Rep Power: 0

I have all the electrical disconnected, thermostat housing, intake, battery... all the easy stuff. I am wondering if there's a way to pull the tranny out from the top because it looks like there's enough room? Everything I have read says to pull it from the bottom, but if its easier to pull from the top then i would rather do that.

Has anyone removed it themselves? If so can you throw some helpful info my way? I have a newer tranny out of a 05 ready to put in. Also I drained the ATF fluid, but not the engine oil, are you supposed to drain both?

 
Rep Power: 286

Pull from the bottom, it's easier.

 
Rep Power: 236

Kinda hard to pull just the tranny out the top. It's much easier to pull the whole engine/tranny assembly out that way.

 
Rep Power: 0

It's possible from the top. At least on a manual trans it is anyways, I own 2 (two) 2001 Civic EX's and a 91 accord (all manuals though) and have always pulled the transmission out from the top. You need to remove the water jacket that's attached to the side of the head (right above the trans, and hense drain the coolant), the entire trans mount and other attached hardware and most importantly the torque converter and flywheel (clutch and flywheel on a manual). Removing all that stuff might be more work than dropping the subframe for most people but every time I've done it I was replacing a clutch so it was a no brainer.

 
Rep Power: 202

I have had mine out a couple times, it is a BMXA, I think the SXLA is very similar case wise, and I don't think there is anyway possible to do it without bringing the engine out too. I don't have a tranny jack, it is not that heavy either. Take the subframe off the bottom and drop it out. You need a helper to run your jack. Put the jack under the trans and grab the bell housing by hand to help stabilize it and lower it. I had mine up on 4 jackstands as high as the shortest one would go (about 20" off the floor I would guess). The only hangup was that the jack + the trans wouldn't roll out from under it. I had to get the trans off the jack and pull each out seperately. Put a cherry picker on the engine to hold it up while the trans is pulled, then set it on a jackstand or chain it up a 2x4 across the strut towers. It was hard to pull out. Keep in mind the tourqe convertor is BY FAR the heaviest part of the transmission. That is vital knowledge to balance it. I would guess the rest of the trans is atleast 1/2 what it weighs. I was able to throw the transmission around easily after it was out. (I rebuilt my own, so had to.) The convertor itself I would guess is around 100lbs., the rest is not much. To just r&r, no rebuild I would think you would be looking at atleast 10 to 12 hours. I could do one in 6, but obviously I have done it a few times....

 
Rep Power: 0

Okay i will attempt to pull it from the bottom. I am currently without a cherry picker, but do have a jack to hold up the engine while lowering the trans out.

Right now I have the following removed;

-Intake
-Wiring
-Both wheels and axles
-Thermostat housing
-Shifter linkage
-Starter
-Coolant Drained
-ATF drained
-All trans mounting bolts except the ones that connect both engine and trans, and the 2 nuts that hold the transmission to the mount on top.

And now im at a loss. After I remove the bolts that connect the engine and trans, do i remove the plate that holds the torque converter? I honestly dont know.

PS-Oh and I really appreciate all of the help! My boyfriend left me this car when he was deployed, I have worked on simple stuff for a car, but never anything this big! When I went to get the new trans I was surprised I could lift the thing into the truck.

 
Rep Power: 236

Support the tranny, then remove the mounting bolts. You should then be able to pull the tranny away from the engine.

*Be sure to keep the tranny balanced on the jack while a friend lowers the jack, it's VERY difficult to do it all by yourself.

 
Rep Power: 0

Yes it was hard all by myself... hahaha.

Old trans out and new one going in! I missed one of the 17mm bolts that was hiding behind the TCC cover below the engine. Oh and I didnt even break a nail, might have said a few choice words and thrown a few hammers, but its all good now and im taking a 10min breather before I start the new install.

I have taken lots of pics and will do a DIY post if you guys think people might be interested?

Oh and taking the drain bolt out the smell was the most disgusting thing ever, I thought mud was stuck to it by how much metallic flakes and slivers were stuck to the end.

EDIT- I see no markings? I am guessing theres no alignment on the TCC when going up, just bolt in and go?

 
Rep Power: 0

Okay new problem. The flywheel slid off the new trans when I was installing it, and now I cant for the life of me get it on right! It even slides onto the old trans easily enough but not the new one... WTF?

 
Rep Power: 0

Okay its all bolted in and good! No transmission light, no stuttering, nice strong pull to the engine. I have one issue though. The drivers side wheel is toed in more than the passenger side. The balljoint on the drivers side is wasted so is that the reason why the wheel is toed in more? Or should I be looking deeper into the issue?

