Transmission rebuild

[skubasteve]

The transmission went on my 2003 4.4. I'm going to pull it off and rebuild it. Do I need to remove the entire exhaust or can I get away with removing the front/middle part only?

[skubasteve]

The center section of the exhaust came out easily, so there’s no need to remove the rear mufflers as far as I can tell. Also removed the reinforcement plate and splash guard.

I have the sway bar completely disconnected but it’s still sitting in its spot. I’m hoping I can leave it in per TriX5 (http://www.xoutpost.com/825774-post3.html).

Do I really need to disconnect the steering shaft from the rack like the Bentley manual prescribes?

[X53Jay4.8is]

Originally Posted by skubasteve

The center section of the exhaust came out easily, so there’s no need to remove the rear mufflers as far as I can tell. Also removed the reinforcement plate and splash guard.

I have the sway bar completely disconnected but it’s still sitting in its spot. I’m hoping I can leave it in per TriX5 (http://www.xoutpost.com/825774-post3.html).

Do I really need to disconnect the steering shaft from the rack like the Bentley manual prescribes?

We have done two of these transmission changes on the E53 X5 V8s and on both cases we did not have to remove the steering shaft. The sway bar can stay in but it is tight.

[Roman D]

Both drive shafts have to be disconnected, transfer case should come off at least to give you access to top bolts that hold tranny to the engine. You, also will need to have the car much higher than that, I have just changed clutch on my 3.0 and could not pull the gearbox from under the car, with car being on 9 inch high ramps, not while it was on transmission jack anyway.

[skubasteve]

Originally Posted by X53Jay4.8is

We have done two of these transmission changes on the E53 X5 V8s and on both cases we did not have to remove the steering shaft. The sway bar can stay in but it is tight.

Great, thanks. I’ll leave it as-is and see how it goes.

Lots of progress today. The Bentley manual recommends pulling the cross brace and transfer case fairly early in the process; I wanted to minimize the amount of time the transmission spent on the jack so I went ahead and drained the ATF, disconnected the fluid cooler lines, and loosened the torque converter bolts while the brace and transfer case were still in place. Access to everything was fine. I also took the opportunity to break loose the bellhousing bolts that were within easy reach.

I had to redneck things a little since I don’t have large metric sockets; a 1-1/16” socket fit the crankshaft damper bolt really well for spinning the crank to get access to the torque converter bolts, and a 15/16” socket fit the transmission fluid cooler banjo bolt perfectly. Saved a trip to the store. Both sockets fit well and neither application needs much torque so both worked fine.

Instead of using a pry bar to lock the torque converter in place as recommended in the Bentley manual, I used a breaker bar to rotate the crank while watching for the next torque converter bolt, then just used the breaker bar to counteract the torque while loosening each the bolt.

Next session will hopefully result in removal of the cross brace, transfer case, and transmission.

[skubasteve]

Originally Posted by Roman D

Both drive shafts have to be disconnected, transfer case should come off at least to give you access to top bolts that hold tranny to the engine. You, also will need to have the car much higher than that, I have just changed clutch on my 3.0 and could not pull the gearbox from under the car, with car being on 9 inch high ramps, not while it was on transmission jack anyway.

Thanks. I got both driveshafts off today. Had a little trouble with the rear driveshaft because I did not remove the rear exhaust heat shield; the shield ended up interfering with the driveshaft since the shaft needs to drop down in order to release from the transfer case. I removed the heat shield bolts and that provided enough give to release the driveshaft.

I've got the car a little higher than in the picture but I am worried about getting the transmission out from under the car, once it's been detached. I made the mistake of parking the car on a slight grade on soft dirt, so I want to keep it as low as possible for safety reasons. Once I get the tranny on the ground I figure I'll jack it way up and pull the tranny out with a rope or something.

[EH6TunerDaniel]

When I pulled mine, I pulled off the exhaust, heat shields, front sway bar, and the rear drive shaft. I left the front drive shaft attached to the transfer case, but disconnected from the diff. I also left the transfer case attached to the trans when I pulled it.

I hope you make sure the wheels are chocked and the ebrake works very well. Its not worth the risk of having the car fall on you. A few years ago we lost a member of the S2000 community when his car fell off the jackstands and on him for about 45 minutes before anyone found him. He left behind his wife and young child.

[EH6TunerDaniel]

Also, do the rear main while you have the trans out.

[Roman D]

Oh, yes, Order and change rear crankshaft seal while at it, i have also changed fluids in Transfer case and both differentials. Check both flex joints (big rubber flexPlates at the end of each drive shaft), if you never changed them, odds are that they are so-so. And yes, just as EH6TunerDaniel mentioned, I did the same - rear driveshaft off, front stayed with transfer case - served as a handle too .
I used a floor Jack with special plate for transmission, figures the car has about 9" of clearance and ramps added just as much and that was not not enough to pull the gearbox out. I'd out knocking it off the tranny jack and rolling/dragging it from under the car is part of your plan so do your measurements, see how much height will you need. And as was suggested, make sure everything is safe - that is most important.
You had mentioned that car is on the soft soil, perhaps it is high enough or will be, trany jack loaded with tranny won't be a happy camper rolling over soft pavement, sheet of plywood may come handy.

[EH6TunerDaniel]

I had mine up on 4 jack stands when I did mine, and had about 20 inches of clearance. I made a tranny jack adapter that went into my existing floor jack and held it in place with ratchet straps, and just rolled the jack out from under the car.