awd transmission install?

[Hunter89]

So I finally got all the hardware to put my 1g awd laser together. I put on the flywheel, clutch, pressure plate, and was ready to bolt up the tranny but I couldn't get the transmission together if my life depended on it. I was trying to line it up with a jack, with out it. Tried moving the tranny sideways to move it into place but I can't get it! It seems that when I almost have the tranny lined up the transfer case output shaft wedges on the pressure plate. When I move it so the transfer case output shaft doesn't wedge, another part on the back of the transmission wedges on the subframe. I was trying to put the tranny on for over 4 hours but couldn't get it on. Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks

 

[1990dsmkid]

A lot of people either get a buddy to help or some use a floor jack and jack it up and slide it on or pick it up through engine bay with a hoist and slide it on. If you feel you got the big boy pants on you can just lay underneath and hulk it up on....its a pita to do but once you get it down its easy. Just take your time and keep trying you'll eventually get it on. Goodluck

 

[RickyM95GST]

I fed the starter bolts through the tranny to use as guides to line things up, give that a try

 

[zack13277]

Yeah it sucks to do I spent like 8 hours trying to get mine in. I would recommend a engine crane 2 rachet straps and a friend. Rotate the transmission 90 degrees and kind of just lift it straight up then rotate it around to where it should be. The back of the transmission has to kind of be a little lower than the front. Its a lot of raising and lowering the rachet straps. That's what worked for me. Good luck.

 

[Jazz]

The easiest way I've found is this. Take off the north-south bar on the passenger side. The one that goes from the radiator support to below the firewall. Then tighten up a scissor jack between the firewall and back of the engine to push the engine forward little bit. Then u can lift the tranny right up in to place

 

[jrs187]

i just lean over the fender and lift it up into place by hand. Grab hold at the bell housing and the tranny mount then lift. When you get it kind of close you just have to twist the bell housing side to the front of the car then it should be up high enough to rest the bellhousing on the flywheel long enough to rearange so that you can get it the rest of the way up into place. good luck

 

[Mischif]

I've never had a problem getting the transmission back on. Just line everything up and start pushing it toward the engine, then wiggle it from firewall side to radiator to get the input shaft to slide into the clutch and then just push it on. Make sure you have the tail end of the transmission raised high enough as well while you try to put it on.

 

[Hunter89]

I tried to Muscle it on and bench press it, shit is hard, . But I think I'm gonna have to move the engine a little bit. I don't have another day off until new years though

 

[laserspeeddemon]

If you're solo, then a engine hoist is a good option to raise the transmission without exhausting yourself too much.

 

[born2tune]

Hey bud, let me ask you a VERY important question because its not hard to install a tranny at all.

DID YOU USE A CLUTCH ALIGNMENT TOOL???

 

[Colt4G63 also]

Hey bud, let me ask you a VERY important question because its not hard to install a tranny at all.

DID YOU USE A CLUTCH ALIGNMENT TOOL???

^^^ That ^^^^


And make sure you put it on perfectly straight, and never let the weight of the transmission hang from the input shaft, and never use the bolts to force or draw the transmission onto the engine.

 

[turboglenn]

If you're solo, then a engine hoist is a good option to raise the transmission without exhausting yourself too much.

the most vital and important tip you'll ever regret not using (second to making sure to use an alignmnt tool in which case nothing will help get the trans in aside fom taking it apart and actually using the tool)

but for me, having been a mechanic in my younger years and wrenchin on cars my entire life frrom about age 9-10 (started on dirtbikes and my grandfather giving me quadrajet carbs to take aprt and re-assemble to keep me busy when he worked on his race trucks) but history aside, it would sometimes take me 2 hours to get a trans lined up and in because of the tight spaces in a DSM and aligning the splined shaft.

