Anybody replaced torque converter on jacks?

[alexisonfire]

I replaced my transmission about 4 months ago on jackstands + transmission jack. I used a transmission jack with tiltable caddy. It sure makes the job a lot easier.
They key is to use big jackstands. I used 6 ton jackstands that can provide some height to clear that transmission. I also have a regular jack that lifts very high and has a low profile, an expensive tool, but worth it if you work on your car a lot.

yeah I forgot getting the car high enough to clear the front of the transmission is tough. I kept jacking it up and put the entire car on cut up rail road ties. worked good for me.

[georgebest]

Anybody knows the minimum clearance needed or at least the height of the transmission? I'm not finding it online. Transmission jack seems to add approx 5-8 inches but it's lifting on the pan so not all of that is lost. Trying to figure how high I need it up to be able to roll out the transmission on the side.

[georgebest]

I have decided to give it a go, I'm sure it will be a lot of fun!
I cant figure out how to remove the two torx bolts on the top of the bellhouse. On passenger side seems to be more clearance, that might be possible. But on driver side it's behind all kind of heating hoses. Do I need to remove the auxiliary pump to access it? TIS just causally says "Unfasten screws." how helpful!
I'm talking about the two marked with the red box:



bolts.png

Also, what are these nuts on RealOEM, I had no idea that nuts were there too, how on earth will I get those in

nuts.png

[ConvGeorge]

The nuts aren't too bad to get to, I don't remember any real problem with them. The bolts on top I found easiest to get to by removing the intake manifold from the car. Seems like more work, but having done it previously I didn't find it very difficult or time consuming. Then you can access the bolts a lot more easily from the top, which is a lot better than the usual other method which is with a series of extensions reaching over the transmission from the back. I think the biggest pain is getting the torque converter bolts out, there's a small access hole you use in the engine, and you have to have a socket of the exact correct depth.

[georgebest]

The nuts aren't too bad to get to, I don't remember any real problem with them. The bolts on top I found easiest to get to by removing the intake manifold from the car. Seems like more work, but having done it previously I didn't find it very difficult or time consuming. Then you can access the bolts a lot more easily from the top, which is a lot better than the usual other method which is with a series of extensions reaching over the transmission from the back. I think the biggest pain is getting the torque converter bolts out, there's a small access hole you use in the engine, and you have to have a socket of the exact correct depth.

Thanks a lot! I have got them out in the meantime (the top 4), it's actually rather easy:
After you removed the cross bar holding the transmission you can tilt it with the engine quite a bit (but carefully not to damage the steering bar). Once tilted you can access the bolts with a long socket extension from the rear of the transmission. You have a clear(ish) view of all top bolts then.
Now putting them back will be a whole different story But let me cross that bridge when getting there

[georgebest]

This puppy is out, no idea how will it go back tho

DSC07332.jpg

[georgebest]

Any idea where the leak could be causing what's visible on the side of the transmission?

side.jpg

There is no opening or gasket anywhere around there, strange

[racer2086]

Didn't you fix the selector shaft seal? It looks like residual oil from that.

[georgebest]

Didn't you fix the selector shaft seal? It looks like residual oil from that.

I did a few months ago, but how would it travel upwards?

[KinkedChrome]

I did a few months ago, but how would it travel upwards?

Capillary action.

Nice work on this. I am also lift less and I have to pull the transmission in my iL over the holiday. Were you able to do all this by yourself or did you have a helper?

[georgebest]

Capillary action.

Nice work on this. I am also lift less and I have to pull the transmission in my iL over the holiday. Were you able to do all this by yourself or did you have a helper?

Doing it all alone, the transmission jack was a great help. It has been quite easy so far, but putting it back will be definitely harder. Most difficult was getting the top 4 bellhouse bolts out and the one with the nut on the driver side. The one with the nut would be much easier if having help but was doable
I had one bolt that had to be drilled out, luckily it was at the bottom.

So far so good, but I bet it's getting harder from here

You might find this helpful about the bellhouse bolts:
Top 2 bolts are E-Torx 12, the rest E-Torx 14, nuts are 16mm

[georgebest]

So I put it all together, new torque converter and drive shaft.

