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This is an explaination of how to change the gearbox and clutch without removing the engine or transferbox - it is pretty much an expansion on one kieron wrote...
NOTE - a few things before beginning...
1 - i had my car up on axle stands on my drive way, supporting it under the anti roll bar mounts located just under the driver and passenger footwell area - these are solid!
2 - this was my first attempt and it was HELL! lol, it took me about 36 hours spread over a week, but now i truely believe i could do it in 1-2days it's easy when you know how...
3 - you need a friend to help you with some of the heavy bits
4 - get a clutch alignment tool or be prepared to get the input shaft out of your old/spare gearbox.
5 - get two big trolley jacks (i used 3tonne ones) - you need to lift the car high on stands and later support the engine and box separately.
6 - my car has a front mount intercooler - so if you've got a top mount make sure you know how to remove it all before reading on...
7 - get some sandwiches and cold beers in - you don't want you and friend to go hungry, you will get angry!!!
8 - get loads of rags/towels etc... - you will spill oily shitty stuff everywhere!
9 - i'm not about to list all the exact tools required but you do need various sockets with extensions, big and small handle spanners, torch... many things... get a hammer and crow bar too...
10 - i did not need to bleed the clutch or brake fluid
11 - a japanese contortionist midget would come in handy if you can get one... i swear these are the secret to japanese success getting big powerful stuff into small places!
12 - if you fuck anything up don't blame me, this is just a guide for help, you should probably consult a workshop manual in parallel.
OK GO!
pop bonnet - remove:
air filter with all associated pipework including from turbo, breather pipes etc...
battery
intercooler pipework to the right of the engine bay
clutch slave cylinder from top of box
anything that looks easy to remove and in the way of the gearbox bolts...
jack the car up high enough to get 2tonne stands on their highest setting under the arb mounts.
take wheels off
hub nuts off
bumper off
*health and safety* - put the wheels, spare gearbox and any other big stuff under the car because if it falls on you when you're working alone you'll probably die! 11
remove front half of exhaust
drain gearbox and transfer box seaprately into a catch container - note you should buy good drain plug remover tools because they get VERY stuck! and shit tools ruin them!
also note transfer and gearbox oil stinks bad, i nearly chucked 132
the drive shafts will come off without disconnecting the brake lines.
just undo hubs from suspension, wishbones will hang down, take track rod ends out off hubs, bend and twist hubs so that outer cv joint shaft pushes out of hub and past the brakes etc...
next get a friend to support the hubs away whilst prying (i used crow bar) the inner cv drive shafts from gearbox (passenger side) or transfer box (drivers side)...
when they're removed put a bolt back in the hub to suspension so they don't just hang down...
note - long one is passenger side - also note the short shaft (driver side) had a kind of 'circlip' on the end, kind of like a cv joint if you've ever seen one. maybe there should be one on each i don't know???
remove bolts from outer transferbox casing - there's roughly millions of them...
now the case is probably stuck to transbox with 'instant gasket' (go buy some for the refit) it will need gentle WHACKING with a hammer to come away...
when it does separate, the diff with it's bearings will be imbedded in it.
i put a big socket in the hole where the drive shaft was and hammered through, the case will separate away from the diff and it has a set of bearings on the end, there's also a thin circular metal shim..
by moving the suspension and hubs etc out of the way (friend to help) you can slide the long drive shaft out of the passenger side and likewise the diff is pretty long but will also slide out fairly easily.
losen ALL the bolts holding the gearbox in place to make life easier for later.
there's about 6 large bolts towards the front between box & engine, about 6 smaller towards the rear underside between box & transbox, you will need to undo two longer bolts which pass through the gearbox casing engine and into the starter motor.
get under the car, reach in behind engine and remove the starter motor, there's a spade connection (ground) and a 10mm bolt under a rubber cover (live wire), the motor will fit out of the gap between the engine and transfer box.
there are two famous bastard bolts which are located roughly below where the starter motor was... they go in from drivers side through transferbox into gearbox...
one of them is easy to remove with a long socket, as you look in from the drivers side it is kind of top left of transferbox through to the gearbox, get a long socket and an extension on it and it shouldn't give you too much grief...
the second bastard is pretty tricky, it is below where starter motor would have been, you will struggle to get a socket on it as there is stuff in the way, namely a speed sensor.
in theory you can unbolt the speed sensor (one small bolt) and it pulls up and out, it has an 'O' ring sealing it in and has a cable connection.
the speed sensor is more than likely stuck due to 'galvanic corrosion' (oh yes)
i could not get the speed sensor off 4 so took a different approach - i reached in from engine bay, airfilter location, and got the ring end of a spanner on it, then i got a crow bar down behind engine and levered it loose... (another suggestion i've read about is getting a spanner on it, as above, get on your back under car with chain on/over the spanner and pull) also i'm sure there are other ways...
