Can't get my tranny out, what am I missing(Chevy 1/2-ton): Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Nov. 14, 2010 4:56 p.m. petegossett SuperDork

So I've been working off & on for the last week trying to get the 700R4 out of my truck(88 Chevy 1/2-ton 2wd) so I can swap in the used transmission I bought last weekend.

I've removed all-6 bellhousing bolts & the brackets attached to them, both electrical connectors, the cooler lines, TV cable & dipstick tube, and tailshaft mount. The trans is strapped to a jack & I've lowered it down as far as I can. It wouldn't break free, so I put my feet on the tailshaft, turned sideways & grabbed the frame rail, and kicked/shook as hard as I could. I was seriously afraid the truck might come off the jackstands. It still didn't budge.

Is there a trick for getting the engine/trans to separate? Am I missing something simple?
Nov. 14, 2010 4:57 p.m. turbojunker HalfDork

Did you take the torque converter bolts out?
Nov. 14, 2010 5:01 p.m. Knurled HalfDork

Probably going to require application of prybar and possibly BFH.

Make sure that the dowels are in the engine when you're done. They like to stick in the trans sometimes.
Nov. 14, 2010 5:05 p.m. eastpark New Reader

turbojunker wrote:

Did you take the torque converter bolts out?

+1 did you remove them?
Nov. 14, 2010 5:11 p.m. Knurled HalfDork

I speak from experience that you can remove the trans while leaving the torque converter on the engine. And it makes a huge mess in the process.

One thing I forgot - don't lower the trans so much. It needs to come straight off of the engine, more or less. Any tweak loading on it will bind it on the dowels even worse.

So - jack it up a little bit, and pry the sumbitches apart.
Nov. 14, 2010 5:15 p.m. turbojunker HalfDork

Knurled wrote:

I speak from experience that you can remove the trans while leaving the torque converter on the engine.

Why would anyone want to do that?
Nov. 14, 2010 5:31 p.m. petegossett SuperDork

Oh yeah, I did pull the converter bolts, and I've tried raising/lowering it at a few different angles.

I'll have to pick up another prybar, my 30" is too long & my 6" just doesn't cut it.

Thanks!
Nov. 14, 2010 5:49 p.m. Knurled HalfDork

turbojunker wrote:

Knurled wrote:

I speak from experience that you can remove the trans while leaving the torque converter on the engine.

Why would anyone want to do that?

Siezed engine in vehicle where oil pan cannot be removed in-chassis, so you can't rotate the engine to get at all of the torque converter nuts until it's out of the truck.

Also, had a 1.9 Escort where the torque converter was lodged in the end of the crankshaft. Boy howdy was that trans hard to negotiate out of the car.
Nov. 14, 2010 7:24 p.m. tuna55 Dork

I know you did it, but you didn't mention that you removed the driveshaft. That would help.
Seriously make sure the tranny is somewhat in line with the engine. On my 72, for instance, the engine mounts don't hold the engine from tilting fore and aft, so if you remove the tranny mount, the engine is always going to load the transmission and produce a ton of friction between the two.
Nov. 14, 2010 9:21 p.m. patgizz SuperDork

take a punch and smack the dowels into the block a little. otherwise you may risk cracking the bellhousing if you try to pry too much.
Nov. 14, 2010 9:29 p.m. Spinout007 Dork

Yeah it's gotta come almost straight back, try putting a jack and a block of wood on the crank pulley to bring the angle of the engine up. Sometimes it helps to have a second set of hands on the other side as well. If I was a might bit closer I would offer to come give ya a hand, but 20 hours or so is pushing it a bit.
Nov. 14, 2010 9:35 p.m. Mikey52_1 HalfDork

As a former GM-only gearhead, I can tell you that blocking the back of the engine so it can't fall all the way back against the firewall, and supporting the tranny panrail while you jack up on the tailshaft (at the mount flange), will get you broken apart. It will take only a little jacking on the mount before the engine attempts to rise off the blocking. At that point, check the dowel pins and see if they're visible (between the bottom 2 bellhousing bolts on each side). If they ARE visible, THAT's where you put your wedges/prybars/sacrificial screwdrivers or chisels (sacrificial woodchisels are best...thinner). Insert them on each side (from below is okay) and tap a little on each one alternately. You should only need to go a little ways upward with your wedges before the tranny and engine begin to part company. The dowels only extend from the block about half an inch, so if they don't want to come into the light of day at THIS point, give them a shot of Kroil or some other penetrating oil, and let them soak and think about their future. Go grab a soda and let it go for 20 minutes or so. Even if the dowels want to come out of the block, it's not that big a deal. Let 'em come. Apart is where you want this deal. Clean up the block and bellhousing from their prybar gouging...there will be some carnage left over from this.

Good luck!
Nov. 15, 2010 3:55 a.m. novaderrik HalfDork

put a jack under the oil pan of the engine to support it.. lower the jack under the trans so that it's about an inch below the pan so that all of the weight of the trans is hanging free. start the lower two bellhousing bolts and thread them in a few turns- this keeps the trans from falling on the floor/your head when you do the next step...

with your body all digits and what not out of the way, grab the back of the trans and wiggle it up and down and left and right until it pops loose.

if it doesn't pop loose, heat up the bellhousing around the dowle pins to break them free.

once it pops loose, put the jack back up tight under the trans pan, remove the bellhousing bolts, and drop it down and out.