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trouble removing manual tranny from 84 Ranger


fishsqueezer

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Working on son's 84 Ranger, 2 wheel drive, 2.8 V6 with 4 speed manual tranny. Have gone through the typical steps to remove tranny, all bolts out, crossmember off, etc. Climbed under the truck, removed floor jack, lifted and pulled tranny back and am hitting an obstruction. Blocked and jacked the tranny back up and began to diagnose the obstruction(s). The bellhousing is hitting a pinch weld/body seam that joins the firewall to the tranny tunnel.

Have tried to jack up the front of the motor to tilt it a bit to see if I could get it to clear, no success. All attachments to the tranny are free, trust me I looked two extra times and felt all around the entire tranny from front to back. The tranny is about 4 inches back from the rear of the motor and hanging. I have a soft towel under the input shaft to protect it and all the weight/pressure is on the jack (which is blocked up in case it slowly releases pressure).

Any tips on getting the ears of the bell housing past the pinch seams? Gonna pound those things flat once it is out! Thx in advance, ---rick
 


fishsqueezer

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Thanks, need more model specificity

Thanks Bert for your service and assistance. The link you provided is for an Expedition, but does cover the basic steps involved in removing a transmission. I've done this many times, with several vehicles, previously. I've tried every trick I have learned with other vehicles, all to no avail.

I'm hoping someone has more vehicle specific information/advice. I've never seen pinch welds/body seams that extend over an inch from the body. Is it necessary to loosen or remove the motor mounts to get the trans lower than just tilting the motor?
 

black_demon69

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Thanks Bert for your service and assistance. The link you provided is for an Expedition, but does cover the basic steps involved in removing a transmission. I've done this many times, with several vehicles, previously. I've tried every trick I have learned with other vehicles, all to no avail.

I'm hoping someone has more vehicle specific information/advice. I've never seen pinch welds/body seams that extend over an inch from the body. Is it necessary to loosen or remove the motor mounts to get the trans lower than just tilting the motor?

have you removed y pipe?
 

kimcrwbr1

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Pull the distributor cap and rotor and jack the front of the motor up till the distributor touches the firewall. If there is any engine oil in the bell housing area pull the flywheel and change the rear main seal while it is apart. Or just replace the seal for giggles it is likely it will start leaking once it is all back together. You may need to remove the fan shroud to get the front of the motor up far enough to get the bell housing to clear.
 

rtg143

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Thanks Bert for your service and assistance. The link you provided is for an Expedition, but does cover the basic steps involved in removing a transmission. I've done this many times, with several vehicles, previously. I've tried every trick I have learned with other vehicles, all to no avail.

I'm hoping someone has more vehicle specific information/advice. I've never seen pinch welds/body seams that extend over an inch from the body. Is it necessary to loosen or remove the motor mounts to get the trans lower than just tilting the motor?
That's for a Ranger or Bronco II.
 

fishsqueezer

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Autozone defaults?

That's for a Ranger or Bronco II.
Thanks, Bert. When I click the link it must revert to my Autozone account and indicates it is for my Expedition. My mistake. The procedure are pretty close to identical. Waiting for my buddy to come over from next door to assist. ---rick
 

fishsqueezer

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Pull the distributor cap and rotor and jack the front of the motor up till the distributor touches the firewall. If there is any engine oil in the bell housing area pull the flywheel and change the rear main seal while it is apart. Or just replace the seal for giggles it is likely it will start leaking once it is all back together. You may need to remove the fan shroud to get the front of the motor up far enough to get the bell housing to clear.
Thanks. Jacked the front of the motor up this morning but did not have enough clearance. Going out now to remove dist. cap and fan shroud to see if it gets me the 1/2 inch of clearance I need. You can bet that seam will meet with a 2# sledge before it all goes back together.

I did purchase a new rear main seal and slave cylinder (external) when I purchased the clutch kit. ---rick
 

bobbywalter

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with the 2.9 i often pop the intake off as well to get to the dizzy easier and mark it.....no issue with the 2.8 though like you have. just pull the dizzy to protect it, but ime if it has to go that far there are other issues.





its possible the body mounts are really fragged, and jacking the body up and shoving some wood in between the frame and it may be necessary unless you have some extra jacks...i have many. of course replacing the mounts may be necessary as well or just unbolting it and raising it a few inches.......

i usually fold the seam over with a hammer when i have the transmissions out of these....make a few snips with a cutoff wheel and beat it over flattish. it will help out later on when he puts the 351 in it.
 

kimcrwbr1

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If you need to pull the distributor pull the cap and turn the crank so the rotor is pointing to a fixed object so you know how to put it back in the same. It can be a pain getting the cam gear on the right tooth and lineing up the oil pump if you turn the crank after pulling the distributor. Sometimes unavoidable when tightening the flywheel bolts to spec.
 

fishsqueezer

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Project update

Thanks to all for the tremendous help and willingness to share your knowledge. As BobbyWalter suggested, I checked the body mounts and they are indeed toast. Removed the dist. cap and rotor, took the fan shroud off (this probably wasn't needed), and jacked up the front of the motor about 2-3 inches. I didn't want to go too far and risk tearing the motor mounts.

Put an atv jack under the tranny with a piece of plywood between the jack supports, making a sort of table for the tranny to slide on when I was able to free up the ears on the bellhousing. After lifting up the body with a bar, placed some wedges between frame/body enough to slide a couple of slices of plywood to gain some extra height. Pulled and twisted from the back, keeping an eye on the ears on the bellhousing. A twist, a slip, and onto the jack!

Got everything off just in time to clean up the tools before a rainstorm hit. Now I'll have my son clean everything up in time for me to return next weekend and put it all back together. Hoped to have it done this weekend but I'll just ride my motorcycle this week to my out-of-town meeting and let him drive my Expedition to work.

Thanks again to everyone for the quick responses and assistance. ---rick:yahoo:
 

rtg143

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Glad to hear. Thanks for the update. Keep us informed.
 

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