Drove it around the block just to get the fluid running and the motor warmed up. Sure enough the wheel was toed in so much that the tire was skidding on turns and I could smell the rubber.

Think the ball joint is my cause? Sorry if this is a stupid question, but im so tired right now (16hours putting it all back) I cant think of anything else.

 
Rep Power: 236

Regardless, you need to change the ball-joint NOW. If you don't you could kill somebody or yourself. Imagine if you were driving down the highway and this happened:


That said, toe-in is a result of the tie-rod(s) being set too far out.

 
Rep Power: 0

I know that, but thanks.

 
Rep Power: 0

shop refused to align the front end, said my outer tie rod on the left side was bad, also now the car is making a clunking sound on the drivers side after they looked at it...

Im pretty frusterated, how can my tie rod end be bad now when it wasnt before i started the transmission swap? how come it didnt make the clunk noise when i was driving it to the shop.

 
Rep Power: 813

maybe they didnt tighten it. loose tie rods can clunk. and it couldve broke when you took it out. i know those boots are really weak. or maybe they broke it when trying to align it.

 
Rep Power: 0

I think the guy is full of crock. After trick and treatin with the kiddo I jacked the car up and did a basic test my boyfriend taught me one, jack up the car and turn the steering wheel to the lock position, moving the tires side to side there is barely any play and what does move the tire moves the steering wheel a wee bit side to side, the steering is nice and tight? If needed I can take a video. I went back to the shop and asked the guy to show me how it was broken, his response; "You wouldnt understand, its a complicated process", my response was a couple choice words

What I did find was differences in the axle and ball joint angles and distances on either side. I took some pictures.

Drivers Side;



Passenger Side



I know the castle nut is off on one side I took it off. But look at that damn grease zerk! I didnt see that yesterday. Another thing is the angle of the knuckle on the control arm, seems off to me. The ball joint looks to be the wrong size and finally the axle seems to be pushed in more than normally into the transmission side.

Another issue is this. I had my friend say what I wanted to because I have almost no voice right now.



Im tired and done for the night. Again as always, all help is appreciative and welcome.

 
Rep Power: 236

They used bolts for '01-'02. You need bolts for an '03-'05. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

Ball-joints and axle boots look fine.

 
Rep Power: 194

How long did it take them to come back and say it couldn't be aligned? If the tie-rod was bad they should've noticed it pretty quick. If it took some time it is possible that the mechanic wasn't able to get the jam nut loose.

I dunno, if there is zero play in the wheel I wouldn't think the tie rod itself is bad. When I had my '05 aligned at my cousin's shop the mechanic had to heat up the jam nuts to break em loose. I never had this problem on older Honda's I've done tie rods on before but maybe there's something different with 7th gen's.

Changing a ball joint shouldn't effect the toe that much, maybe a little. Tie rods are all toe though, that's how you align the front end.

Did you end up dropping the subframe or pulling the tranny from the top?

Just curious because I will be pulling my manual trans and haven't decided which way I'm gonna do it.

 
Rep Power: 236

^^ Did you watch the vid? The toe is off because the knuckle bolts are too small. The motion and weight of the car pushes the wheel to one side, hence the extreme toe-in.

 
Rep Power: 194

O yeah I didn't see the video, I just thought it was a pic.

Those are def the wrong bolts. You shouldn't be able to move the knuckle like that.

My 05 its a 19mm bolt and a 22mm nut.

That would explain the clunking problem too. I can't believe the mechanic didn't catch it when you took it to get aligned.

Where'd the bolts go?

Don't drive the car, you don't wanna damage the holes, those bolts need to be a tight fit.

 
Rep Power: 0

Took them a hour to call me. I have a fun story to tell but am dead tired. For tomorrow. To sum it up, they did put the wrong bolts in and the clunking sound was because of that... it was a good 30min of yelling until they admitted to being wrong.

So now it drives straight and shifts good. Acceleration though made the car go back into the garage. The dash said the temp was fine on the car, but after driving around the block I noticed the smell of coolant when parking the car, popping the hood and the car smelled like burnt popcorn kinda? It was a slight smell. Removing the radiator cap the coolant was very hot. For 15min of driving in 37degree weather it seemed too hot, but maybe im being a worry wart.

I did slightly overfill the trans, maybe the smell is excess ATF fluid?

 
Rep Power: 194

The coolant will be hot if you check it at operating temp, especially at the top of the radiator as that's where the coolant comes out of the block through the top rad hose.

