Tranny won't go back in?!?

[Seanh]

Alight, got my pilot bearing installed correctly, put my clutch on, useing the alignment tool...now I'm trying to get the tranny back in the car, but it just won't go...I installed a new pilot bushing, so it may be tight, but I jsut can't do it. I have it all lined up so that its pretty much staight, and I pick the tranny up and move it from side to side and up and down trying to get it slide in but it just wont. I have the shaft in the disk, it just won't slide into the pilot bearing. I am thinking about tomarrow just getting some longer tranny bolts, and since its all seemed to be lined up theading those into the engine and useing all 4 of them to push the input shaft into the crankshaft. What do you think? Any guesses on what the problem might be? I'm pretty sure I got the disk alinged correctly with the crank shaft useing the alignment tool provided, so I wouldn't think that would be the problem would it? I might just double check it tomarrow, but I doubt it. What do you think? Thanks

[Rob]

Uh, please can the long bolts idea straight away. If the pilot bearing is that tight it won't work anyway, so at best you will get a clutch that won't engage properly, at worst you will break something.

I've fitted about a hundred clutches and never had to use that much force to get the gearbox back on.

Likewise, if I don't have a spare input shaft handy, the only alignment tool I ever use is my right eyeball. Stick your head in the transmission tunnel and with the help of a torch (flashlight), you should be able to tell if the plate is aligned properly. As you probably know, it has to be <i><b>exact!</i></b>

Have a go at realigning it by eye and try again. If it still doesn't fit then take the clutch out completeley and try fitting the gearbox without it. If it still doesn't fit then you have the wrong pilot bearing.

Good luck

[Bambikiller240]

I don't suppose that you confirmed that the Transmission input shaft will fit into the pilot bearing / bushing before you installed the bearing/bushing? Just wondering if maybe the parts guy gave you the wrong one? I've always had some difficultly getting the trans fully mated to the engine with the trans supported by my arms and chest. Now that I'm older and lazier, I rent a transmission jack for this.

I don't think that "I" would do as you plan with trying to force the transmission into place, but that's just me. I'm anal about things like that.

[2ManyZs]

If it isn't sliding into place, using longer bolts to force it could only end up busting the bellhousing.

Try lining up the clutch disc again. Have you go the rear of the engine on a block so it won't move around while you are trying to align the trans? If the engine is moving at all, it could be why it is hanging up.

Try putting a little grease into the splines on the input shaft where it goes through the clutch disc.

If all else fails, check the pilot bushing to see if it has a nick in it, sometimes you can do that while trying to line everything up.

Patience goes a long way, the old "if it doesn't fit, force it" will only cause you more problems. I've had it take two of us, over an hour to get a trans in, just because the clutch disc was just a little bit out of alignment. It doesn't take much for it to cause the input shaft to not align with the pilot bearing, so just loosen up the clutch cover and try it again....

[Mike]

Don't force it !!

That tranny should slide right in after you get past the frustrating part. Pull it out and make sure you didn't do something to that pilot bushing.

Are you using the bushing or did you buy an upgraded version with the bearings?

You might also have to put the tranny in gear so that it will rotate when you rotate the outter housing. Right now it might be sitting still while you rotate the housing and not lining up.

BTW: I've changed many clutches in my day and I've never used an alignment tool. I simply align the clutch disk by holding it up on the outer edge of the pressure plate.

[Seanh]

Yes I did check to make sure the shaft fits in the new pilot bushing, and it does fine. I guess after school i'm going to give it another shot at pulling the trans out and checking the alignment again, but I would imagin its alright...Oh well, I'll let you know if theres any progress later today...

[tanny]

I have never been able to line the clutch disc up so that the tranny will fit before my back gives out(either by clutch alignment tool or eyeball. My eyes are bad and my coordination is suspect). What I do is loosen the pressure plate bolts just enough to barely hold the clutch disc in place, use the alignment tool or eyeball to center the clutch disc as well as possible, then insert the tranny and start wiggling it up and down, back and forth as you described(by having the pressure plate bolts loose, the clutch plate will move and allow the spline shaft to line up with the pilot). Once you have the tranny fully inserted, pull it out as straight as possible, tighten the pressure plate bolts, reinsert the tranny(should go back into the pilot with no or minimal wiggling), and torque the tranny bolts. This method is obviously more work, but it has always worked the first time, every time, for me. Unless you're young, break out the linament. Hopefully you already have it together by the time you read this. Good luck.

[260z]

So if everything else is ok the I suggest that some one rotates engine by hand. I did not notice any comments about the matter if tooths in clutc and tooths of the gearshaft aren't matching/sliding....If you can understand what I am trying to say?

Up and down right an left doesnt necessary help in that case but rotating engine or gearbox from the back end(supposing that you have gear on) slowly at the same time you push it in could help.

[ZmeFly]

make sure that your engine isnt bouncing around while your trying to push that tranny in.

when i did my 5 speed swap into my 71 i forgot about that. i was having one hell of a time:stupid:

very angry and throwin curses at the car like candy :tapemouth

all you need to do is step back a second. look at the car. make sure your engine is securely blocked, line the tranny up just right, if you have a transmission jack this makes it soooooo much easier.

just be patient and she'll slide right in, the bold idea:finger: dont even think about it.

trust me after killing myself witht he engine flopping about i did it after blocking the engine in about 3 minutes. swapping a tranny by yourself sucks:ermm:

[2ManyZs]

One other thing to look at, make sure the splines on the transmission input shaft aren't caked with old grease and clutch dust. I've seen them caked so badly that the crud would make it difficult for the splines to slip through the clutch disc........

[billcapp]

Good point 2Many. I would surely hope any one performing this task would have the sense to always clean parts of foreign matter and to grease when appropiate before reinstalling. It has been my fetish to spend almost as much time prepping by cleaning before doing the actual work. I have it so bad that I clean and degrease thoroughly even before starting to disassemble anything in the engine compartment.

A clean job is a good job!

[Mike]

So, let's take a look at what needs to happen when you slide a tranny into the engine.

Transmission shaft must align with two things: clutch teeth and pilot bushing.

Take it one step at a time.

1) Does your clutch teeth slide down the tranny shaft easily? You might need to remove it and push it up and down the shaft to make sure.

2) Does the tranny shaft tip fit easily into the pilot bushing?

If these two items are ok, then you have something else blocking the bellhousing.

Are all of these parts stock or did you buy aftermarket or high performance parts?