Removing the 6-speed trans...

[takza]

I removed the trans from a parts car...here's how.....

* I jacked the car up as high as I could in order to get some blocks (wood) under the front xmember (or run the front up on ramps?)...and also had 2 other stands under the car.

* I had hit ALL the bolts that I expected to remove with PBBlaster about 4-5 days previous to the job.

* The exhaust should probably be completely removed from the manifold to the back of the converter....or at least removed from the exhaust manifold and pulled to one side.

* Drain the gear oil into a pan.

* The rear driveshaft can be pulled from the trans after removing the 2 bolts holding the center bearing. Remember how this goes back on.

* Inside....the plastic console will need to be removed along with the 2 leather shift boots....remove the shifter knobs first.

Then there are 4 bolts holding a double set of rubber boots to the body...remove these carefully.

Now you will see another rubber boot on top of the trans...carefully remove this by pulling the bottom of it from around the top of the trans....these usually seem to be split.

Then the spring clip can be removed that holds the main shifter in the trans...you will need a pair of snap ring pliers to remove the clip...or very pointed needle nose pliers....spring the clip INWARDS to remove it.

>> Remember...you do not need to remove the 6 bolts holding the alum plate around the shifter...they usually break off anyway.

>> You will need to pour about a 1/2 cup of gear oil down into the area where the shifter goes...this area is usually dry and rusty. Also clean the shifter assembly and grease it.

* The link to the 4WD actuator shaft will need to be detached ....under the car.

* The speedo cable will need to be unscrewed from the trans....slip joint pliers?

* I then loosened the 2 bolts holding the trans xmember.

* Then I set a jack under the the xmember to hold the rear of the trans some & down at an angle.

* A standard 2X4 seems to be about right if placed between the firewall and the valve cover....though I found with my car that I needed the extra drop found by NOT using this...to get the trans back in.

* I removed the 2 xmember bolts.

* Since this was a parts car...I cut the wire loom that runs to the drivers side of the engine over the top of the trans. Better to disconnect the 2 connectors on top of the trans.

* Then ALL the bolts & nuts around the edge of where the trans mates with the transaxle need to be removed....the one's at the top can be a little difficult. Just be sure to not round any off. I left the top 2-3 for last.

* At this point the trans is ready to come out.

** FORGET the manuals' description of using bolts to separate it....I saw that the trans was already separating at the top with all the bolts out.

* So next I just pulled it loose...holding it UP at the back....and had it drop on my hand (no damage)...bumping the input shaft on the way down (no damage again)....I could slow it down, but not stop it.

* Measured weight is 72 lbs.....not 40-50 lbs.


** I would recommend getting prepared for this part...using a drop cloth to keep dirt away from the front and making sure you don't allow any strain on the input shaft as it is pulled. Use wood blocks or ??? to keep the trans from falling too far.

Also...if you intend to put the trans back in the car...you'd want to be sure there was no damage in the engine compartment when the back of the engine moves towards the firewall...and you wouldn't want to cut the wire loom?

Need to watch the dist cap and one of the vac switches on the pass side and to the back.

Even this simple a job took me around 3 hours.

left side...



right side...



front showing the input shaft and 5th gear...




Points to ponder...putting a trans back in:

* When you are putting the trans back in...you will be lining up at least 2 different splines...the one powering the front diff and the clutch spline.

I put a light layer of wheel bearing grease on the clutch spline and IN the cavity on the end of this shaft that goes into the pilot bearing.

If your clutch/diff are still in the car and you haven't released the clutch...you shouldn't need to line the clutch disc up.

I also put some bearing grease on the needle bearing in the diff and on the other spline.

* I used a scissors jack to bring the trans up to where it would mate up with the diff...there is a point near the speedo cable output where it will balance.

* Getting it onto the diff can be difficult...I had to use a prybar to get it started on the two bolts...but be very careful about lining it up right...not too much force!

* Then there was another trouble spot when there was about a 1 inch gap left...this I got past by making sure the 4WD was activated and then turning the rear output spline until it lined up...trans was in neutral.

* I used the old gasket...since it was still intact and in good shape. Used a little goop around the 2 holes for the long bolts...as the surface was scratched up some here.

The rest of it is just a matter of bolting stuff back on and putting oil in the trans.

I made a new rubber boot for the top of the trans out of some heavy truck tire innertube material...plus the greased cotton flannel boot I had used before.

[shogun]

are the pics without the bell housing and the front diff right?

[takza]

The input shaft and 5th gear run inside the diff/bell housing....trans shares oil with the diff. I'll probably wish I'd gone for the whole assembly....

[shogun]

i´ve removed mine for ispection three times i´ve changed engines, and it its not a hard task to do if you have the proper tools

[arbskynxnex]

Personally I liked pulling mine with the diff/bell housing. Granted you have to pull the half shaft axles first, but you can get to all the bolts to seperate the engine and diff, really easily. You do need to stick ONE small 2x4 between the engine and firewall. It will keep the engine at a good angle so everything will just slide in and out.

