Transmission Removal? Help

[IdealProductz]

Alright im going to be pulling my tranny in a few days Manual. How hard is the job and how long should it take. should i drop it out the bottom or top. Also my tranny is stuck in third gear so will that complicate things any? If anyone knows how to do this with instructions that would be sweet. Any help would be great. Thanks guys!

[mellott73]

i have it down to about 8 hours to get one out and have the new one put back in using just jackstands and a jack but thats providing everything goes right...ive also done a few in my time so that helps to...

but heres a little thing wade sent me when i needed help a while ago

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some things you'll need to buy and have ahead of time:

Axle nuts (shouldn't re-use these)
Top strut bearings if you need them (they'll fall apart when you pull the struts)
Transaxle fluid (Ford's Honey is the best)
Brake fluid (will need to bleed slave cylinder)
PB Blaster

Here we go!


--------------------------------------------------
Remove intake, battery, battery tray.

Remove both front wheels.

Drain transaxle fluid.

Remove exhaust Y-pipe.

Unbolt caliper brackets on both sides, along with the line holder on the strut, pull caliper/bracket assembly from knuckle and hang in wheel well (never let it dangle by the brake line).

Now remove the rotors.

Unbolt tie rods, sway bar links, and ABS sensors (if equipped) from knuckle.

Remove axle nuts (32mm) .

Remove ball joint pinch bolt, and use a long pry bar or your jack handle in the lower control arm to pry down and pop the ball joint out of the spindle. You can use a fork style ball joint separator if you have to (and you may if it's never been apart), but you will probably ruin the ball joint.

At this point the strut/knuckle assembly should only be held at the top. Thread one of the axle nuts backwards on to the end of the axle, and tap it out of the spindle, hitting on the end of the nut. DON'T just hit the end of the axle, as you will ruin the threads and end up having to either re-thread them or buy new ones.

Once the axle is out of the spindle, take off the top nut holding the strut assembly in, and remove the strut/spindle from the car as one piece. Don't **** around trying to get the knuckle off the strut...there is no reason to.

Remove the two smaller splash shields on the passenger's side (not the big fender one) and using a long extention, remove the two 10mm nuts holding the jackshaft to the bracket on the back of the block. You can see them looking in along the axle/jackshaft assembly. Once you've removed those two nuts, remove the passenger's side axle/jackshaft as one piece. There is no need to separate them.

Stick a long, thing screwdriver in the hole in the differential that you just pulled that jackshaft out of, and tap until the driver's side axle comes out. Don't just pull on it...you'll separate the CV joint. It will help if you have a friend supporting it. Look in there with a light...there is a rod that goes across...you'll either need to be above or below it.

At the top of the radiator support, where the radiator sticks through, you'll see two small holes in the plastic. Stick something through there to support the radiator (radio DIN tools work great). Now unbolt the 4 small bolts that hold the bottom of the radiator to the subframe.

Unbolt the AC Dryer from the subframe.

Remove the front and rear roll resistors (mounts).

Inside the car, right above where the steering shaft passes through the floorpan, you'll see a plastic ring around the steering shaft. Remove that, and draw a line with a permanent marker down the steering shaft where the two pieces of it come together. You'll want this to line your steering wheel up later.

To remove the subframe, I put a couple of jacks under the control arms. I loosen the front bolts, and remove the rear ones, allowing the rear of the subframe to drop down. Tie the tie rods up into the wheel wells somehow to hold up the steering rack. On the top of the subframe frame, there will be about 5 or 6 bolts holding a metal cover over the steering rack. Remove then, then two large bolts hold the rack to the subframe. The rack should now be free of the subframe.

*Note* You can remove the steering rack with the subframe, AirCougar does it that way. I just never have because I didn't want to dick with the power steering fluid, so I leave it in the car, tied up by the tie rod ends.

There should be one bolted clip that holds the power steering line to the subframe...remove that.

You should now be able to lower the subframe out of the car.

Pop the shift cables off the rods on the shift tower, and unbolt the bracket that holds them to the transaxle.

At this point you'll need to support the engine using an engine jack or 2x4

Or carefully put a jack under the oil pan.

