Is it necessary to remove the cover on top of the auto tranny before removing the whole unit?

 

No .

 

Well, that clears that up...Now back outside to wrestle the axles out. The drivers side is being a real b!tch...Maybe I have to undo the clip around the rubber boot first...

 

I will be pulling my auto trans sometime next week. Let us know how long it took you to pull and any problems you encountered. I know I had a hard time pulling the passenger CV axle shaft originally, it was stuck where that big bearing mounts to the frame bracket. I pulled the hub right off the axle shaft after my daughter drove the car after loosing the ***** in the cage of the outer CV joint!!

 

I removed and replaced my transmission not too long ago to install my high stall torque converter. It took a LONG time for me. First off, I'm a very slow mechanic! Second, I took extra time to drink a beer and make sure I did everything perfectly. It took me 24 labor hours to R&R the tranny and have everything bolted up.

I can do the job again in only 10 hours if I didn't have to replaced all the gaskets. I replaced the axle seals, rear main oil seal, real main oil seal retainer gasket, and the rear oil pan 'half moon shaped' seal.

My advice is to get a Transmission Jack!!!! I can't stress that enough! It's an awesome tool to have! The best deal is at Harbor Freight at around $60, I think. I can't imagine trying to do the job without a tranny jack.

Even though I did this on a VE30DE with the RE4F04V tranny, it's still the same basic process on your transmission. Here are some pics of my transmission R&R:

http://www.iwdwebdesign.com/maxima/tc.htm

Oh yeah, one snag that I ran into was.... after I removed the torque converter plate to expose the TC, I couldn't remove that plate all the way. This is a metal plate that keeps debris from getting near the spinning TC. I couldn't figure out how to remove this plate after loosening all the nuts.

Well, the thing that my FSM didn't point out was that there are two studs that screw into the tranny casing. You take two nuts, screw them on the stud, double them up and then you are able to unscrew the stud that's inside the tranny casing.

I don't know if you will run into this snag on your tranny, but I thought it was worth pointing out. Good luck!

 

One of these comes in handy for driveshaft removal..

 

eww.. clean that rust off!!!!!


as for the axles, i just pulled as hard as i could and they came out...... of course they were the old axles, so i didnt care if i damaged them since i had new ones...

 

Got the tranny dropped...Gonna try and start putting the new one in tomorrow...Now it is time to indulge in everything that is St. Patty's Day...

 

Well.. Alex V and I are gonna be doing this to the G/fs Maxima as soon as April hits..hopefully plans dont change. would you guys suggest new axles while we got the tranny out?

Brian, if you read this order me some seals to the axles I believe I need 2.

 

if u want to, go ahead and change the axles. how long has it been since the last axle job? i changed both sides once back in '00 and then i changed my passenger side back in '04 when i finished my 5-speed swap and then i changed my driver side last year after doin' my motor swap.

 

Well, we just got her car like 1-2 months ago with a slippin tranny..so we have NO clue when the axles were changed, they're most l ikely original.

 

noooooo
don't undo that clip unless you are replacing the boots


Wide pry bars can do the trick, generally I just push the axle in a bit then just yank it out.

 

i should have made a video of me trying to yank them axles out.... it looked like i was playing tug of war with the tranny.....i thought the car was gonna fall off of the freaking jack stands.... my dad was laughing....so just pull hard, and if your replacing the axles anyways, just yank like hell

 

I put a large flathead screwdriver, put a light amount of pressure on it and it pops right out! Also, it really helps if you have a guy pulling on the axle while you are under the car applying pressure with the screwdriver. Pops out easily that way!

 

Thats the way my g/fs father and I did it, he pulled while I used prybar underneath..glad he warned me about hot tranny fluid almost got all over my hair lol...fun times.

 

didnt you drain the fluid first???????

 

Today's objectives: Degrease the undercarriage from all the fluid the slushbox leaked in the past three years and mount the clutch pedal.

Also curious for theories on why what broke in the autobox...Heard a bang or clunk while accelerating then it would just free rev. No forward gears, no reverse. POS autobox...

 

lol I did mention in my first post on this thread that he was a little under the influence


note, I guess I must've mentioned it in another post, sorry

 

Should I drain the engine oil before changing the rear main seal?

 

You dont have to,the oil is not up that high in the pan...Plus you could get some pieces of the the old seal or other crap when remove the old seal..The oil will aid in washing out any stuff that may fall inside the pan...

Change it after you do the seal..

 

Any advice on what you used to pound the new one in?

 

i just used a big socket... the same size as the seal, and pounded it in with a hammer..... it worked for me... but it was a big *** socket

 

I'll have to see if I can come up with one...

 

I didn't have a big socket. You can always buy the universal seal installation kit. It comes with all sorts of different sizes to pound seals in.

But I always use the old seal, put it up on the new seal, back to back... then hit the old seal with a hammer so it won't damage the new one. It's not a perfectly centered hit, but you can work it in by hitting around the seal in the circular motion.

 

sounds like the TC went out. Its easy to tell, there should be stages of diffrent splines all the way from top to bottom of the TC. the TC my Black '90 had was stripped. By the time I figured that out I could have just popped on my lower milage tranny and TC but meh I had the 5 speed parts car already...so I did the swap.

~Alex