Author Topic: Trouble getting transmission in (Read 9465 times)

83 SX/4 · « **on:** August 04, 2011, 01:01:33 AM »

I purchased an 83 SX/4 a couple of months ago with a blown engine. Somehow the #5 piston had collided with the spark plug and destroyed itself. I pulled and rebuilt the engine and now am trying to get it back into the car. The engine is mounted but the transmission will not mate up to the engine completely.

(I had to slide the transmission back a little to get the engine out) It will get to within about 1/2 inch from the engine, just far enough that the bolts will not reach the block. I have used a couple of longer bolts to try and pull the engine closer with no success. I have the 258 engine and the automatic transmission. I have adjusted the angle of the transmission and I have also loosened these bolts and turned the flex plate to see if the splines happened to line up just wrong when I put the engine in. Anyone have any tips on how to get the engine and transmission together? I am nearly to the point of pulling the engine all the way out and trying again.

Also is it possible to assemble the engine/transmission/transfer case outside of the vehicle and install it as one unit or will it not work with this vehicle?

mudkicker715 · « **Reply #1 on:** August 04, 2011, 01:25:36 AM »

It can be done outside with just the tranny installed. It will never work with the transfer case on as well. Otherwise you have some sort of problem that is explained to vaguely. Sorry.

Also the torque convertor only bolts on to the flywheel in one clock position. Speaking of whitch is that convertor all thbe way into the transmission?

maddog · « **Reply #2 on:** August 04, 2011, 02:17:23 AM »

when i went to put Survivor's (my 83) transmission back in after having it rebuilt i couldn't figure out why it wouldn't snug up against the back of the motor. after pulling the transmission back from the motor i noticed the torqconverter wasn't in all the way so after fighting it back into place while still under the car, it went in about a half inch after that every thing lined up perfectly.

68AMXGOPAC · « **Reply #3 on:** August 04, 2011, 07:57:54 AM »

I would say the tourqe converter isn't snubbed into the tranny all the way also , it actually goes in farther than needed , then pull it back to the plate and tighten it after the trans to engine is mated. AND yes, those holes only line up ONE way.

txjeeptx · « **Reply #4 on:** August 04, 2011, 11:19:40 AM »

Torque converters need to have the splines in the inside of the hub line up with the input shaft AND then have the two ears on the hub line up with the pump in the transmission. It usually means the torque converter will slide in to a stopping point, then you rotate the converter some, and as you rotate it, keep pushing in on it, and it will slide in further, so that's two separate sliding-in events to get a converter fully into a transmission. If you don't get it fully seated and try forcing the trans to the engine, you risk damaging the pump or the converter, and the trans might leak a lot. Here's to hoping that didn't happen.

83 SX/4 · « **Reply #5 on:** August 04, 2011, 12:47:08 PM »

Thanks for the help. I bolted the torque converter onto the flex plate before putting the engine into the engine bay. It sounds like I need to disconnect the torque converter from the flex plate and try to put it into the transmission first, then try to bolt the torque converter back to the flex plate. Fortunately I don't think that I have put too much pressure on the transmission and torque converter yet. I think that I didn't get the ears on the hub lined up properly, that should get me the needed extra distance. Thanks.

Quote from: mudkicker715 on August 04, 2011, 01:25:36 AM

Also the torque converter only bolts on to the flywheel in one clock position. Speaking of which is that converter all the way into the transmission?

No, the flex plate is bolted to the flex plate and is not fully in the transmission. I am curious about the clocking of the torque converter, it seemed that the 4 bolts that hold the torque converter to the flex plate were evenly spaced. How do I determine the correct clocking of the flex plate to torque converter?

68AMXGOPAC · « **Reply #6 on:** August 04, 2011, 12:54:43 PM »

I made a pattern out of cardboard , punched the holes, marked one, lined it up on the converter and marked that appropriate hole to match.

A-A EAGLE · « **Reply #7 on:** August 04, 2011, 01:12:35 PM »

Yup, take the converter off the flexplate and put is on the gearbox. Be sure the converter is fully on the axle and the ears fit on the oil pump. Sometimes you have to turn the converter fast until it fits into the oil pump.

Years ago I made the same mistake, broke the oil pump and it took me two days to take the gearbox off, repair it and to put it on again into a Land Rover 101" Forward Control tha I converted from manual to auto transmission.

Anjo
Holland.

txjeeptx · « **Reply #8 on:** August 04, 2011, 06:31:25 PM »

If you still have the converter bolted to the flexplate, paint one of the bolt mount tabs and the flexplate so you can identify it and line it back up to the flex plate when you reassemble it with the trans. If I recall, the converter can go on any which way the four bolt holes and tabs want to line up, but maybe I've just been lucky and always gotten it right the first time? The flexplate ought to bolt to the crankshaft of the engine only one way/position.

mudkicker715 · « **Reply #9 on:** August 04, 2011, 06:38:45 PM »

Both only go on one way txjeeptx

philotomy · « **Reply #10 on:** August 04, 2011, 08:23:43 PM »

good to know all of this cause i'm gonna be doin this sometime soon myself

83 SX/4 · « **Reply #11 on:** August 05, 2011, 02:02:37 AM »

I did not have much time to work on it today but I separated the engine and transmission enough so that I can turn the flex plate easier. If I damaged the transmission pump in doing this will I be able to tell just by looking at it or can it look OK and still be damaged? If it is not something that is obvious by just looking I am inclined to just turn the engine until it lines up properly and keep going with the install. Otherwise I think I will have to pull the engine back out to take a good look into the bell housing since the transmission does not seem to want to pull back far enough to get a look inside.

mudkicker715 · « **Reply #12 on:** August 05, 2011, 02:08:13 AM »

How far from the bellhousing is the torque convertor. It should sit back about an inch.

