so i was cruising down my local main street when i had to downshift, as soon as i pushed the clutch in, i heard a big crunchy sound and i couldnt shift into any gear. so i pulled into a parking lot nearby, let the car cool down a tad, then i tried to start it, it started and at idle it made lots of racket and sounded like scrap metal was being tossed around somewhere. its undrivable at the moment.

what happened?

 

It broke.

Probably the diaphragm failed, or the throwout bearing broke. Either one would tear up the other.

Time for a clutch job.

 

do you mean the clutch plate? i think that shattered. opinions?

 

in my system, one of the springs came out and tore everything to hell, needed new pressure plate, throw-out bearing, all that good stuff.. but it did exactly what you described

expect a $250 dollar bill doing it yourself, add probably another 150-200 to take it into a shop n have them do it...


oh and i hope your front bearing is good =]

 

i found some clutch sets for about 120 dollars, it Contains Disc, Pressure Plate, Throw-out Bearing, Pilot Bearing/Bushing & Alignment Tool

and what front bearing are you talking about?

 

thats what it sounded like when my TO bearing grenaded

 

when your throw out bearing exploded, what did you have to replace?

im gonna get my car towed home now and then rip it apart tomorrow.

 

clutch and TO bearing

i made the mistake of not cutting my flywheel and the clutch job only lasted me a month

 

im sorry i dont understand the term "cutting the flywheel" what do you mean by that?

i Do know what a flywheel is though.

 

resurfacing it

 

it's pretty foolish to drop the trans to replace a single part inside the bell. if you need to replace one piece replace them all. it's money well spent and really no extra time or effort but it will save a you a lot of time and effort at some point later on.

 

i am real tight on money right now so after i inspect the damage im only going to buy what i need to buy. im scared this is gonna be expensive

 

im still trying to take down my tranny. im taking out the bolts that connect the bellhousing to the engine, then im gonna slide the tranny back to look inside the housing.

anyone done this before??

im having truoble getting the drivers side bolts out no clearance

 

That's the hard way... in fact, with the BH and trans still assembled, you'll have to slide the bell housing straight back far for the clutch gear to withdraw all the way out of the clutch; and I doubt there's enough room under there to do that.

Do it the easy way, that works. Take the trans out first, buy itself; then take the bell housing off.

 

I still cant get the top two bolts out thats left on the bellhouse. one on each side at far top.

anyone got ideas? i can get the ratchet on, but no clearance.

what is the best angle to tackle this beast?

 

From above, with a short box-end wrench

Too easy that way

 

First pull the gearbox out. The motor should tilt rearward on the motor mounts, making it easier to get to the drivers side bolts. If it doesn't, put a jack and a block of wood under the oil pan to make it tilt. Ratched=no good. Box end 9/16=the way to go. Trust me now and thank me later.

 

thanks for the advice, ill be sure to do that tomorrow.

i had already given up and i got the 4 bolts removed from the gearbox to bellhouse, also got the stick shift off today to make room for the tranny to be moved back, (anyone else every have to remove the stick shifter, its a bitch with the bolts to the boot hiding under the carpetry, know what i mean?) and also got to remove the.. long bar from the tranny to the rear axle . (forgot what its called, on the tip of my tongue though)

i think im tired.. it got dark so i retired for the evening.

tomorrow, the driveshaft gets dropped and the tranny gets pulled back, then ill get them two last bellhouse bolts off!

:hail:

 

Yes the shifter always has to be removed to pull the trans. It's real easy from underneath with a short box-end wrench (I just keep saying that..... I wonder why?) You don't even have to disturb the car's interior at all that way, well maybe rumple the leather cover a little bit.

A ratchet and a bunch of extensions aren't always the best tools for every job.

You don't have to take the rorque arm out either. If you put the rear of the car on jack stands with the stands under the control arm bolts and let the rear just hang; then jack the rear up about an inch from its fully hanging down position and put another pair of jack stands under the axle tubes (note, I said the tubes; not the pumpkin, not the brackets, not the LCAs, not any other part besides the tubes) the torque arm will have no tension on it in any direction. It doesn't get in the way of what you're doing.

Sounds to me like you're doing too much work. I hate work!!! If you had just asked, I would have been happy to tell you how to do the whole job with the minimum effort and time; might save you a whole bunch of excess trouble you're needlessly putting yourself through.

