I've decided that I'm going to tackle this job myself. The automic transmission is slipping and jumping all over the place I've tried slick 50 and everything but it just makes it worse. I can't think of taking it to someone and paying them money to mess around with my car. I've got a rebuilt tranny coming and I'm going to replace the timing belt, water pump, and tensioner while i have the engine out. I was wondering if anyone has done this and if they have any tips for removing the engine and driveshafts. Thanks for the help!!

 

I've done this exact swap two months ago (incl. the belt, tensioner, and pump). I found it to be quite easy and also quite rewarding because I didn't need to let someone elses grubby hands touch my ride.

I purchased a brand new trans from Nissan, and it sure is nice to have that piece of mind. I will post the sequence of my job in a day or two.

 

i think the syncros in my 91 se 5spd are becoming worn,i was wondering how much a Nissan brand new trans would go for,i would opt for new but i wanna silky smooth shifts,like its new

 

oh god dude, that's $$$, my 1st gear synchro is junk. i can't go into 1st untill i'm at an almost complete stop.

 

Can't wait to see your write up.

 

Most cars are that way. No RX-7 that I've ever driven has wanted to go into 1st until it is nearly stopped. Same deal with my step-fathers (new at the time) 200SX SE-R. In fact the only car that I've driven that didn't mind going into 1st while moving was a 99 C5 Corvette. Although it's redline in 1st is ~55mph....

Brian Murray
87 RX-7 Turbo II (w/mods)
89 Maxima (daily)
(When are signatures going to be turned back on?)

 

The following is the order of REMOVAL OF PARTS from the engine compartment:
1. Remove battery
2. Remove battery box
3. Remove two plastic pieces under engine that are bolted to the frame
4. Drain radiator
5. Remove air intake, filter box, and pipe to engine
6. Remove negative battery cable to engine
7. Remove radiator hoses
8. Remove transmission cooler hoses
9. Remove radiator
10. Loosen wheel lug nuts AND axle nuts (while on the ground)
11. Raise vehicle and put on jack stands
12. Remove front wheels
13. Remove inner fender panels (plastic)
14. Remove heat shields from front exhaust down pipe
15. Unbolt Y pipe from both exhaust manifolds and tie to frame of vehicle
16. Remove drive belts from front of engine (three)
17. Disconnect all electrical from engine (label if not evident for reassembly)
18. Disconnect all hoses from engine and label
19. Disconnect power steering pump and tie back to frame
20. Remove alternator
21. Remove A/C compressor and tie to frame
22. Remove cable to starter
23. Remove drive axles
24. Support engine under pan with jack, lift slightly
25. Disconnect knock sensor plug
26. Disconnect engine mounts (the two under exhaust manifolds).
27. A lifting strap can be fashioned around the engine, connecting to the engine mounts.
28. Connect engine hoist to lifting strap or chains (make sure engine won’t slip)
29. Lift engine slightly
30. Place jack under transmission and support slightly
31. Remove both transmission mounts
32. Lift engine with front of engine pointing upwards approximately 30 degrees for removal of engine and transmission as a unit. (use short chain from lift to transmission to maintain 30 degree tilt) There is an air conditioning tube (aluminum) that can be bent to clear the transmission. DO NOT KINK IT.

The following is the order of, and parts used in this moderate rebuild:
1. Cleaned the engine
2. Removed the transmission and disposed of it (a new one was ordered)
3. Checked the flatness of the mating surfaces of the exhaust manifolds
4. Replaced all of the exhaust manifold studs (see other posts for discussions on this)
5. Removed engine pan to install new lip oil seals front and rear
6. Replaced rear crankshaft oil seal
7. Replaced water pump
8. Replaced camshaft oil seals
9. Replaced front crankshaft oil seal
10. Replaced timing belt with new tensioner (inspect condition of mounting stud)
11. Replaced thermostat
12. Finished front of engine and used new idler pulleys
13. Install exhaust manifolds (visually center the holes in the manifold on the studs)
14. Mounted new transmission

The following was used upon reassembly:
1. New boots on drive axles. They come from Nissan with grease, clamps and cir-clips in necessary
2. New boots on the rack and pinion
3. Rebuilt master cylinder
4. Replaced both engine mounts that locate near exhaust manifolds. The trans. mounts were OK.
5. New belts and hoses (from Nissan)
6. A new radiator. Based upon the advice from 3 radiator shops: DO NOT USE THE TRANS COOLER FROM AN OLD NISSAN RADIATOR. They clog and are nearly impossible to clean, reducing cooling capacity and fouling the new transmission with old residue. See other posts about installing after-market trans coolers.

