Who has dropped their transmission before? What kind of tips can you give me before I embark on this project?

I plan to start ripping my car apart this Thursday. Remove intake, axles and other stuff to get to my tranny. Then, HOPEFULLY, I will be able to find a tranny jack that I can rent somewhere. Which brings me to my next question, what company rents or loans out a tranny jack? I've tried AutoZone with no luck.

I have my axle seals, my rear main oil seal, and my rear oil seal retainer gasket. I think those are the only gaskets I will need to remove my axles and seperate my tranny from the block. While my tranny is sitting on the garage floor, it's always a good idea to replace the rear oil seal.

I hope someone has some tips. Do I need to remove my Ypipe? Do I need to remove anything besides hubs and axles? Where can I rent a tranny jack? What other stuff should I do while my tranny is seperated? Any other suggestions are GREATLY appreciated.

 

going off memory from when I helped shavedmax drop the tranny of his parts car, your gonna have to unbolt the Y pipe from the cat and Im pretty sure from the exhaust manifolds too, as far as renting a tranny jack, have you thought about trying a local mechanic? mabey they have an extra one you can borrow?
Only other place I can think of would be a tool rental place, I know they have a bunch of stuff you wouldnt think they would have, a tranny jack may be one of them.

 

We have a place in Vegas called United Rentals, which has a lot of construction type tools. I know they carry an engine hoist for big diesel engines. Maybe they would have a tranny jack.

I've heard that I will have to remove my Ypipe. But I got underneath my car for a little while and looked around and the Ypipe didn't seem to be in the way. But once I start turning wrenches, I could easily change my mind. Thanks.

 

With my 5spd, I didn't have to remove it, it just makes it quite abit easier if you do, plus it doesnt take much time/effort to reinstall it, or atleast mine didnt (stocker). I didnt remove my Y-pipe until it was time to reinstall the tranny, it made it easier to get to the bolts for the passanger side axle IIRC.

You could get away with just using your floor jack to drop/raise the tranny, thats what I did, and I did it alone too.

Other tips:
Know about all the bolts , label, etc.
Don't get too ****ed off if the torque converter is a pain to get off the flex plate.

One other thought, have you considered taking the pan off the tranny and cleaning it up again (probably not much in there now with the VB and all) and maybe a new filter? Just a thought with the new TC. You could also ask about running synthetics in it, I dunno, it might not be worth the costs.

Good luck! pics...

 

Shawn, my tranny pan is pretty clean I'm sure. But it won't hurt to drop it one more time. Except that I found out that you can only drop the pan about 3-5 times before the stock gasket starts to get ****ed off and leak on you. Right now, I have had a new pan gasket for about 1 year now and it's starting to think about leaking. I'm sure my pan magnets are fine. But it's a nice suggestion.

I'm done a KS replacement job, along with injectors. I know how to keep track of bolts and nuts. What I like doing is either keep them in labeled baggies or get a 3'x3' sheet of cardboard and cut slots in it and stick the bolts in and label it. It worked great for me many times.

About the Ypipe, I have the crush ring gaskets for the Ypipe in a box somewhere. I knew they would come in handy one day.

About the pics, there will be plenty of pics. I will be snapping them all during the install. I already took a couple:

 

Oh yeah, why is the TC going to be hard to remove? Is it on the spline REALLY tight?

 

I just bought a 450lb tranny jack from Harbor Freight. It's pretty nice.

I have my garage cleaned out and everything ready to go.

I know I will have to unplug all the harnesses on the tranny before I can drop it. But what about the starter? That bolts to the tranny right? I only need to just unplug it?

What about my tranny shifter linkage? I will definitely need to remove that some how. Any tips on removing it? Or disconnecting it so I can take the tranny out? Thanks again.