A complete trans R&R, out and back in, from drive in to drive back out, should take about 2½-3 hours, lying on your back, with hand tools. It's that easy and fast if you do it right, without creating extra work or using the wrong tools.

 

I feel so stupid sometimes.. but i am only 18 and this is my first trans job.

well, live and learn

back to work!

oh and i only have two jackstands

what my plans were are to disconnect the driveshaft with the jack under the tranny, when the driveshaft falls, i slowly lower down the tranny (gearbox) then i can reach the two bolts to the housing and drop that and be done! heh sound good?

:hail: RB83L69

 

THe drive shaft has to come out. Take its bolts loose from teh rear, and pull it out of the trans. Some fluid might come out so have a pan ready.

Speaking of fluid: When you pull the trans it's almost impossible to keep from tipping it over; so empty all the fluid now, if you haven't yet. I can tell you from personal experience that a bath in gear lube will not draw every member of the opposite sex within 200 yards to you like a magnet.

The trans has to slide straight rearwards about 6" to get the clutch gear out of the clutch. So once you get all 4 of its bolts loose from the BH, and the other stuff out of the way, be prepared to muscle it out of there (doesn't take all that much miscle though) and get it out of the way.

You might be able to get to those 2 top bolts from below with the trans out of there; but it's probably still easier to get them from the top. You can just kind of reach down in there and get to them without any trouble at all.

3 sets of jack stands are the way to go on this job. As cheap as stands are, you might want to go get some more when the time comes to put it back together; it's a total hassle to get the torque arm back in and hooked up when it's trying like hell to slam itself against the bottom of the tunnel.

The correct order of putting it back together is:

Pilot bearing/bushing
Flywheel
Clutch & disc (using alignment tool)
Bell housing
Clutch slave cylinder & bracket
Clutch dust cover
Starter & engine oil filter (removed earlier in order to remove dust cover)
Throwout bearing (make sure the fork goes in it the right way)
Transmission
Shifter (should have been left hanging from the leather boot above its home)
Speedo cable
Torque arm, brackets, and exhaust hanger
Drive shaft
Crossmember
Trans fluid
Plug backup light switch back in

 

thanks i owe you big time. im having trouble getting two of the bolts out of rthe drive shaft. i got the first two out, but not the second two, the shield running parrelel with the shaft is in the way. is their any way to turn the driveshaft? right now i cant find my 11mm wrench. so im using a ratchet

edit: i also went out and bought a new jackset. the jack and two more stands. maybe i have to jack up the rear end as well?

 

Take the trans out of gear; rotate the shaft; put the trans back into gear.

The drive shaft bolts are actually 7/16", not metric.

OBTW.... I've had T-5s in and out of my 83 car at least 20 times, maybe more. I'm pretty sure I could literally do it blindfolded now, just by feel and memory. I've had 4-speeds in and out of older cars more times than that. I long since lost count of how many automatics I've R&Red, but, probably a comparable number. So I've had lots of opportunity to find shortcuts. Every once in a while I still find a new one though.

The reason for supporting the rear end just exactly that way, is that the springs are offset from the radius of the axle tubes; so their pressure is trying to rotate the whole rear as well as push it down. It can put hundreds of pounds of rotational force on everything. The method I described takes as much tension as possible off of all that, so that you can work around it without it smashing your hands or having to struggle with it.

 

my trans is in neutral and its not budging. am i just weak or should it freely turn?

 

should turn easily

parking brake on?

 

yes

do i need to put down the parking brake?

 

ok i got the four bolts off.. without having the drive shaft turn. but now i guess i take off the cross member. be back soon

 

ok i have removed the crossmember, but the tranny does not want to come down all the way.. i know i have to move it back first but the problem is.. the driveshaft at the rear is still in its spot .. without the bolts.. i cannot turn the freaking thing so the driveshaft can fall up. wtf. helpplease?

 

ok well i got the driveshaft to come off, and now all the tranny fluid is draining into a pitcher.. so what would my next steps be? now i push the tranny back and let it slowly down?


also i still have the catconverter hanging on the tranny by the leather mount ( know what im talking about?) I think i need to remove that as well. otherwise that is all correct?