this is the hardest bit, you may get lucky you may not - be patient you will see red! 15
disconnect the gear stick linkage to gearbox
***NOTE when refitting the diff later it is unlikely to go back in the whole way (last 10mm) unless the gearbox is in neutral***
support the engine and gearbox with two trolley jacks.
remove both passenger side engine/gearbox mounts including brackets.
take a long bolt out of each of the front and rear engine stabilizer mounts and the rear stabilizer mount also has a vertical bolt in the top of the gearbox take this out.
with the mounts missing the engine and gearbox are supported on the trolley jacks, you need to realise that the engine can rotate towards or away from you. have a few practice attempts at finding good balencing points. A good idea is to get a decent piece of wood between the engine and jack to help avoid rotation and get a good balance...
as you raise and lower the engine make sure you don't take it to low down, keep on checking the pulley wheels don't touch the side of the engine bay and get squashed (power steering, water, crank, alternator).
i found the gearbox balanced really well on my big jack around the point of the drain plug(see pic)... if you've got a spare gearbox have a practice balancing it and jacking it up and down...
ok i think it's now time to remove ALL the bolts that you loosened earlier that hold the gearbox in place...
i say remove ***ALL*** because i spent a whole evening trying to crow bar the f'ker off only to give up, and then realise the next day that there was one bolt still in place!!! (dick head 1)
with all bolts removed the gearbox will come away from the engine but will take some force... wiggle it untill there's 1/2" gap all the way round then lower gearbox jack abit and wiggle some more... do use a prybar or a big screw driver to help prise things appart... just keep lowering and prising and it will come off. check you don't squash pulley wheels. (i did manage this bit on my own but you should get a friend to help remove the box as it is very heavy)
because i couldn't remove the speed sensor and thus bastard bolt number two, you will find the bolt needs a final undoing whilst the box is about an inch separated from the engine.
once box is lowered down on the jack you'll need to rotate it and drag it out sideways towards you through wheel arch area...
BOX IS OFF!!! 3
although you're only half way i suggest you do a dance! 36 and drink a beer with a friend! 54
will look like this now - pics
and from engine bay
note when the box comes off how the release bearing, fork and spring clip are assembled as they are quite loose bits that may fall apart.
*CHANGE THE CLUTCH KIT*
the clutch pressure plate is bolted on to the flywheel with about 12bolts. undo them and pull it off, there are a few little pegs that align the pressure plate and it will only fit one way.
you'll be left looking at the flywheel.
there's a chunky steel gasket between the engine and g'box that doesn't appear to come off over the flywheel. whilst in this situation i had a general clean around with a wire brush etc... loads of clutch dust to rub off...
also scrub clean the gearbox that you intend on refitting.
i fitted a new clutch, presure plate and release bearing.
get clutch alignment tool or spare input shaft, put it through the new clutch plate, into the flywheel and hold steady.
put the pressure plate over the top and push it on tight.
replace all the bolts finger tight and you should be able to let go of the alignment tool or input shaft and it won't budge.
now to tighten the pressure plate bolts properly you need to do a kind of tunning new drums approach... bit by bit repeating the pattern...
do one turn then move to opposite bolt, then to left side bolt, one turn, rightside bolt, one turn, pick another, then opposite, one turn.......... as in picture above, you probably get the jist...
you have to do this to apply the pressure evenly all the way around.
i'm know there are torque levels for all bolts on the whole car but i don't know them or have a torque wrench, maybe you should get one...
now pressure plate is tight you can pull alignment tool/input shaft out.
on the box you need to lightly grease the new realease bearing and input shaft with grease that comes with the new kit. don't put too much on because you don't want any on the friction material because the clutch will slip...
everything else now is basically refitting and therefore the reverse of the above.
remember to apply i little bit of grease to all bolts along the way to make life easier in the furture although fingers crossed you never have to do this again!
remember if bastard bolt number two is still in place with the speed sensor then you will have to start tightening it whilst the box has an inch or so to go.
i did not use a clutch alignment tool at first and although i was 2mm out the box would not go back on... use one or an input shaft.
buy some instant gasket for the transferbox case refit, spread it with a cloth/gloves or something else, i spread it with my finger and discovered that the inner edge of the casing is really sharp and i cut my finger longways, it really hurt especially becuase the cut then filled with grease, oil and gasket and needed cleaning out 11
like i said earlier, if the diff doesn't get back in all the way, i.e. the tranfer case needs another 10mm to close. put the gearbox in neutral it will slide in easy!
when replacing drive shafts... do not straight up hit them in with a hammer, use a rubber mallet or put the hub nut on half way and bash this.
i bent the thread on a cv joint couldn't get hub nut on and spent half an hour cutting new thread with a hacksaw 1
do not forget to fill the gearbox and transfer box separately with suitable oils, they are different, i got them from halfords...