[Ogedei]

I removed the diff and tran

I did not remove the exhaust

The issues I found:

finding all the connections for reverse lights and such was kinda time consuming
Accroding to the chilton they want you to pop out the lower control arm, I found that there are two bolts holding the assemplbly on to the knuckle that were easier to remove
To replace loosen the bolts that attach to the frame
You will need a 30 MM socket to remove the shafts, not sure if we all have one
finger tightem all the tranny bolts before torquing it will aid in alignment
In order to slip the clutch cable loose you need to releace the cable inside the car


That about sums it up the rest can be found here and in the chilton

[waynehoc]

Just pulled a Z53 trans from an '86 parts car (Z53 is the trans for the 2WD wagons).

1 - had to remove exhaust pipe (actually just hacksawed it) in order that the trans/diff would drop low enough at the rear of the engine to get at all the top bolts easily; exhaust was holding everything up too high.

2 - To make the whole process easier, I removed the input shaft before pulling the trans. See below...

The ideal would be to take the input shaft out before anything else, so as to avoid having to pull the trans back for it to clear. This is physically possible however there doesn't seem to be a way to grab it from behind. It taps out easily from the front and it's easy to put in, but there just isn't anything to grab it by. There is a snap ring that perhaps you could get a thin flathead screwdriver behind. It would be worth trying before you undo the trans just to see if it's possible, and if it doesn't work, not much time wasted. While it's out, a small drill + tap on the back end would allow you to remove it from behind the next time (of course you're hoping there won't be one of those.)

An interesting feature of this transmission is that the input shaft can be taken out from the rear of the bellhousing. There's a plate with 4 bolts that holds it in. It may be easier to align the clutch disc, put the transmission in place without the input shaft in, then put the input shaft in and it should go in no problem with the transmission already lined up.

The input shaft on these units is just a little thing with a gear that turns a bigger gear inside. Unlike a conventional transmission where the input shaft has all the gears and other parts on it, our input shafts are pretty basic. They just slide out, with maybe a few thrust washers to keep track of at the most. I've got the spare trans in my garage, so I can pop the input shaft out and document the whole process.

I don't think this ever got documented; apologize if it did - I wasn't able to find it searching the site.



Pic of the Z53 (weighs in at 52 lbs) from the front, showing the input shaft



Pic of the rear, showing the input shaft cover in place



Pic of the rear with the cover removed - note the approx 3/16" gap in the large bearing snap/retaining ring. The gap is at about the 7 o'clock position



Pic of the rear with a thin-bladed narrow-tipped (very old and ratty) screwdriver prying against the trans case with the tip in the open 3/16" of the snap/retaining ring groove in the bearing



Pic showing the input shaft/bearing assembly removed. It came out easily with just a little bit of force, and was removed while I was under the car and before pulling the trans off of the diff. You can see in the housing the gear the input shaft gear mates with, and also the input shaft small bearing (outer race and rollers)



The input shaft - the surface nearest the gear serves as the inner race for the small bearing

[takza]

Good pics and info. I THINK that bearing you see is what went out on mine...probably doesn't get a lot of oil.

Hard to beleive there would be room to insert this shaft while under the car...been a while though.

[waynehoc]

An interesting feature of this transmission is that the input shaft can be taken out from the rear of the bellhousing. There's a plate with 4 bolts that holds it in. It may be easier to align the clutch disc, put the transmission in place without the input shaft in, then put the input shaft in and it should go in no problem with the transmission already lined up.

Just finished pulling trans & diff (looking for source of 'clunk' in drive train), and took a few pics...




Pic showing piece of 2x6 about 6" high, supporting engine against firewall. I removed the distributor and some other stuff to give me more room to work.




Diff supported by jack prior to lowering engine on to 2x6 at firewall.




Jack has been lowered so that 2x6 now supports everything. Note the clear access to the cover for the trans input shaft.




Small cover on rear of trans has been removed to reveal rear bearing of trans input shaft.




Input shaft has been removed - it prys/pulls back and down - there was lots of clearance to get it out.




Trans is out - pic showing rear of diff. Note that the exhaust pipe was disconnected from the exhaust manifold to allow necessary drop down of engine on to 2x6 at firewall.




Diff is out

[ARCHINSTL]

XLNT pix - and info.
Tom M.

[Meck]

I just finished changing out transmissions, and I don't know how I would have done it without the help of you all writing up the procedures. Thanks to all who contributed.

I would like to add one detail. After losing several hours from not having done so, I highly recommend installing the transmission with it in fifth gear. I put the replacement tranny in with it in neutral. Buttoned everything up. When I went to try it out, the transmission was stuck solid in neutral. It would not shift at all (except into superlow with 4wd engaged). I had to pull the transmission out where I found that if you bump the fifth/reverse rod while trying to line it up (something very hard not to do), that it will move back into fifth gear position but will lock the shifter. I retried to install it with all in neutral and promptly hit it again and locked everything up. So I put it in fifth (which retracts the fifth/reverse rod) and installed it. I found that the input gear that I needed to rotate in order to get in the long input shaft still turned easy enough with a finger to line it up.
Thanks again for the helpful postings.

[Typrus]

Good tips. Thanks.
Also, you pulling the thread back up let me see the pics... I was wondering if you could take the diff/bellhousing off of a 4.10 and put it on a 3.727 tranny body. Looks like its possible. Once I dissect the 87's tranny, that might help me find a solution.