ready to pull the tranny

how much does the FWD tranny weigh? im ready to remove the tranny from the car, but was thinking maybe i should get someone to help with actually taking it out. i dont want to bust it lose from the engine, lose my balance because its heavier then i thought (guessing about 110lbs?) and end up dropping it. that would F my day hardcore... nothing like saving money by doing it yourself, then buying a new tranny because you did it yourself.... lol:icon16:

edit: i could get my roommate to help, but he works all the time, so if i can do it on my own, in my own schedule, that would be better for both of us

Do you have the car on a lift or jackstands? I always do clutch jobs on the floor, with the car supported on jack stands. Whenever I pull the trans out the bottom, I support the trans with a floor jack, then guide it out by hand. If you have it up on a lift, your gonna need someone to help you.

Trannys can be a biatch by yourself. The last time I did mine, I got it under the car then crawled under there and pretty much lifted it onto my chest and then benched it up onto the motor. Took me a little bit to get everything lined up but it was scary. I could just see me dropping it and killing myself in the process. I do not recommend doing that unless you got some strength to ya. That was in my prime of lifting too and it was hard but it is possible... I would suggest using the floor jack as vanilla suggested. It'll be easier yourself but just take longer to line things up...

(Now that I looked at this thread again I realized your taking it out not putting it in. My bad. lol... I guess it all works the same for taking it out too.)

it is on jack stands in my garage. where is a good place to put the jack on the tranny? i do not have transmission jack, just a regular old floor jack. i do have blocks of wood though... i just dont want to pull it from the motor, have it slip, and smash into the ground.... break my sh*t.... thats the last thing i need. lol

You just need to find a spot where it is kinda balanced, use your wood blocks. It can be a little bit of a pain ding it by yourself. Be sure you have the vehicle high enough off the ground, this will make it easier. Good luck...

You just need to find a spot where it is kinda balanced, use your wood blocks. It can be a little bit of a pain ding it by yourself. Be sure you have the vehicle high enough off the ground, this will make it easier. Good luck...

lol ok? and how should i go about finding a spot where it is balanced? i guess, once the tranny is off the engine block, its coming out... and the only way to see if its balanced is to take it off of the engine block... and if its not, its a little too late so....

It is mostly balanced on the flat bottom as close to the bellhousing as possible. At least it is for the AWD tranny. Should be somewhere about the same spot for FWD too... Maybe have a friend at least balance on the way down from the top side and you should be in good shape. A little bump here and there on the way down won't break anything. Think about the abuse some drivers put these trannys through when jamming gears... That is worse than having it drop a few inches off the jack on the way down I think. lol

its out! lol thanks guys, i tried to balance the damn thing, and it started falling, so i just grabbed hold of it and lowered it out by hand... it was pretty heavy, but not as heavy as i expected. which restores my confidence for getting it back in after the clutch+flywheel swap... once my clutch actually gets here... i do have a few more questions though:

1) how do i get the axles back into the transmission? to get them out i used a pry-bar and they both just popped out (lucky me, my seals are still good too!!!) but what about getting them back in? any advise?

2) its dirty as sh*t, and as a guy who loves his car, i have always wanted a clean engine bay... so what better time to clean everything up than when the trans is out of the car. so, needless to say, what is the best way to go about cleaning things up? i helped a friend years back clean his engine, and the stuff we used turned his aluminum a nasty looking white... and i definitely don't want that. i though degreaser and a scrub brush or maybe some dawn/water and a scrub brush, but im worried about getting any thing in the drive axle holes... let me know what you guys use, so i can pick some up and get to cleaning.

3) cleaning the engine block, and head? also cleaning and prepping the valve cover for paint would i use the same stuff? (while the valve cover is off the head, i am swapping my head studs out for ARP's)

anything you guys can tell me is great! thanks for all the help so far!:)

Make sure you plug the holes good. You do NOT want any water getting in your tranny there... If you use a powerful degreaser, it'll strip all the crap right off with minimal effort on your part.

When you go to put your driveaxles back in, you have to put them straight in and not in at an angle or it'll slice your seal and then you'll be dealing with a headache of a leak. When you put them in they will go in fairly easy and then you just need to bump them in by grabbing hold of it and shoving it in straight really hard and you'll hear it pop in. (That's what she said...)

Make sure you plug the holes good. You do NOT want any water getting in your tranny there... If you use a powerful degreaser, it'll strip all the crap right off with minimal effort on your part.

When you go to put your driveaxles back in, you have to put them straight in and not in at an angle or it'll slice your seal and then you'll be dealing with a headache of a leak. When you put them in they will go in fairly easy and then you just need to bump them in by grabbing hold of it and shoving it in straight really hard and you'll hear it pop in. (That's what she said...)

Ha, that is what she said....:lol2:

what do you suggest i use to plug the holes with? and which brand degreaser do you recommend?

Ive got today and tomorrow before the clutch arrives... once its here, i want to already have everything cleaned up. and ready to go back together. im pulling the valve cover off the head in about 10 mins to get to work changing out the head studs... valve cover, engine head+block, and trans are still covered with 10 years, and 66k worth of dirt... i would love to put it all back together showroom clean if possible....