83 SX/4 · « **Reply #13 on:** August 05, 2011, 07:51:50 PM »

Right now about half of the ring gear is outside of the bell housing and the torque converter is still bolted to the flex plate. I would say that the front of the torque converter is nearly flush with the front of the bell housing and has not been much more than half of an inch into the bell housing even when I was trying to get the engine and transmission together.

Tonight I am going to try and remove the torque converter from the flex plate, rotate it while pushing it into the transmission to get it fully in. Then the engine and transmission should fit back together and I can rotate it back into position and reattach it to the flex plate.

83 SX/4 · « **Reply #14 on:** August 06, 2011, 01:20:42 AM »

Well, I was not able to turn the torque converter without removing the engine so I pulled the engine back out to get the torque converter put in properly. Now the engine is back in with the torque converter fully inserted into the bell housing and the engine is fully against the transmission. I figure I will be able to get the engine and transmission fully bolted together and to the mounts tomorrow, then all I need to do is the accessories, hoses and the carb. Thanks for the help.

vangremlin · « **Reply #15 on:** August 06, 2011, 10:24:40 AM »

Glad that you were able to get the engine and transmission together!

eaglefreek · « **Reply #16 on:** August 06, 2011, 10:39:04 AM »

Glad you got it figured out. I ruined a transmission in a Mustang by not seating the converter properly and forcing the transmission and engine together.

83 SX/4 · « **Reply #17 on:** August 06, 2011, 04:32:49 PM »

It remains to be seen if I caused any damage to the transmission pump but it looks OK so far.

On another note does anyone have any tricks for getting the top 3 bellhousing bolts into the engine. So far I have had some luck with a short box wrench and am considering bending a longer one to get access to them but other ideas would be helpful.

vangremlin · « **Reply #18 on:** August 06, 2011, 04:55:20 PM »

If I recall correctly the top one closest to the passenger side can be reached from the top and you can get it most of the way in. The other two can be accessed from below with a couple long extensions (think 12"), a universal joint, and it helps to have somebody up top to hold the socket on. It sounds worse than it is, once you get the knack for it it goes pretty easily. Good luck!

mudkicker715 · « **Reply #19 on:** August 06, 2011, 04:59:53 PM »

What vangremlin said, cept all can be reached as he said. Never tried from top. Proper tools can do anything.

maddog · « **Reply #20 on:** August 06, 2011, 07:45:36 PM »

i just squeezed my arm up in there with a small handled wrench and tightened them till they wouldn't get any tighter but their i way is better.

83 SX/4 · « **Reply #21 on:** August 07, 2011, 01:46:28 AM »

Quote from: maddog on August 06, 2011, 07:45:36 PM

i just squeezed my arm up in there with a small handled wrench and tightened them till they wouldn't get any tighter but their i way is better.

My arm doesn't have enough elbows to make that reach!!

I got the extensions to reach them, just need to wait for another pair of hands to help keep the 3' of extensions pointed in the correct direction. I should be able to get that done tomorrow. Thanks for all the help.

maddog · « **Reply #22 on:** August 07, 2011, 02:10:33 AM »

lets just say it was painfull and that i lost some skin doing it. oh and i've done this four times.

vangremlin · « **Reply #23 on:** August 07, 2011, 12:02:08 PM »

Quote from: maddog on August 06, 2011, 07:45:36 PM

i just squeezed my arm up in there with a small handled wrench and tightened them till they wouldn't get any tighter but their i way is better.

I would be afraid that my arm would get stuck in there and several hours later somebody would find me still stuck under the car lol

A-A EAGLE · « **Reply #24 on:** August 07, 2011, 01:14:43 PM »

Keep the backside of the transmission loweerd as far as you can, it wil make acces to the pper three bolts a lot easier....
Did it a couple of times too...., I learned a lot from all the mistakes I made allt the days I was on my back underneath the car.

ANjo
Holland

maddog · « **Reply #25 on:** August 07, 2011, 07:25:59 PM »

Quote from: vangremlin on August 07, 2011, 12:02:08 PM

Quote from: maddog on August 06, 2011, 07:45:36 PM
i just squeezed my arm up in there with a small handled wrench and tightened them till they wouldn't get any tighter but their i way is better.

I would be afraid that my arm would get stuck in there and several hours later somebody would find me still stuck under the car lol

a couple of times i thought i had gotten my arm stuck but thankfully i'm flexible enough besides skin will grow back and as they say "no pain no gain" (i wonder if the first person to say that owned an eagle).

Author Topic: Trouble getting transmission in (Read 9465 times)

83 SX/4

68AMXGOPAC

83 SX/4

68AMXGOPAC

A-A EAGLE

83 SX/4

83 SX/4

83 SX/4

83 SX/4

83 SX/4

A-A EAGLE