May God be with you!

 

if it's that ez as it sounds i would do it. but it's not. DOH!

 

Alright, tomorrow is the day that I start the big job. I've got all the parts and transmission ready to go. Heres what I'm doing: T-belt, Tensioner, Waterpump, Thermostat, Transmission, Spark Plugs, Upper Radiator Hose, Rear Main Oil seal, Oil filter bracket oil seal, Steering boots, fuel filter, and anything else that I find messed up. I'm putting an aftermarket tranny cooler in, and I don't know whether or not to just bypass the Radiator cooler so all the crap doesn't get in the new transmission. I'm using Mobil 1 syntehtic fluid which should help a lot. I'm glad that I got everything together in time because I think that if I drove it one more day it wouldn't be going anywhere. I think the Slick 50 honey treatment ruined the tranny for good. It has been a rapid deteroration these past few weeks, second gear is trashed, first gear barely works, the shift into overdrive and downshifting are rough and prolonged. I look like a grandma driving around, and my automatic sounds like a manual with the clucth in. I'm excited about getting my max working again, I'll get some pictures on here once I'm done, since I'm going to take a picture of everything so I know where it goes. I figure it should take me about 4 days. I'll let you guys know how it goes and get pictures as soon as I can.

 

I dropped my engine from the bottom. I also did about 3 tranny removals so far also. Not that bad but I still would not remove the engine unless you also planned to do the exhaust manifold studs at the same time.

 

I probably will end up doing that job. How hard of a job is it with the engine out, and what kind of studs should I get? THanks.

 

With the engine out, it's easy. most of them will come out with vice grips, but the broken ones will need to be drilled out. still not hard. do a search on it if you're not sure how.
For parts to buy, just get new OEM studs. the dealer should give you the studs off a 300ZXTT. (They'll say "turbo" on the bag)

http://www.ee.utulsa.edu/~mblehm//pi...h/MVC-029S.JPG
http://www.ee.utulsa.edu/~mblehm//pi...h/MVC-027S.JPG
here's a couple pics of the correct parts.

 

why remove the entire engin????

 

It's DONE! Finally got it all working again, I got the timing belt off one tooth somehow but for the life of me I can't figure it out, buty it was. I picked it up today runs better than ever. I eneded up replacing 2 studs, I probably should have done all 12, but 2 were broken and one didn't even have a nut on it, so that should definitely solve the exhaust leak problem. I also cahnged the oil pan gaskets, it turns out it was those instead of the rear oil seal like I had expected. It's running great! The transmission shifts normally, and even jerks you around when it downshifts which is a change for me since I'm used to it slipping in every gear. I can also feel the true power of the engine now to it's awesome. I wasn't able to use the digital camera, so I'll try and scan some pics once I get the photos developed. I was suprised at how easy it was to plug everything back up, the hardest parts were probably unhooking everything and labeling it, and getting the enginge lined up with the motor mounts. My dad and I have gone over the whole timing belt thing at least 50 times and still CANNOT figure out how in the world it got off, we lined up all the marks and counted at least 10 times the teeth between according to the Chiltons manual. The cams can only rotate 360 and the crank pushes the pistons up and down when it turn 360 so if everything was lined up there's no way it could be off. Oh well, I'm just happy to have it back on the road.

 

CONGRATULATIONS!

 

Alright I have the pictures of the engine out and everything on my homepage, there on pages 2-5, hope you like them. I talked to a mehcanic and he said they pull the transmissions all the time without removing the engine, which would be much easier and can be done from what I can see, but if you're doing studs, t-belt, and oil pan seals you might as well pull it. Heres the link, tell me what you think:
http://members.cardomain.com/davis4004

 

Congrats and finishing a tough job! Question... How much was the new transmission and where did you order it from. Also, how many miles were on your car at the time of replacement? I have the same model year and 130k miles. My tranny is starting to show its age.

 

It had 143,700 when I started. I got the transmission from www.phoenixhardparts.com for $775 plus $210 for shipping. If you're goging to get one from there search e-bay and you will find one of their auctions bid on it on there and you'll save 50 bucks. It's working fine so far. You're probably due for a new one if you've got 130,000.