Top Tranny bolts. Urrrggghhh

[Bill Roberts]

Ok, I have been patient, did the search, planted some seeds to germinate ...still no one with concrete experience has bother to answer this question...anywhere in the forum.

Here goes:

Ok, I smoked my clutch out due to a low tire. I pulled the shaft....took all the bolts out except the top ones. I cannot get any kind of wrench on them and get them off for hell. I know the tranny was attached to the engine durring assembly of the car..but did they have to put a gazillion ton pounds of tourque on them? I put all the bolts back in and tryed them alone..can not get at them. Must I pull the engine?

What wrenches did you use? What tools?

What else should I try..I am running thin on patience...I cannot get my hand in there from below and cannot get on them from the top.

2.

If it is physically impossable for me to do this (beleve me, I am not a candy a$$ but damn..) what would be a fair labor price to have the clutch installed? less the flywheel turning..(as it is fine)?

Last...I do not want to pull the damned engine....please help! what solution to getting them out did you use?

Stumped for now.

[Bbandit]

i asked a local shop for clutch change (i assume i already have the new clutch), and they will charge me 300-ish for the labor...
kinda expensive dont you think?

btw.. i know that top bolt is impossible to get and sorry.. i dont have the answer since i had the same problem.. thats why i havent change my clutch yet..

[Muzzy]

super duper long extension and high jack stands

[Titan]

You could try three things.

A. 3 foot long breaker bar.

B. Put a torch to the bolt and heat it up good before trying to unbolt it.

C. Combination of A and B.

[oberkill]

Just did this yesterday....

Jack the car up as high as possible (still safe though)
be sure to diconnect the exhaust from the DP or cat.
remove all the shifter crap inside the car.
remove driveshaft
remove the 4 bolts that hold the tranny to the chassis.

You should then be able to get to the top bolts with a entension or two. You may need the bendable adapter (not sure what the hell its called? LOL)

If not get a small piece of wood and use the jack with the wood on the crank pulley to carefully tip the engine down some more. Watch it carefully and stop when you start jacking the engine up and stop tilting it.

Alan

[scandalcat1]

hey bill, here is a write up of what u r doing. 240SX.org

i also used some liquid wrench (crap loads) and waited about an hour to set. then with a 3ft. breaker bar and i believe 14mm nut, took the top bolts off. be careful, a while back i tried so hard on another car that i stripped the bolts and had to file and use a smaller size socket (now that i remember was stripped down and filed to 10mm)

[Bill Roberts]

Thanks fellows, it shold not be this big a bitch...bit I had the saft out,,,,and after I found them to be a pain, I was under there for an hour and just could not get the grip to turn...


So..I will do this tomorrow night:

I will get 3 12 inch extentions witrh a universal joint. I will hook up a cameral and a 7 inch LCD montor on the view of thwe bolt where I can see it (when you are 44 you can't see s h i t like you use to. Then I will get the socket on it and attach a breaker bar and bust those mothers off..meanwhile, the car is on 4 jack stands at 11 inches up, and I haveclearence for the 20 inch (guessing) bell housing to drop. I do not know what itr weighs butr I can bench 250...should be able to manhandel it good..and I have the floor jack to balance it. The service center said 550. Screw that, I will drive it lame util next friday and do it myself. I want to clean it to new standards and change the fluid..they won't do that, plus they will use an air wrench..I want to use muscle power...easier on the system...

Ok..looking good..anyone see anything else..no need to bleed the clutch, sealed system...I will clamp the slave to the frame for safe keeping.....hopefully I can document this....see it is not that easy..detail is a good thing.


Excuse the typos...tired, sleepp zZZZZZZZZZZZZzz

[kandyflip445]

When I took out a tranny from a 2001 Mustang I had to use 2 12 inch extentions using a deep socket. It was pretty easy when I had the extentions though....but he car was up on a lift...and we had a tranny jack.

[Johny5]

I'm 18 and a skinny wee-one, these bolts were cake sir I used an open end wrench and just went to school on em.

[DuffMan]

I think the best way to get at the top bolts are from inside the car through where the shifter is.

[transient]

Hmm, duffman may have something there. As far as the torque on them goes, they should be pretty easy to break as long as you get the right angle on them. I've taken two seperate trannies off in the last month and they were both easy as hell, though that was with the engine out of the car. The easiest way to break a bolt free, from my experience, is with a quick sharp tug on the wrench, rather than pulling hard but slowly on it. Bouncing the wrench will help sometimes as well. Oh, and PB-Blaster is your friend!

[AceInHole]

hmm... all i've used on the tranny are long extensions and a universal joint. my 3/8" set fits snug, but it gets at the top bolt well enough to torque it off. the 1/2" set is just too bulky. to seat the socket onto the bolt, i just go by feel. hug the tranny and feel the socket onto the bolt, then get to ratcheting.

i think i've bolted and unbolted the tranny way too many times now though.....

[Bill Roberts]

Actually, this was an older post reborn, since then, I put 1300 miles on the new clutch.

Sad to say, I ran out of time and light and took it to MR GAS STATION, dropped some dough and he did it in less than 2 hrs.\\It was hot, gnats and flys and skeeters were buzzing around and I had to just do the do.

Long extentions, impact wrench and universal is what he used...but I made him hand tighten them for the next time. He actually dropped the tranny mount first so the back end swooped down on the motor mounts and they were easy to deal with for him.

I just had a situation where I needed it done and now..he did an excellent job. Cost a 3fer though.

I feel embarrased that I paid a two nights out on the town for a 2 hr job...but, you got to get crap done and it was a sweat basket that weekend..I would rather drink a beer than get all greased up on a damned clutch.

[uiuc240]

Originally posted by Bill Roberts
I feel embarrased that I paid a two nights out on the town for a 2 hr job...but, you got to get crap done and it was a sweat basket that weekend..I would rather drink a beer than get all greased up on a damned clutch.

You're so right, Bill. Sometimes it's just not in the cards. Like when I was busy with school and had to get a new slave cylinder put in. First off, it was *** cold outside, and I had to work and go to class and studio all day. No time to wrench or cruise around town finding parts (in someone else's car, of course). So I said F-it, and just called the local shop and had them come get it. 6 hours (total time from pick up to delivery) and $130 later and I had a working clutch again. Yay.

Speaking of working on cars, though...yesterday I changed my oil and got the STRANGEST looks. People at my building are apparently FAR too yuppified to wrench on their own cars. Whatever. I got grease on all the door handles...hehehe

Eric

[wherezmytofu]

yay those top bolts r a bitch i got them off with a set of "offset box wrnechs, had a breaker bar on the end..i got like 25 degree turn it took forever