Remove the top transaxle mount

Remove the starter.

Remove all of the bellhousing bolts, taking care to remember where they go. There will be different lengths and styles. Before you pull the last couple bolts, make sure you have a transmission jack (or willing friend) under the transaxle, as it will slide away. You may need to lower the engine down a little to get it out of the car, but it will come. The MTX-75 isn't terribly heavy, about 100 pounds I think.

You can now see your clutch!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

hope that helps

[wadespencer99]

Nice how-to :tongue:

[mellott73]

haha yeah i figured you'd recognize that one

[Newcat016]

Alright im going to be pulling my tranny in a few days Manual. How hard is the job and how long should it take. should i drop it out the bottom or top. Also my tranny is stuck in third gear so will that complicate things any? If anyone knows how to do this with instructions that would be sweet. Any help would be great. Thanks guys!


Ask aircougar1... He did mine in under 4 hours by pulling it out the side and just dropping the front part of the subframe. Just gonna need some extra hands to help you out when you pull it.

P.S. Check the shift linkage cables to make sure one didn't pop off...just a thought.No implications just be carefull taking off the old ones=don't crack em.

[aircougar1]

VEry Nice wade!!

I actually don't bother with the Power steering anymore... I usually just let the subframe hang down at an angle towards the driver's side. I have a jack that lifts the car 2 feet in the air, so there is plenty of room for me to lower the tranny and pull it out from the side with the subframe still there.

I like that you tie up the steering rack, but I am able to skip that part because of how high the car is in the air...:)

[aircougar1]

Jared just beat me to it...LOL! :rofl:

[wadespencer99]

I'll have to try just dropping the subframe down next time and see if I can get it out. We were able to do that a friend's Cavalier (just loosen it), but that is just a crossmember and not a full cradle.

[aircougar1]

Yeah, I was looking at that way you do it last week when I swapped out Nighteagle's tranny, and I saw that I had the room to slide it out... PLUS his Passenger side wheel was stuck due to a stripped lug nut that Town FAir tire F'd up, so I had to go with leaving that whole side assembled, and popping the half shaft out the tranny while it was still attached to the knuckle and the car!!!

[wadespencer99]

so I had to go with leaving that whole side assembled, and popping the half shaft out the tranny while it was still attached to the knuckle and the car!!!



Gahh...

When I pulled the trans with the blown diff on my silver Cougar the jackshaft had welded itself to the gear, so I had to pull the axle out with the trans!

:facepalm:

[aircougar1]

Gahh...

When I pulled the trans with the blown diff on my silver Cougar the jackshaft had welded itself to the gear, so I had to pull the axle out with the trans!

:facepalm:

DAMN!! that's crazy that it welded like that! :eek:

I've seen a lot of crazy stuff like that too. These cars are weird sometimes, eh! :banghead:

[B3NN3TT]

This is great; I'm doing a new clutch, diff, and flywheel later this month, and I need all the knowledge I can get.

So you just unbolt the driver's side of the subframe and leave the passengers side attached? Do you loosen the bolts on it, at least? And I assume you have to separate the steering shaft from the rack...

[wadespencer99]

DAMN!! that's crazy that it welded like that! :eek:

I've seen a lot of crazy stuff like that too. These cars are weird sometimes, eh! :banghead:


I could NOT figure out why I couldn't just slide the jackshaft out of the trans...it was driving me crazy. Finally, I gave up and pulled the trans with it sticking out. I ended up splitting the case and pulling the diff apart. I had to beat the piss out of the gear to get it off the jackshaft, then take the shaft to a machine shop to have it ground back down...lol

[aircougar1]

This is great; I'm doing a new clutch, diff, and flywheel later this month, and I need all the knowledge I can get.

So you just unbolt the driver's side of the subframe and leave the passengers side attached? Do you loosen the bolts on it, at least? And I assume you have to separate the steering shaft from the rack...

Yes, the steering shaft still has to be removed from the rack, and you will need to remove the Passenger side Subframe bolts, but you can leave the Pass. side Ball joint bolt in place and still be able to lower the frame low enough to get the tranny out....