When i went to using an engine hoist with a chain on the front most top tranny mount bolt/stud, and removing the middle and front rubber vents from the bell housing to gain a visual access to the clutch/input shaft alignment, i dropped the time it took to get the trans on and ready for bolts from the sometimes 2 hours or more down to about a 30 minute average (these times account for my reduced health status and stopping because it's just plain painfull to bend, stand or lay up under a car to work on them)
the LAST thing you want to do is get it close and use long bolts to draw the trans to the engine, this is a sure fire way to mess up parts and cover up something that wasn't correctly done by forcing the trans on..sure i did it in my younger years too, but all things done correctly you shouldn't need to pull the trans onthe engine with bolts, that is usually a sign something isn't aligned or something is in the way

 

[Colt4G63 also]

I would think a hoist of some sort goes without saying on an AWD transmission because of the weight of the darn thing. I don't even think it would be possible to hoist the thing into place by hand, and bolt it up without letting the thing hang from the input shaft at some point. Not unless you have at least three of the biggest arms on earth.

A four speed in a 1.5L Colt sure, but a W5M33 weighs a crapload. You're not going to lift it into place, slide it on, and hold it up with one hand while you screw in the bolts with the other.

 

[born2tune]

Talking about work done back in the day reminds me of a clutch replacement I did without the alignment tool, I basically left the clutch mounting bolts loose and installed the tranny like that and then pulled the rear dust cover off and torqued the clutch through that hole with an extension. Was it the wrong way? YES did it work as normal, YES. would I install another clutch w/o the alignment tool? NEVER AGAIN! haha

 

[turboglenn]

If you're solo, then a engine hoist is a good option to raise the transmission without exhausting yourself too much.

the most vital and important tip you'll ever regret not using (second to making sure to use an alignmnt tool in which case nothing will help get the trans in aside fom taking it apart and actually using the tool)

but for me, having been a mechanic in my younger years and wrenchin on cars my entire life frrom about age 9-10 (started on dirtbikes and my grandfather giving me quadrajet carbs to take aprt and re-assemble to keep me busy when he worked on his race trucks) but history aside, it would sometimes take me 2 hours to get a trans lined up and in because of the tight spaces in a DSM and aligning the splined shaft.

When i went to using an engine hoist with a chain on the front most top tranny mount bolt/stud, and removing the middle and front rubber vents from the bell housing to gain a visual access to the clutch/input shaft alignment, i dropped the time it took to get the trans on and ready for bolts from the sometimes 2 hours or more down to about a 30 minute average (these times account for my reduced health status and stopping because it's just plain painfull to bend, stand or lay up under a car to work on them)

the LAST thing you want to do is get it close and use long bolts to draw the trans to the engine, this is a sure fire way to mess up parts and cover up something that wasn't correctly done by forcing the trans on..sure i did it in my younger years too, but all things done correctly you shouldn't need to pull the trans onthe engine with bolts, that is usually a sign something isn't aligned or something is in the way

i'll never do a mitsu trans again without an engine hoist.. it's like discoveringthere's tools aside from vice-grips for working onyour engine when you finally do use one instead of a jack or worse by hand

 

[donniekak]

i just lean over the fender and lift it up into place by hand. Grab hold at the bell housing and the tranny mount then lift. When you get it kind of close you just have to twist the bell housing side to the front of the car then it should be up high enough to rest the bellhousing on the flywheel long enough to rearange so that you can get it the rest of the way up into place. good luck

Exactly how I do it. It takes me exactly 30 seconds to get it stabbed, and one of the top 2 bolts hand tight, to keep the weight off the clutch disk. Then again, I'm 6' 220.

 

[Tyeler18]

Don't think I saw this mentioned. Make sure you have that little suspension plate off on the passenger side. It to me sounded like you're having troubles getting the actual tranny to line up. If that plate is still bolted onto he subframe it's an absolute bi*** to get up if not impossible.

 

[pauleyman]

Is this the original flywheel or a new one? If it's a new one is it an AWD flywheel? They are not the same diameter as a FWD. You will never fit an AWD tranny over a FWD flywheel.