Transmission Remove and Replace

[JDP530]

i admire you guys without a lift..... i'm to old for working on the ground.

I am with you on thought! But I am getting work done. Went from subframe to diff last week so this week I have started on individual parts that need cleaning, painting, new bushes and bearings.
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[rjjablo]

Got all of the Bellhousing bolts in. They are really not that hard, Female Torx socket retains them pretty well and you just aim from 3 feet away. 1 bolt Requires two people due to a non captive nut. You can get to the other side of the other non captive nut with a stubby 17MM. Top one on the starter you torque to good enough with an air ratchet. Torque convertor bolts are in, Trans cooling lines are attached. Had a massive oil leak from the upper oil pan gasket and it looks like rear seal on the trans was leaking as well. Notice that the Transmission mounts just sheared. Picture is of how it gets mounted, You have to install driveshaft first though

[JDP530]

Getting ready to swap the ZF 4HP 24 transmission in the my 850 this upcoming weekend.

rjablo, did you purchase a used trans to replace the one in your car? Or, did you buy a rebuilt unit? Thanks,

[rjjablo]

Used one from E-Bay, guy said it came from Japan, 50K miles on it if that was true. Put 7K miles on it last year.

[petejk]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004PILLZG

And some Metal Tape that you use for Ductwork to finish the seams

Finished using the same Cool Mat and aluminum tape that rjjablo recommended for the tunnel.



As my engine is out, I was able to join up to the original foil covered firewall insulation on the passenger side, and wrap around on the driver’s side firewall.


Job took a couple of hours - would have been less if I had jacked the car up a little higher off the ground.




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[whiteghost1]

Thank you for documenting this process.
If you were to put a number of labor hours to do this job for a competent DIYer, what would you estimate?

[rjjablo]

Book says 10 hours with Air Tools and a Lift, I have pulled transmission before but do no consider myself a pro figure 20 Hours

IMHO You have to have an air ratchet for the top starter bolt, helps a lot for the Torx bolts but not necessary, get new Torx Replacements

Key points are dropping the entire exhaust system and then looking at all the mounts to see if they are rotten, mine all were

Replace all exhaust nuts and bolts that you can

My U-Joint was bad, that took a lot of time to figure out what to do

Insulation Bad or Not?

Starter is really the biggest pure time investment, 3-4 hours remove and replace I had taken mine out before so I knew the drill, However it is a lot easier if you take out the entire system, you have to have two people

If you are doing a used transmission like I was lucky to get, you have to replace front and rear seals which adds an hour

Other thing is are you willing to fire the parts cannon and just have everything on hand for what needs to be replaced.

[JDP530]

I just completed this job switching out autos. After pulling trans we dropped the front subframe so I could change the upper and lower oil pan gaskets and rear main seal. It sure took a lot of time. And nothing ever goes easy. I probably spend 15 hours just making a pattern and replacing the insulation in tunnel.

[8eights]

You could of dropped the subframe and lifted the trans, It has and can support the engine while you change the gasket, It's much faster. I also cut a piece of wood to fit across top so no surgery would be needed,)

[dragon850]

Man, IMO the amount of work it takes to wrestle that trans out and then align and put it back I would rather remove the engine with trans attached.
Re seal the engine and re attach the trans with no headaches.

[rjjablo]

After having done both Trans and Upper Oil Pan, I should have just pulled the motor and trans as a unit. A lot less headaches

[8eights]

For those 2 jobs, I understand but Trans alone, No headaches here, It's easy and when your doing repair favors for friends, It's much quicker, the motor is tilted downwards already to except the transmission, I can understand it if the trans is heavy to you, Otherwise long extensions and air tools no problem.

[ChrisFuture8]

Reviving this very helpful and useful thread. Rjjablo, how many sheets of the CoolMat did you have to purchase if you can remember? Was a single sheet (60" x 36") enough to replace the rotted OEM heat insulation material?

Thanks.

[rjjablo]

60X36 should be enough. And you end up cutting it so you can get it to fit. I did not do the Firewall you have to pull the engine for that.

I did mine in the dead of winter. I put one of those little office heaters under my car all night and warmed up the transmission tunnel. warmed up the cool mat and then made sure I rollered it on good. No Signs of any movement in 3 years

[rogbmw]

60X36 should be enough. And you end up cutting it so you can get it to fit. I did not do the Firewall you have to pull the engine for that.

I did mine in the dead of winter. I put one of those little office heaters under my car all night and warmed up the transmission tunnel. warmed up the cool mat and then made sure I rollered it on good. No Signs of any movement in 3 years

I used this on the CSi as well. Good product.
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[petejk]

Seconded - it’s good stuff, and easy enough to apply


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[JDP530]

I used the Design Engineering product 50509 which is a thin aluminum with approx 1/8" fiberglass backing with a very strong adhesive good for 1750F. It's not easy to work with because of the 10 mil alum sheet. The package I bought was 42" x 48" and I had a small amount left over and used it to wrap the fuel injector rails. Amazon has the best price I could find. This insulation definitely reduced noise level inside the car.
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[rogbmw]

I used the Design Engineering product 50509 which is a thin aluminum with approx 1/8" fiberglass backing with a very strong adhesive good for 1750F. It's not easy to work with because of the 10 mil alum sheet. The package I bought was 42" x 48" and I had a small amount left over and used it to wrap the fuel injector rails. Amazon has the best price I could find. This insulation definitely reduced noise level inside the car.

That looks like a nice product.

[ChrisFuture8]

...cool. Thanks, Rjjablo.

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Nice work there, JDP530. Did you have to use a rubber mallet to form the covering materials against the body panels?

[JDP530]

...cool. Thanks, Rjjablo.

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Nice work there, JDP530. Did you have to use a rubber mallet to form the covering materials against the body panels?

Chris, I used some heavy shears and razor knife to cut the material after making a template using lots of tape and foil. I cut my template into three sections and then I traced each section onto the mat. There's no way to shape one large piece of mat to fit the compound curves of tunnel without cutting it into sections. I did use a couple of different tools, handles, along with small rollers I've used for fiberglass/carbon fiber work to roll and shape the mat to fit flat and into the shapes of the tunnel. The alum is only 10 mil so its easy enough to shape. You can shape it some before removing the plastic backing. Once you have peeled back protective film on adhesive and stick mat down you will not be able to remove it because the adhesive is so strong. I was able to get the seams to fit well and really tight but I also used some seam tape to seal out any moisture.

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[ChrisFuture8]

Very nice work and thank you for sharing the details, Rjjablo and the same goes to the others for sharing their experiences and pictures of the finished results as well.