Gearbox Removal

[mcandmar]

Looking for some BTDT's on the best method. Am i right in saying its as easy to pull the engine/gearbox as one unit?

Cheers,

Mark.

[Knight Rider S4]

Yes..That would be my prefered route ..all out in the one'r..

[raymor]

For me.... It was Avant up on axle stands at the max and drop the 'box. I'm sure it was about 44cm clearance.

Leave wheels on
Disconnect steering arms/damper at rack
Break the slave cylinder at Flexi/rigid coupling
Remove the gearshift input x 2
Remove both d/shaft guards
Disconnect the exhaust and remove downpipe (heat shields etc) - I had full 3" with V-bands - 15mins
I had also made up a brace that bolted into the gearbox - where the exhaust bolts on - it fitted on to the jack to ease removal and re-fitting.
Unbolt front driveshafts and tie up out the road - you can brace against the torque by feet on the front wheels - hence why they stayed on for me.
Unbolt the rear prop and drop g/box flange end.
Fit brace and jack up gently to take weight.
Undo the g/box mountings and remove
Unbolt bellhousing bolts and disconnect speed sensors etc.

If my memory serves me correctly, you are just about there to roll the gearbox back and drop down -In a 'Haynes manual' sort of way.

There may well be bits I've missed and words are failing to fall into my brain at the moment - but I'm sure others who've done it will correct me.

Could get it off in about 2.5hrs the last time I pulled it off to check the clutch - getting it back together was longer of course. But it's do able.... the first time was about 8hrs

Refitting is a bit of a fiddle realigning the input shaft, but a little patience and a lot of cursing generally get's you there. The more you do it the less you curse.

As I said... I may have missed something .

HTH
Raymond

[stiglet]

I will be looking to do this sometime to change clutch/swap flywheel and I was thinking the best way would be to drop the box by itself.

Life would be so much easier if I had a lift...

[fish]

my experience is that it´s easier to take out the box by itself, the way raymor said. its a bit fiddly but very doavle. good luck!

[S2central.net]

Funny - Diesel Des and I were talking about this yesterday... We both agreed its much less stressful to remove engine & 'box as one big lump out the front - unless you have access to a lift you can stand under and a suitably gearbox stand that is shaped that it doesn't limit physical access to things.

[lind4hl]

if you take the gearbox for itself, tilt it against the driver side (RHD) otherwise the gearbox is stuck against the steering rack.

[fish]

well i actually did have a lift when i did my inca orange ones box. but a mate of mine did it on axle stands and he took it out and layed it on his belly=) he has now got a lift too=)

[lind4hl]

fish, i took it with car on axle stands also, and..




my mate is getting it bolted up again, i dont want that on my stomach again

[raymor]

....yeah, the first time it was removed it was a manual lift and there was two of us and I vowed never again, so I made this and dare I suggest it, it was relatively relaxing - honest!

[macspring]

Raymor,

Very effective looking.

Just lifted an S2 box out of a van tonight, my goodness they are mad heavy, no way I could have it on my belly.

Diff was a doddle.

@ Macandmar, I have two trolley jacks if you need to borrow them Mark?

[S2central.net]

....yeah, the first time it was removed it was a manual lift and there was two of us and I vowed never again, so I made this and dare I suggest it, it was relatively relaxing - honest!

@Ray... where did you get the raw material for that - Ozzy Osborne's front door ?

LOL

[mcandmar]

Thanks guys. I don't fancy my luck wrestling a gearbox back in from under the car. On the other hand i do have an engine lift, and a list of other jobs to do in there. **** it, i'm taking it all out

Mark.

[Graham]

Big Thanks to Aelred for this.........

The get to the clutch out:
If I were you I will make a cradle to fit a trolley jack to support the box so you can use that to do the lifting and dropping as the box is very heavy and even with 2 people it will be hard to lift the box in place and push it forward as you are working laying down. Your arms will get tired very quickly.

1 From memory you only have to disconnect the cats.
2 Remove the steering rack the arms from the rack. The steering arms will have to be disconnected at the rack end and tie them up somewhere higher up then when bolted to the steering rack. This is because the bell housing has a square at the top that will not clear the arms if they are bolted up. The g/box has to go backwards before it can go down. The g/box has to go backwards before it can go down.

3 Undo prop and drive shafts at g/box end.
4 undo the g/linkage at the gearbox end,
5 undo the bolts on the sub frame rubber mounts
6 remove Speedo and reversing light plugs
7 undo the bell housing bolts and remove starter, (disconnect battery obviously)
8 you could either undo the sub frame 4 bolts and let it hang or remove the g/box mounts. The engine will not fall out as it is supported on the chassis and by having the sub frame hanging it will give you more room, especially as you have some bell housing bolts that are difficult to remove with the sub frame in situ. The sub frame will be in your way a little and maybe you can tie out of the way.

9 jack up the front of the engine as far as it will go.
10 Slide the gearbox out partially.
11 before you totally drop the gearbox (about 6") remove the slave cylinder.
12 drop the box. If you have a 6 speed box ABY engine there will also be a 10mm spacer all the way round the mating faces of the bellhop using and engine that will have to go back in place also.


I would suggest that you change the slave for a new one as it is a pig to change in situ #4A0 721 261 and bleeder #443 616 789

13 remove clutch and align and fit new one
14 Make sure that you align the clutch splines with the centre of the spigot bearing if not you will never get the box back in. There are tools for doing this; I have done them by eye with a good degree of success.
14 more or less refit is reversal of the above

MAKE SURE WHEN YOU SLIDE THE G/BOX BACK IN THE PIPE TO THE HEATER MATRIX DOES NOT GET JAMMED BETWEEN ENGINE AND BELL HOUSING WITH ITS "L" BRACKET AND ANY ELECTRICAL WIRES ARE WAY AWAY I TEND TO CABLE TIE THEM OUT OF THE WAY FROM THE START
Bleed new slave.
Ideally you need a workshop ramp as you will be working under, above, under above many times and also a transmission jack to support the g/box.
You will need a helping hand as the g/box is very heavy, I would not do it on my own if I can help it.

I have done this on the floor with no ramp but it is a little of a pig as you can only jack up the car so far and you will have little room

If all goes well you should be able to do it in a full day

Good luck and let me know if i can be of some help.

Another alternative will be to remove the complete engine gearbox from the front, but this will take you longer

Rgds

Aelred

[stiglet]

Thats brilliant. Thanks guys