Alright! I've finally made myself sit down and do this. This is to cover removing the 998 transmission and rebuilding it and installing it again. I've taken pictures to document the rebuild, but I did not pics of removing the transmission and where are the bolts are. I can hopefully describe them and list all the troubles I've encountered. First off, why did I do this? I had stupidly not kept an eye on my transmission fluid level. I had a leak that I could not identify, and shops could not seem to find. (I'll have another post about my disappointment with the shops I've used) I was on the highway and I heard a pop and immediately lost power and couldn't go beyond 50mph. There was a clicking sound in front of the firewall that I never identified and never came back. It smelled like burning nuts or some kind of varnish. I got home and thought the worst. I refilled the fluid and went for a test drive and it wouldn't shift. I tried adjusting my bands and throttle linkage, didn't really do much. I thought about rebuilding it, and decided I'd rather pay a shop. Bah. They said it was a leaky pan and replaced the pan and said everything was fine and they test drove it. Filthy lies! I still had the same problem and was out some cash. I decided to rebuild. I bought a kit from Advance Auto Parts and went to work. Here's a list of what to do. Make sure you have a place to work on the transmission before pulling it out. Let me know if I am missing anything.
Safety Gear:
Goggles or safety glasses. You don't want anything in your eyes that's been under your car.
Latex or Nitrile gloves. I prefer nitrile.
Jack stands
Bandages (It's bound to happen.)
Gojo or some type of grease remover
Tire chucks or something to block your wheels if any are on the ground.
Jack on wheels for the transmission. Very helpful
Tools:
A workspace like a table to do the rebuild on.
Transmission rebuild kit. I got mine from Advance Auto for $50 compatible with 727 998 900 series
Socket and ratchet set. I used a $99 great neck special that had a range of sizes.
Ratchet extensions. 2 feet is probably good.
Universal Joint. To get on hard to reach bolts. Get a good one or warrantied, I had one shatter.
8 point socket is helpful but not necessary.
Snap ring pliers. You need these and get a good pair to save headaches later.
Feeler gauges. To measure clutch plate clearance and others.
ATF fluid. Dexron III compatible
Petroleum jelly. I didn't use it, but it would've been helpful to hold washers in place.
Shop Towels or something to clean the internals of the transmission.
Cotton swabs for cleaning.
Screw drivers.
Patience.
Best tool we have.
Let your car cool for a day. No burns. Get a bunch of ziplock bags and a sharpie to label where everything came from. It helped me out a lot. Also, be aware the transmission is heavy and will snap fingers and pull on your engine. The transmission mount holds up the transmission so make sure your transmission is supported on a jack before removing the mount.
First, I disconnected the battery. Jack the car up on jack stands front and back. I only had 1 pair of jackstands and I managed to make it work by just jacking up the front but I think it would be easier with the whole car up. Remove the front and rear propeller shaft and set these aside and bag up the little bits. Then remove the wires to the neutral safety switch. This harness is located on the transmission on the drivers side right above the transmission pan. Then pull the harness off and pull it back up into the engine bay. It snakes down from the passenger side. Next, disconnect the wires that go to the starter motor also on the passenger side. And remove the starter motor. It's heavy so support it with one hand or a stand while unscrewing the 2 bolts holding it in. If you have the inclination, you can buy a kit to rebuild the starter as well. I didn't bother since it worked fine. Disconnect the throttle linkage. This goes from the carburetor to the transmission. There is a connector plate with 2 bolts in it, just unscrew the bolts and remove the throttle linkage rod and then tighten the screws back into the plate and leave it there. Empty the transmission fluid by removing the pan and then replace the pan. Some fluid will still be inside. There are two transmission fluid lines going to the radiator attached to the transmission, unscrew these and try to keep them out of the way.
I had two thoughts on this next part and I'm not entirely clear on which one I settled on. I think I used a jack underneath the transmission pan with a wood block between the jack and the transmission. I then took off the transmission mount. There are two bolts in the middle of the mount that link the mount and the transmission. Remove these bolts and bag them. I lost mine somehow. Next remove the plate protecting the differential, there are 4 bolts there. Bag em up and set the plate aside. Make sure your jack is in place supporting the transmission. There are 4 bolts connecting the transmission mount, remove these and bag em. You might need to persuade the mount off with a prybar and set the mount aside. You can slowly and carefully lower the jack a little ways to access the shifter linkage that goes from the transmission to the shifter in the car. Detach the linkage by loosening the screw on the linkage block and slide the shift linkage rod out. You might need a hammer to persuade the block off. Disconnect the vacuum actuator to the differential that turns on 4wd. The speedometer cable is also attached back here, you might want to stick a pan underneath it when you remove it because ATF is still in there and will drain out. Also check if the transmission has a mount from the transmission to the exhaust, if it's there, try to get it off to make life easier. Now the transmission can be removed. It might be easier to remove the exhaust from the manifold for this part, but your exhaust might be rusted on like mine and then it might break at the next rustiest spot, possibly next to the catalytic converter when your transmission drops on it. Just saying.
The transmission has 6 bolts attaching it to the engine and is also attached to the flywheel. First remove the flywheel plate and bag the bolts. There are 4 flat bolts connecting the flywheel to the torque converter. I removed them by rotating the flywheel with a screw driver to get to the bolts and removing each one. There might be a better way, if there is I will post that in here. Now the six bolts can be removed. There are 2 on top of the transmission that you can probably feel by reaching around the engine, these need to be accessed by an extension and universal joint on your ratchet. Make sure you know where the bolts go I think some are sized differently. Once these bolts are removed, the transmission can now be pulled away from the engine. This was difficult for me by myself. Don't be lonely, get a friend. Make sure the transmission is balanced on the jack and that you can control it. I ended up moving the transmission back and forth until it released and I lowered it on the jack and got it out from under the car. This took awhile for me. Now you have the transmission out. Remove the torque converter so it doesn't drop out on your toes later. Cleaning time!
Clean the transmission and differential before working on it, this way you don't get any sand, dirt, dead bugs, or roadkill in your open transmission. This will also give you a chance to visually inspect the outside thoroughly and check for any cracks or whatnot in the housing. Also, remove the linkages from the throttle lever. And keep these somewhere. Use a high power hose and a brush. If this hasn't been done before, chances are you are seeing buildup from the whole life of the car! It's like a fossil! But a gross and toxic fossil. At this point I had neither the raw man-strength or friends around to help me get the whole thing into the basement. Who knows, maybe you are the Hulk or Mav and can do these things. I chose to disconnect the differential from the adapter housing, splitting it into 2 loads of dead body weight that I could carry into my basement since that is the area I had to work with. I would've chosen another spot if it was available. Have somewhere clean and spacious to get this done.
Topic: Transmission rebuild (Read 67077 times)