The good news: the car runs amazingly, just tested on approx 5 miles. I can go up on a hill at 5mph without any shudder, and also no more clunk sound when changing directions. No vibration and much better shifting.

The bad news: there is a rattle sound coming from the bellhouse area, made a video of it: https://youtu.be/Qkfr6weFikw
I believe I have installed the TC properly, torqued the new bolts to the flywheel to spec, I didnt even touch the flywheel bolts cause there was no leak there. Before putting the bolts in I spun the TC and it was turning fine with proper resistance, it was/is definitely at right place.
Any idea what this could be?

[georgebest]

Now the rattle is gone, strange. Let's see if comes back.

[racer2086]

Sounds like a knocking and sounds like the TC. Wonder if it just needed to get the oil going?

[georgebest]

Put the car on a lift at my friend, the TC wobbles like crazy, but all bolts are tight. Checking with TC seller if they have any idea.
My mechanic friend thinks that's something is off center inside the TC.

[georgebest]

Any idea what the below could be? I didnt notice it when working under the car, just found it now when going over the photos.
Photo was taken before I put on the new seal and snap ring. Could this be causing the wobble?

DSC07348.jpg

[KinkedChrome]

Any idea what the below could be? I didnt notice it when working under the car, just found it now when going over the photos.
Photo was taken before I put on the new seal and snap ring. Could this be causing the wobble?

DSC07348.jpg

Is it metal? It almost looks like the inner race of that bearing, which would explain the wobbling.

[georgebest]

Hard to say, this is the best picture I got. It looks plastic to me, but could be metal as well.
It means one thing tho....time to take out the transmission again
The silver lining is that I should be able to do it much faster now.

[KinkedChrome]

Hard to say, this is the best picture I got. It looks plastic to me, but could be metal as well.
It means one thing tho....time to take out the transmission again
The silver lining is that I should be able to do it much faster now.

yeah, i agree upon closer inspection it does look like part of a seal or something. Hopefully not too cold yet where you have to work on it!

[georgebest]

Hopefully not too cold yet where you have to work on it!

It's getting cold here, but builds character!
I hope it's some plastic there cause not seeing anywhere online that bearing, could be hard to get it.

[georgebest]

Round 2!
The good news is that it took me only 5:30 to take out the transmission this time, probably was around 15 hours for the first time
I can see some metal pieces around the input shaft:

shaft.jpg

Likely explains the wobble. Hesitating a bit of opening it up, cause I dont think I could get the parts to fix it anywhere.
Maybe should just take it to shop to rebuild it.
...on the other hand if I'd be taking to a shop anyway, why not to take a peek inside beforehand.

[georgebest]

I'm seeing the same on the photos of a brand new pump, so this might be normal:

Pump.jpg

[racer2086]

The pic two posts above is not the oil pump vanes. I don't know what that metal is. Is that the front bearing broken? I don't think you'd be able to see the oil pump vanes with the input shaft seal in place?

Man sorry you're having these issues. That is a bummer you had to pull it again...

- - - Updated - - -



Snap ring --> input seal --> washer --> bearing --> gasket ring

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=24_0686

[georgebest]

It seems that we should see them, those are the lugs connecting the slots in the torque converter, here is a front picture of a brand new pump:

new pump front.jpg

This is probably even better
new pump parts.jpg

Here is a close up of mine:
DSC_0851.jpg

I start to think that the issue is with the torque converter and not with the transmission. But I have no idea.
It's actually not that hard to get it out once you know what you are doing. I might end up doing it 5x until figuring it out

[georgebest]

It was the damn torque converter from Torco!
Got a new one (Renco), zero issue. No wobble, no noise, no oil leak. Transtar-Renco even gives 4 years/100,000 miles warranty.
I'm really pissed off by Torco, not only they sent a defective one but their support was basically "send it back at your cost and we might replace it if agreeing with you" how convenient.
Anyway, car sounds great, no issues, never run this well. I wish I had done this long time ago, such a great improvement.
On another note, I dont want to do this job ever again, twice was more than enough