 

ok i was just reading my book here and i am assuming i need to remove the torque arm as well?

 

anyone alive?

 

yes the torque arm is held on with a rubber mount unbolt this from the tranny, you dont have to take the whole thing down. make sure you keep a jack or jackstand under the tail of the tranny when you have that crossmember unbolted, it would be bad if you broke the pilot shaft on the transmission. when you get ready to take the tranny out leave it in gear and rotate it it should slide right out. make sure the engine also has a jack with a block of wood on it under the oil pan becuase it will tip back and crush your distributor.

 

when its time to put the tranny back in, do the same, leave it in gear and wiggle it around it should slide right in. Make sure the car, engine, and tranny is all level. that was my mistake and couldnt get it back together. After i re-jacked up the car and everything was level it slid right in. It may be about 1/2 inch away from the bell housing but tightening the bolts down evenly will pull them together. Make sure you grease the pilot bearing, the inside surface of the TOB and also where the TOB meets the pressure plate, and the pilot shaft. I just used Hi-temp lithium grease. you should get a new tranny mount too becuase when i took my crossmember out it got messed up, it was old anyway. The shifter popped up about 2 inches when i really got on it, so i got a new mount and it fixed the problem. you may have to bleed the clutch after because the pin extends all the way out when the slave cylendar is removed. if you have any other questions feel free to ask...

 

so i need a jack under the engine AND the tranny? because i have a jack holding up the tranny right now, the torque arm is the only thing connected to it atm. its ready to go down. can the tranny be in nuetral ( i htink thats what its in right now)

 

yeah you can have the tranny in neutral, i had mine in gear so when i rotated it the pilot shaft was stationary and didnt move. yes you just need a floor jack under the oil pan because it will tip back. when you put the jack under dont pump it up like crazy, just until you feel the pressure of it make contact.

 

ok so i only need the jack under the engine and not the tranny? wont the tranny just fall down then?

 

yes keep the jack under the engine till the job is done, oh another thing, the easiest way for me to get the tranny out was lay under the car parellel with it and sort of bench press the tranny down. its about 100 lbs at the max. im also 6'4" and 240 lbs, so it shouldnt be too bad but make sure you have a grip on it.

 

what i mean to say is keep a jack under the engine and on the tranny until your ready to remove the tranny, then move the jack away from the tranny ONLY. dont let the tranny just hang because of the danger of having the pilot shaft break.

 

Once the tranny is out when the engine is able to tip back you should be able to reach the top bellhousing bolts with an extension and a few sockets from underneath the car, just make sure when you lower that jack the distributor is clear up top, dont go too far down with it.

 

ok the tranny is free of being connected to anything, all i need to do now is push it back and let it down with the jack. cana i just have a jackstand and a block of wood under the oil pan till i get thet ranny down using the jack?

 

!!!!!!UDPATE!!!!!!

I got thet rranny down, i got the two upper boltdds off of the bellhousing and when i took the housing down, i find a throwout bearing disintigrated in the housing metal shavings everywhere. it has been obliverated, my step bro that helped me said he never seen anything like it. so now i guess i need a new bearing.

do i need to take of the rest of the clutch and flywheel to inster the new throwout bearing? cuz they are still attached to the engine, i dunno how or if i need to get them off as well. thanks!

also my clutch fork looks a little torn up on the edges, should i replace that as well.

thanks you all for your wonderful help and tips. i never have tackled such a task. putting it together should be easy since i now know what i am doing.

and if my typing looks liek crap, cuz its been ra ining.. yes im working in the rain and my ahnds are cool and greasy and its time for a nice warm shower. ill purchase the parts today and then start putting it together tomorrow :hail:

 

the throw out bearing is supposed to be on the fork, so you dont need to remove the flywheel to replace this but it is a good idea to check the clutch and pressureplate. if i were you id replace the clutch, get the flywheel resurfaced, and install a new pilot bearing. Its better to do this now for find out a week later the clutch goes, ya know what i mean? i did the same thing to my TOB, but it wasnt as severe as you mentioned. I did get the loud chatter from inside the bellhousing tho.

 

well im tight on money so im just gonna put the bearing on i think. if it breaks again then ill just park the car till i have the money. ill let you know how the rebuild goes