I wouldn't worry about the smells. You probably just spilled some coolant/atf/whatever during the swap and it's burning off. Even if you wipe it clean there will still be some residual fluid left. If the car is running fine I wouldn't worry about it unless the smells persists for more than a few days (or more depending on how much you drive at operating temp).

I would get the excess fluid out of the trans though, that's not good for it. You can take it to a shop and they should have a fluid extractor they can put down the trans fill hole and pull some of the fluid out. Or you could pull the drain plug and let some out.

For my benefit did you pull the trans from the top or bottom? I plan on pulling my manual trans soon so just curious.

Glad you got it going, big job to do alone since you're a first timer, mad props!

 
Rep Power: 0

Learned a lot from it all. Pulling it from the bottom is way easier. Use 3 hydraulic jacks. But I did mine with 2.

I'll have a DIY up in a couple days.

The smell was peanut shells from the damn squirrels in my yard.

 
Rep Power: 0

5 days and 638 miles later. Car is just fine and has no problems!

Here's the lovely store from the alignment shop.

So after replacing the ball joints I took my car in to be aligned. They told me about 45min they would call me and the car should be done. I left my phone number and told them id be back when they told me the car was done. So at first 30min rolls by and I am just spending time shopping, check my phone, nothing. Another 20min rolls by and I'm done shopping, still no call. So now I start my lovely walk back to the shop. I see my car sitting outside and ask if it done. Guy tells me its "all jacked up", when I ask why, he just says "cant be fixed, your power steering is broken, get that fixed". I ask whats broken on it and he tells me "its too complicated to explain and you wouldnt understand anyway, take it to another shop and get the tie rods fixed" he then proceeds to tell me my car was done 10min after I brought it in, when I asked why I wasnt called, he tells me they called me over and over and I didnt answer. I show him my phone and recent calls, he calls me a liar and walks off.... Jerk.

I drive the car home and after changing lanes the first time, the car starts to have this clunking sound from the drivers side. Okay this is new... what the heck!? Get it home and after checking the knuckle, there is all that play thats shown in the video. Other side doesnt have that and I notice the tools I used to remove the bolts last time arent the same "wrote everything down for the DIY", so now im pissed. I get the truck and drive the car onto our quad trailer and strap it down. I have NEVER driven the truck with the 16ft trailer, so lets say that was a insanely new experience.

Next day I drive the car back to the shop and see the same guy from yesterday. Im pissed, angry and parked in a bus lane.( <--- that describes it.) Anyway I call out the guy and ask him to fix my car correctly. He starts off by saying "Listen here lady, you have no idea whats wrong with your steering, thats why you brought it here, so get back in that truck and get that fixed by a professional before you come back here". I tell him I want who is in charge of the shop to come out now, he gives me some smack talk, but after standing there and saying "im waiting" about 50 times, he goes inside and gets his boss.

Now it gets interesting. I show his boss the video and tell him the incorrect bolts were placed in my knuckle. The lovely guy that worked on my car starts saying im a liar and "this is why chicks arent mechanics", I keep my cool and ask him to please check it out for me. His boss looks at the video like 3 times and looks at him, says one sentence "Are these the bolts that went on that 2001 civic Jeff was working on last night?", he tells him no, and his boss goes inside to take a look himeself. Sure enough he walks out with the correct bolts for my car, tells the guy to go inside and apologizes to me for all this hassle. He gets in my car and drives it off the trailer and into the shop. Tells me to call his number when I get home and he will personally give me a ride back to pick up my car.

Didnt charge me at all, and after about 30min I was driven back to the shop and picked up my car.

P.S- I have the DIY all typed up and ready. Where should I post it?

 
Rep Power: 813

haha nice ownage. "mechanics" like that should not be working on cars.

 
Rep Power: 202

Right on GB. Any yea whos can get a job at most alignment shops. AND they are paid chump change, they are not going to attract quality mechanics. Moral is if you can fix it, do. I am very selective about who works on my cars. Alignments are granted one thing that is hard to diy, but do your homework on what shop you use. Kudos to a "chick" for wrechin. They should be gaveling at your feet for being such a holes, pardon the french. Mad or not, when you become a jerk and conversation ends. Nothing constructive can happen after that point. No one "wins" in a shouting match. AND thanks for your sacrifices as well as his for the rest of us. I mean that from the bottom of my heart too. Freedom is not something I take lightly....

 
Rep Power: 0

just read your posts on this thread. you ever get that DIY posted up? my trans only has 83xxx on it but it already shifts pretty harsh. if the fluid change doesn't fix it, i may have to pull the trans.