You will need a jack on the rear of the Front subframe to assist you in getting it back up and aligned for reinstallment, but that's about it... The hardest part if you have the car up as high as I do, as trying to get the tranny bolted up by yourself, unless you have long arms like me... its a pain to try and stretch down to the tranny, lift it up and align it to the engine, and hold it in place with one hand, while trying to get a bolt threaded in to hold it there!! I try and get a second person for at least that part, since my back is a pretty bad... Just a tip for you. :)

[02L4]

Hello, not trying to "thread jack" however i'm new here and have a quick question, is that write up for a 2002 cougar I4? if not can some one let me know where i can get a write up for it i'm helping one of my friends replace his clutch this weekend and don't know anything about cougars.

thanks in advance

[wadespencer99]

L4? You mean I4?

It should be very similar...

[02L4]

L4? You mean I4?
wow, ya i ment I4 *:banghead:* oops x2
It should be very similar...
ok thanks

[aircougar1]

I would almost think it would be easier, because of how small the I-4 motor is... maybe even possible to pull the tranny to the side without dropping the subframe... or even pulling the tranny out from the top!

I need to look at an I-4 MTX now :rolleyes:

[brapple]

I need to look at an I-4 MTX now :rolleyes:

how many times has there been one in your driveway now :rofl:

your welcome to look the next time I am over if you want :biggrin:



but I would say you have to follow the same procedure as the mtx sits in the same possition in the engine bay as it does with the V6, right over the subframe.

[Blackcoog]

BTW for me I found it easier to remove the A-arm bolts, top strut nut, tie rod (from hub), ABS sensor (from hub) and sway bar connection (from hub) and then the entire strut/hub/rotor/axle/A-arm all pull out as once piece leaving you with much more room to work with.

[wadespencer99]

BTW for me I found it easier to remove the A-arm bolts, top strut nut, tie rod (from hub), ABS sensor (from hub) and sway bar connection (from hub) and then the entire strut/hub/rotor/axle/A-arm all pull out as once piece leaving you with much more room to work with.


So you also avoid buying a balljoint that way too :rofl:

[Blackcoog]

Definitely I hate that SOB!

[aircougar1]

LOL! Darn Balljoints!! rip those boots all the time.......... UNTIL, I started lowering the subframe first, then tapping on the Control arm with a hammer, and popping the joint from the knuckle that way... Doesn't do ANY damage at all.

[wadespencer99]

LOL! Darn Balljoints!! rip those boots all the time.......... UNTIL, I started lowering the subframe first, then tapping on the Control arm with a hammer, and popping the joint from the knuckle that way... Doesn't do ANY damage at all.


Nice...I'll have to try that. Won't help on engine swaps since I don't drop the subframe for those, but it sure will on trans swaps!

Heh...I usually take off my jack handle, wedge it in the control arm, and pop the balljoint that way (or try to). That's works on a lot of them so I don't have to resort to the tuning fork and rip the boot.

Buuuutttt.....look at my poor jack handle!! :rofl:

http://www.extremesoundonline.com/forum/jackhandle.jpg

[aircougar1]

Nice...I'll have to try that. Won't help on engine swaps since I don't drop the subframe for those, but it sure will on trans swaps!

Heh...I usually take off my jack handle, wedge it in the control arm, and pop the balljoint that way (or try to). That's works on a lot of them so I don't have to resort to the tuning fork and rip the boot.

Buuuutttt.....look at my poor jack handle!! :rofl:

http://www.extremesoundonline.com/forum/jackhandle.jpg

YIKES!! :rofl: I have a set of long pry bars from Harbor Freight, that I use to pry the control arm down... they work great!

Oh, and to get the driver's side axle out, I use a 5lb slide hammer, and an attachment that gets behind the axle where it goes into the tranny... Works awesome, and it cost me about $30 total for both the slide hammer set (harbor freight), and the attachment (partsamerica.com)

[ziggo0]

Does anyone have any pictures of their adventures with the transmission removal/re-install? I'd love to look at them...my Cougar is getting a fair amount of money dumped into it come this tax return...clutch/pressure plate and flywheel is among them.