Cascade Crew

[Red Bird]

Hey, i have a 91 bird with the wc t-5 tranny. the tranny has been messing up since i purchased the car. I cant down shift from 5th to 4th without grinding it into gear (with the clutch all the way to the floor) it wont even downshift into third. I have found that if i put it in second and then move up to third it will go in,same with 4th gear but it still grinds a bit. I have been told my 3-4 synchros are probably messed up, and i will need to rebuild the tranny. My question is, can a novice pull the tranny fairly easily, what kind of problems might i run into? I would be doing this in the driveway after it warms up to above freezing. any comments or suggestions would be awesome.

[Twilightoptics]

Pulling a transmission used to seem like a large task, now most of us here can do it in a few hours.

-Get the car as high as you can, and safely supported
-Remove the (shift plate/boot, lower boot, shifter 4 bolts)
-Place a jack under the transmission.
-Remove the driveline (4 bolts on the rear end holding the Ujoint)
-Remove the torque arm mount(3 bolts, 1 small bolt holding the shell together. Sometimes you need to lower the transmission down to gain access to all the bolts. If so see next step)
-Remove the Transmission crossmember (4 bolts each side, one bolt holding the trans mount to the crossmember)
-Unplug speedo cable/connector
-Unplug reverse light connector
-Drain Fluid
-Unbolt transmission from bell housing
-Slide transmission straight back. For a T5, I lay under it with the transmission just above my belly, and bench press it. Slide it back until the input shaft clears the bellhousing.

You're done.

I may have missed a step, but it's really easy. Just take your time, and maybe have an extra set of hands around.

[Red Bird]

Thanks for the reply, Sounds pretty straight foward. I just had a horrible time removing a tranny one time on an import, i knew the birds tranny would be a lot easier. the steps you outline will be a big help.

[iansane]

I spent all day thursday tring to pull the trans on an acura. Man that was a pain in the ass! Didn't even get it all the way out! Still have to go back to the yard early this week.

In summation. RWD trannies > FWD trannies.

It's pretty easy, just remember to label the bolts, or even better yet baggy them in the areas you'll be when you need them. Grab a bottle or two of locktite for the re-installation and take some pictures while disassembling so you have references and that.

The more you do it, the easier it gets.

[BigDaddyVu]

i use about 2 feet of extensions and I use those "impact" Universal Joints to get to those bell housing bolts. if your a lil lazy you can use an air rachet too the tranny isn't heavy i usually bench press mine in and out i think it weighs like 50lbs