oil pan and the jack. Then gently raise the jack till the piece of 2×4 is touching the oil pan. Make sure you are not jacking up the engine, all your doing it supporting it so it doesn’t drop to the floor when the tranny is dismounted.

Step 19 – Wrap some rope around the tranny for added support later

Tools Needed: 6-10 feet of nylon rope

Wrap the nylon rope around the tranny 2 times for added support later. Make sure it’s not going to fall off the tranny so wrap it front to back.

Step 20 – Unbolt the rear top transmission mount bolt and the top engine to tranny bolts

Tools Needed: 19mm Socket Wrench and 17mm Socket Wrench

Unbolt the top rear tranny mount bolt using a 19mm socket wrench. Then take a 17mm socket wrench and unbolt the top four tranny to engine bolts. Keep track where each bolt is from as one of them has a bracket for the oxygen sensor plug.

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Step 16 – Unbolt the 2 rear bottom transmission mount bolts

Tools Needed: 17mm Socket Wrench

Use a 17mm socket wrench and unbolt the 2 bottom rear transmission mount bolts.  And then unbolt the engine to transmission bolt that is just to the left.

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Step 17 – Unbolt the bottom engine to transmission bolts

Tools Needed: 14mm Socket Wrench

Use a 14mm socket wrench and unscrew the front lower engine to transmission bolt. Then unscrew the rear lower 12mm engine to transmission bolt.

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Step 14 – Remove the left and right drive shaft from the transmission

Tools Needed: Large Flat head screw driver, 17mm Socket Wrench and 17mm Combination Wrench

Unbolt the the damper fork bolt using a 17mm socket wrench and a 17mm combination wrench. Check to make sure the steering knuckle is dismounted of the lower ball joint and then pull out the outer CV joint out of the hub spine. Then use a large flat screw driver and help pry the inner CV joint out of the transmission while pulling it toward the outside of the vehicle. By prying the CV joint out I mean slide the screw driver between the transmission and the inner CV joint and gently try to dislodge the CV joint from the transmission but be careful not to damage the transmission seal. The shorter passenger drive shaft should be easier to do but the longer drivers side might require some help from a friend. Your friend can pull on the shaft and help support it while you try to dislodge it out of the transmission. Repeat the process above  to remove both drive shafts.

Step 15 – Unbolt and disconnect the shifter support linkage

Tools Needed: 12mm Combination Wrench, Flat Screwdriver, 8mm Punch, Hammer, and Grinder

Use the combination wrench and unscrew the shift rod. Once the bolt is out pull the shift rod down and out of the way. Next you need to push back the rubber boot back on the extension rod to expose the clip. Use a flat head screwdriver to remove the clip of the shaft. Grab an 8mm punch and hammer and try tapping the pin out. If you try this for a while and it doesn’t work try plan B. Take a 4″ grinder and carefully grind down the bottom part of the shift rod pin, careful not to grind down any other part on the transmission or linkage. Once the head of the pin is gone use a punch to push up the pin until it pops out on top. Then grab the extension rod and move it to the side careful not to loose any plastic components.

Step 12 – Unscrew the main drive shaft nut on the left and right side of the car

Tools Needed: 1-1/4″ Socket,  Breaker Bar or Heavy Duty Impact Gun, Propane Torch, Chisel, Hammer, WD-40

Use a chisel and a hammer to undo the locking tabs on the driveshaft nut. Then spray the threads of the nut with WD-40. After the WD-40 has had time to sock into the threads take a 1-1/4″ socket and a breaker bar or a heavy duty impact gun and unscrew the drive shaft nut. If it doesn’t want to let go try heating it up with a propane torch, then quickly try unscrewing it. Don’t give up as sometimes the nut may be harder to get off from road grim and dirt that has made it’s way inside the threads.

Step 13 – Unscrew the lower ball joint nut and pull the ball joint off the control arm on each side

Tools Needed: Needle Nose Pliers, 17mm Combination Wrench, WD-40. Ball joint puller

Grab your needle nose pliers and fold back the ends of the cotter pin that is inside the lower ball joint threads. Once the cotter pin is straight grab the back side and pull it out. Use some WD-40 to spray the threads of the lower ball joint then unscrew the nut using a 17mm combination wrench. Once the nut is out use a tie-rod-end puller to separate the lower control arm from the steering knuckle. Do this for both sides of the car so the drive shaft’s are ready for removal.

Step 10 – Unbolt the clutch slave cylinder from the transmission

Tools Needed: 10mm Socket Wrench and 12mm Socket Wrench

Unscrew the two 10mm bolts holding the clutch slave cylinder bracket on the transmission and then move the bracket out of the way and screw the 2 bolts back into the transmission. Then use a 12mm wrench and unbolt the 2 slave cylinder bolts and once again move the slave cylinder out of the way and screw the bolts back into there original place on the tranny.

Step 11 – Drain the transmission oil

Tools Needed: 4″ Deep Drain Pan, 3/8″ Drive Racket

Place a 4″ drain pan under the transmission and use a 3/8″ drive racket to unscrew the transmission drain plug. Wait till all the oil has drained out then put the plug back in and tighten with your hand.

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