I would just stuff a rag in the holes and then duct tape over them so nothing gets in there and if it does get past the tape, the rags should stop it... I can't remember the name of the stuff I used, but it had an orange and white can I think?...

awesome idea!!!! didnt even think about a rag. NICE! anything else i should look out for or stay away from besides the axle holes?

Don't forget there are breather holes with rubbers on them pointing down so water doesn't get in there. Also where the shift fork goes in... Other than that I think that should be all...

you guys want some pics?

Sure. lol

cant seem to get the flywheel off the block... any tips on that? i tried to wedge a pry bar into one of the teeth of the flywheel, but when i try to loosen the bolt, the whole motor just lifts up on the pry bar, and the crank turns...

nevermind, i got it. lol :icon16:

How'd you get em loose? They can be a booger, especially tightening them up. But getting them loose, usually I can just put my rachet on the bolt, then keep popping the ratchet handle with a hammer...takes a while, but they eventually break loose.

But to tighten them up when you put your new flywheel on, I always take a long flat head screwdriver (while im laying under the car) and stick it through the back of the motor, through the starter hole, and wedge it into one of the teeth. I get a good grip on the screwdriver to keep it from slipping, while one of my buddies torques the bolts down.

yeah, i put a breaker bar into the crank on the other side of the motor, put my foot on that, and pulled the ratchet with my hands to break the bolts loose... not sure about getting them back on though... im on my own with this... no buddys of mine wanna work on a "rice burner"... Jeeps, and Trucks ONLY! which, apparently, a Jeep IS NOT a truck, its a JEEP... :loser:

a package came today, i was excited to see that it was from MAperformance. opened it up, and found my clutch kit, flywheel, SS clutch line, and gear lube... no flywheel bolts or slave cylinder... so im still waiting... mainly for the bolts...

question, once the bolts get here, im pretty sure i can get the car back together fairly quickly... however, i read on tuners that when installing the flywheel to the crank, i should use RED locktite, now i picked some up from the auto parts store, and on the front of the package it says "Special tools required for disassembly":eek7: is this the right stuff? its "type 275 RED High Strength Stud & Bearing Formula" prime lok is the name brand... picked it up from Oreillys yesterday...

bolts came in, need an answer on this locktite... "Bump"

ok, well... figured out the locktite, can anyone tell me if im using a Fidanza flywheel, with a Fidanza clutch, should it already be correctly stepped?

.600-.605 2.0 4G63 DOHC MFI ECLIPSE

Those are the stock specs I pulled from a site. Donno where the Fidanza is, but hopefully within that range...

i called up the guys at fidanza today, and they told me that everything is perfect, and the flywheel comes "stepped" for OEM, and their clutchs are designed to work with that "step". But he did mention that i should take the flywheel and the pressure plate up the machine shop, and have them balanced together... is this something that i really should do? if they are both balanced by them before they send them? i asked them the same question. he said once the flywheel is bolted to the pressure plate, this could change the balance. you should take the flywheel and pressure plate to a machine shop and have them balance them once bolted together without the clutch disk. will it really make that big of a difference? i mean, how off balance can the 5 bolts make it?

Ive never used thread lock on flywheel bolts, though its not a bad idea. Lol, Ive heard of some people tac welding the bolts to the flywheel. Also, I was un aware of any "Stepping" also when it comes to flywheels. And I have never balanced a clutch and flywheel also. Though it sounds like a good idea, kinda seems like overkill.

Wow....never thought there was so much involved in putting in a clutch. I dont know what Im doing.

well, i really would rather save the 75-150 bucks on getting the flywheel and pressure plate balanced. VG, you have a fidanza flywheel with the fidanza 3.2 right? you didnt balance anything? does it make any noise when slowing down in any gears? any vibrations or anything like that? if i could skip the machine shop, that would be awesome for me, because they cant get to it until the middle of next week at the soonest...

I never got my clutch/flywheel balanced after being assembled... I actually don't know anybody who has done this...

BTW, I used thread lock on my flywheel bolts too. Rather be safe than sorry.

I also used threadlock per the Chilton guide.

yes i have the flywheel and 3.2 combo. Theres no abnormal vibration or anything that I can tell. A little vibration and chatter during take off, but thats to be expected.

alright guys, im 1 day away from having the thing running. i cant seem to get the passenger side axle to re-engage into the tranny. i got the driverside no problem... with the frame and everything thats in the way of the passenger side (the short axle) i cant get a good grip on the axle to push it into the tranny... any tips? my custom mounts are arriving tomorrow, and i would LOVE to be able to drive it tomorrow night, but i need to get this axle in... thanks

alright guys, im 1 day away from having the thing running. i cant seem to get the passenger side axle to re-engage into the tranny. i got the driverside no problem... with the frame and everything thats in the way of the passenger side (the short axle) i cant get a good grip on the axle to push it into the tranny... any tips? my custom mounts are arriving tomorrow, and i would LOVE to be able to drive it tomorrow night, but i need to get this axle in... thanks

Just gotta jam it in there hard man... Try prying it inward with a pry bar? I donno if the prying will be enough to get it to snap in, but it's worth a shot I guess...