I have an 85 v6 2.8L camaro automatic. I have lifted the engine and replaced the oil pan, oil pump, and cam. The issue I am having is I cannot get the engine to sit back down on the engine mounts I cannot get the engine to move back far enough. And the tranmission is starting to rotate which seems really bad. I have not removed the torque converter and I think that is the problem.

 

Do you mean the torque converter is still bolted to the flexplate or it's still in the trans? It must be installed properly into the trans prior to bolting to the engine.

 

It is still bolted to the flywheel and it is in the transmission still. I think I need to rotate the crankshaft and unbolt the torque converter from the flywheel let the transmission then drop. I can then set the engine on the mounts properly. Maybe I need to unbolt the transmission mounts? This is my first time ever doing something like this so I am trying to not brake something.

 

If you don't unhook the engine from the trans then at a minimum you should loosen the trans mount so it can move more easily and not distort the trans mount. You may have done that already.

 

Ok when I get off work I will go ahead and loosen the trans mount bolts to see if that gives me the room I need to get the engine on the engine mounts. Do you think the transmission will fall if I loosen the mounts?

 

Yep , that's what it sounds like hes saying , that he didn't take the torque converter off of the engine and properly seat it back into the transmission before he attempted to bolt it back together . Depending on how much force he has already applied trying to force the two together it's highly likely that he has already destroyed the transmission fluid pump ........

 

Not sure if that's the case. K1ng did you unbolt the transmission from the engine block without unbolting the torque converter flex plate bolts? Or did you remove the engine mounts and just raise the engine to remove the pan? Either way you may have done damage. The latter is likely not as bad.

 

Sounds like he left the entire transmission connected to the block and just lifted the engine as much as he could.

 

What I have done is I removed the bolts from the bell housing and I have removed the bolts from the motor mounts. I also removed everything hooked to the engine. Wires, headers, hoses, ect. I then lifted the engine and swapped the oil pan. All I needed was to get a new oil pan on so that is how far I lifted it up. Now when I am trying to get the engine to sit back on the motor mounts I cannot get the engine to move far enough back. It also looks like the transmission is twisting. I was not able to work on it last night so I will go out there tonight and I am going to loosen the bolts on the bar on the back of the transmission hopefully that will fix my problem if not I will likely remove the bolts from the flexplate.

 

This is a very serious concern. Just wanted to corroborate this. You're just going to have to put it back together and see if it works.

Given the description of what you did I can see why you might not think it's necessary, but that's totally a judgment call we'd all ahve to make while doing it, to take extra special care to not put any strange stresses on the torque converter. I would have left the bellhousing attached. In general you dont want to detach the bellhousing unless the torque converter is unbolted.

 

Since everything is already disconnected it may be a good idea to just remove the tc to flex plate bolts, separate the block and trans and check nothing is too badly bent. Then put it back together properly if things look ok. Then you know it's done right and it's good practice if you have to take it apart again if things don't go well when you run it.

 

Once it's been unbolted I would take it apart and reassemble it. Check out a couple of videos like this.

 

I have condensed this post down to it's important points ....

You took out the bell housing bolts . Ok , Got it ....

Now , just HOW FAR did you allow the engine/transmission to separate ?

Cause if it was anything over a 1/2" gap , your torque converter DID move far enough to disengage from the transmission fluid pump . This is the likely reason why it now won't go back together . If you have tried to force it together without properly seating the torque converter , the little , fragile "ears" on the pump could very likely be damaged . The only way it's gonna go back together is to take it back apart enough to properly seat the converter and then pray to the transmission pump Gods that you have not damaged it .

 

You need to take the torque converter off the engine and install it on the transmission before you try to reinstall the engine. Otherwise all the splines will never line up and you will more than likely ruin the front pump on the trans.

When you install the torque converter on the input shaft there are 3 things that need to line up. The 2 splined shafts that are sticking out of the trans, and also the 2 notches in the converter need to slip into the front pump.
When you install the torque converter on the shaft, spin it by hand as you push it on.
With the torque converter seated all the way, the engine should mate up much easier.
Just make sure the trans and engine are even with each other and the dowel pins are lined up.
You can put the torque converter bolts back in from underneath, put 1 in finger tight and rotate the engine until you can get the next one in. Once all 3 are in, tighten them all down. (a little blue (medium) loctite isn't a bad idea)

 

just pull the trans and engine out and assemble on the floor. its kinda hard to get to the back bell housing bolts on a v6.

 

Sorry for the late reply but it sounds like I am going to need to remove the drive-shaft and then the cross member. I also need to drop the transmission and re-seat the torque converter and then put it back up and mount it to the engine again? Your probably right I probably broke something even the pump in the transmission. It is pulled out maybe 2 inches. I did get the engine on one motor mount this weekend and I have removed the torque converter from the flexplate.

Well I guess I will know better next time I do this what to do an not to do. But just so I know if I was to do this again I would unbolt the torque converter before the bell housing and then pull the engine out?

Thanks for all of the information though I appreciate it whether or not I ended up braking my transmission.

 

Yes.

 

For anyone still looking at this thread. I actually paid some people to come and help me put them back together. They used several small jacks and pieces of wood and were able to line the transmission and engine back together get it all bolted together. It was pretty clever actually I never thought of what they did. Next time I will know better. Thanks for everyone's help.

 

Have you driven it yet to verify there is no damage to the trans or anything?