NOTE - a few things before beginning...
1 - i had my car up on axle stands on my drive way, supporting it under the anti roll bar mounts located just under the driver and passenger footwell area - these are solid!
2 - this was my first attempt and it was HELL! lol, it took me about 36 hours spread over a week, but now i truely believe i could do it in 1-2days it's easy when you know how...
3 - you need a friend to help you with some of the heavy bits
4 - get a clutch alignment tool or be prepared to get the input shaft out of your old/spare gearbox.
5 - get two big trolley jacks (i used 3tonne ones) - you need to lift the car high on stands and later support the engine and box separately.
6 - my car has a front mount intercooler - so if you've got a top mount make sure you know how to remove it all before reading on...
7 - get some sandwiches and cold beers in - you don't want you and friend to go hungry, you will get angry!!!
8 - get loads of rags/towels etc... - you will spill oily shitty stuff everywhere!
9 - i'm not about to list all the exact tools required but you do need various sockets with extensions, big and small handle spanners, torch... many things... get a hammer and crow bar too...
10 - i did not need to bleed the clutch or brake fluid
11 - a japanese contortionist midget would come in handy if you can get one... i swear these are the secret to japanese success getting big powerful stuff into small places!
12 - if you fuck anything up don't blame me, this is just a guide for help, you should probably consult a workshop manual in parallel.
OK GO!
pop bonnet - remove:
air filter with all associated pipework including from turbo, breather pipes etc...
battery
intercooler pipework to the right of the engine bay
clutch slave cylinder from top of box
anything that looks easy to remove and in the way of the gearbox bolts...
jack the car up high enough to get 2tonne stands on their highest setting under the arb mounts.
take wheels off
hub nuts off
bumper off
*health and safety* - put the wheels, spare gearbox and any other big stuff under the car because if it falls on you when you're working alone you'll probably die! 11
remove front half of exhaust
drain gearbox and transfer box seaprately into a catch container - note you should buy good drain plug remover tools because they get VERY stuck! and shit tools ruin them!
also note transfer and gearbox oil stinks bad, i nearly chucked 132
the drive shafts will come off without disconnecting the brake lines.
just undo hubs from suspension, wishbones will hang down, take track rod ends out off hubs, bend and twist hubs so that outer cv joint shaft pushes out of hub and past the brakes etc...
next get a friend to support the hubs away whilst prying (i used crow bar) the inner cv drive shafts from gearbox (passenger side) or transfer box (drivers side)...
when they're removed put a bolt back in the hub to suspension so they don't just hang down...
note - long one is passenger side - also note the short shaft (driver side) had a kind of 'circlip' on the end, kind of like a cv joint if you've ever seen one. maybe there should be one on each i don't know???
remove bolts from outer transferbox casing - there's roughly millions of them...
now the case is probably stuck to transbox with 'instant gasket' (go buy some for the refit) it will need gentle WHACKING with a hammer to come away...
when it does separate, the diff with it's bearings will be imbedded in it.
i put a big socket in the hole where the drive shaft was and hammered through, the case will separate away from the diff and it has a set of bearings on the end, there's also a thin circular metal shim..
by moving the suspension and hubs etc out of the way (friend to help) you can slide the long drive shaft out of the passenger side and likewise the diff is pretty long but will also slide out fairly easily.
losen ALL the bolts holding the gearbox in place to make life easier for later.
there's about 6 large bolts towards the front between box & engine, about 6 smaller towards the rear underside between box & transbox, you will need to undo two longer bolts which pass through the gearbox casing engine and into the starter motor.
get under the car, reach in behind engine and remove the starter motor, there's a spade connection (ground) and a 10mm bolt under a rubber cover (live wire), the motor will fit out of the gap between the engine and transfer box.
there are two famous bastard bolts which are located roughly below where the starter motor was... they go in from drivers side through transferbox into gearbox...
one of them is easy to remove with a long socket, as you look in from the drivers side it is kind of top left of transferbox through to the gearbox, get a long socket and an extension on it and it shouldn't give you too much grief...
the second bastard is pretty tricky, it is below where starter motor would have been, you will struggle to get a socket on it as there is stuff in the way, namely a speed sensor.
in theory you can unbolt the speed sensor (one small bolt) and it pulls up and out, it has an 'O' ring sealing it in and has a cable connection.
