so work will begin tomorrow morning.

I'm not sure the condition of transfer case chain. Should I pop it open and check for play? Never had any issues at all. With over 200k on the car, I imagine theres no way its original

so, this is definitely a long process. Everything back together. just need to
reinstall muffler, stiffening pan, and couple things in engine bay.

the bentley uses a 3.0 X5 why oh why as the majority are 4.4L, but thats fine. It sounds like the v8 is easier. But you need the Bentley manual.

Couple thoughts to go with the Bentley manual.
1. for the front driveshaft, you need to push it back some to get clearance to removed the front giubo and straightening plate. Removal is easy, as you remove the transfer case, and just pull it out. However, to reinstall, you need to do the front driveshaft at the same time you reinstall the TC. So support the transfer case, install driveshaft, then screw in transfer case. If you follow the Bentley steps, you will not be able to remove the driveshaft
2. As civdiv stated, you can lower the transmission slowly and sit in the transmission tunnel to access upper bolts. Not too bad at all. One or two of them are difficult to get to (left side facing front), so use a 1/4 ratchet with the E12 socket. You definitely need the HF scissor style jack to make this job go easier
3. Make sure to line up the torque converter with the engine! otherwise youll do the job twice (ask me how I know). so line it up (mark where the hole is on engine side, rotate the TC to line up, then push together. Screw TC bolts in before mounting the transmission. Rotating the crankshaft pulley to line up TC bolts was probably one of the more annoying parts of the process.


I'll post the one big thing I did once completed tomorrow. Gotta make sure it works first

Cool.

Were those top 2 bell housing bolts different size heads? I think I always wondered if that is typical or was just "lucky me" on that.

Hmmm, I referenced some sort of manual when I did mine that I downloaded, and it was for a v8. Its strange about the Bentley not having the procedure for a v8 since it does vary.

For the front driveshaft, I found it easier to remove both the trans and the xfer case as one unit, then seperate them when it's on the ground. The same went for when I put it in, I put them together before putting it up in the car.

I made an adjustable transmission adapter to fit into my floor jack. I did the same thing, had my head in the driveshaft tunnel and got to the top bolts with long extensions.

I suppose I could have told you about lining up the TQ with the flex plate, I had to redo it too. I must have knocked it a couple inches during reassembly, and I tried to only unthread the bolts and make a gap to line them up, but I couldn't get it to budge without pulling it back off again. Did you have any help? I had a buddy rotate the crank pulley for me while I stayed underneath to do all the bolts. There were only 4, so that was nice.

Glad you got it all back together man.


Did you rebuild or replace the trans?

i think the bolts were all the same on mine, including the top 2, but the engine was out recently. but they are definitely the same size as far
as diameter. E12 heads

I considered removing trans and TC as one unit as well, but it seems
everyone removed them separately - its definitely lighter of course.

But I've been working solo, so even lifting the muffler at this point is heavy.
gonna use trans jack to hold it up there and screw it on.

I did not mess with the motor mounts. they are a pain to get to, and I think
they will survive the lowering without problem. The 3.0, maybe not. but my
mounts are new

I bought a used one, and am gonna rebuild the other one when I get time.

Kind of excited to break open the transmission - something Ive never done

FWIW, I built an electric car out of a 94 eclipse. that engine and trans
were a heck of a lot lighter:)

My top 2 were smaller too, so lucky us. Homestly chams were probably also and maybe he just got lucky he didn't strip them?

I don't even know how I could have gotten to all the bolts holding the transfer ok with it up in the car, it was hard enough down on the ground haha.

I know how you feel, I worked solo too except for the crank rotating part. I just got lucky at the time my friend was in the shop working on his jeep.

I didn't mess with the mounts either.

Dude, the exhaust is heavy, solo or not. :thumbup:

Post pics of the electric car!

You can download the zf manual for the transmission, don't buy it. I bought all my parts from thectsc.com. They are an authorized dealer.

exhaust in. Used tranny jack to push it up. easy peasy. been buttoning up wires
for O2 sensors etc. Ran out of time. Tomorrow AM stiffening plate goes on, and we see if it blows up or not :)


heres some pics of electric car
Motor Compartment Photo by chamilun | Photobucket