the speed sensor is more than likely stuck due to 'galvanic corrosion' (oh yes)
i could not get the speed sensor off 4 so took a different approach - i reached in from engine bay, airfilter location, and got the ring end of a spanner on it, then i got a crow bar down behind engine and levered it loose... (another suggestion i've read about is getting a spanner on it, as above, get on your back under car with chain on/over the spanner and pull) also i'm sure there are other ways...
this is the hardest bit, you may get lucky you may not - be patient you will see red! 15
disconnect the gear stick linkage to gearbox
***NOTE when refitting the diff later it is unlikely to go back in the whole way (last 10mm) unless the gearbox is in neutral***
support the engine and gearbox with two trolley jacks.
remove both passenger side engine/gearbox mounts including brackets.
take a long bolt out of each of the front and rear engine stabilizer mounts and the rear stabilizer mount also has a vertical bolt in the top of the gearbox take this out.
with the mounts missing the engine and gearbox are supported on the trolley jacks, you need to realise that the engine can rotate towards or away from you. have a few practice attempts at finding good balencing points. A good idea is to get a decent piece of wood between the engine and jack to help avoid rotation and get a good balance...
as you raise and lower the engine make sure you don't take it to low down, keep on checking the pulley wheels don't touch the side of the engine bay and get squashed (power steering, water, crank, alternator).
i found the gearbox balanced really well on my big jack around the point of the drain plug(see pic)... if you've got a spare gearbox have a practice balancing it and jacking it up and down...
ok i think it's now time to remove ALL the bolts that you loosened earlier that hold the gearbox in place...
i say remove ***ALL*** because i spent a whole evening trying to crow bar the f'ker off only to give up, and then realise the next day that there was one bolt still in place!!! (dick head 1)
with all bolts removed the gearbox will come away from the engine but will take some force... wiggle it untill there's 1/2" gap all the way round then lower gearbox jack abit and wiggle some more... do use a prybar or a big screw driver to help prise things appart... just keep lowering and prising and it will come off. check you don't squash pulley wheels. (i did manage this bit on my own but you should get a friend to help remove the box as it is very heavy)
because i couldn't remove the speed sensor and thus bastard bolt number two, you will find the bolt needs a final undoing whilst the box is about an inch separated from the engine.
once box is lowered down on the jack you'll need to rotate it and drag it out sideways towards you through wheel arch area...
BOX IS OFF!!! 3
although you're only half way i suggest you do a dance! 36 and drink a beer with a friend! 54
will look like this now - pics
and from engine bay
note when the box comes off how the release bearing, fork and spring clip are assembled as they are quite loose bits that may fall apart.
*CHANGE THE CLUTCH KIT*
the clutch pressure plate is bolted on to the flywheel with about 12bolts. undo them and pull it off, there are a few little pegs that align the pressure plate and it will only fit one way.
you'll be left looking at the flywheel.
there's a chunky steel gasket between the engine and g'box that doesn't appear to come off over the flywheel. whilst in this situation i had a general clean around with a wire brush etc... loads of clutch dust to rub off...
also scrub clean the gearbox that you intend on refitting.
i fitted a new clutch, presure plate and release bearing.
get clutch alignment tool or spare input shaft, put it through the new clutch plate, into the flywheel and hold steady.
put the pressure plate over the top and push it on tight.
replace all the bolts finger tight and you should be able to let go of the alignment tool or input shaft and it won't budge.
now to tighten the pressure plate bolts properly you need to do a kind of tunning new drums approach... bit by bit repeating the pattern...
do one turn then move to opposite bolt, then to left side bolt, one turn, rightside bolt, one turn, pick another, then opposite, one turn.......... as in picture above, you probably get the jist...
you have to do this to apply the pressure evenly all the way around.
i'm know there are torque levels for all bolts on the whole car but i don't know them or have a torque wrench, maybe you should get one...
now pressure plate is tight you can pull alignment tool/input shaft out.
on the box you need to lightly grease the new realease bearing and input shaft with grease that comes with the new kit. don't put too much on because you don't want any on the friction material because the clutch will slip...
everything else now is basically refitting and therefore the reverse of the above.
remember to apply i little bit of grease to all bolts along the way to make life easier in the furture although fingers crossed you never have to do this again!
remember if bastard bolt number two is still in place with the speed sensor then you will have to start tightening it whilst the box has an inch or so to go.
i did not use a clutch alignment tool at first and although i was 2mm out the box would not go back on... use one or an input shaft.
buy some instant gasket for the transferbox case refit, spread it with a cloth/gloves or something else, i spread it with my finger and discovered that the inner edge of the casing is really sharp and i cut my finger longways, it really hurt especially becuase the cut then filled with grease, oil and gasket and needed cleaning out 11
like i said earlier, if the diff doesn't get back in all the way, i.e. the tranfer case needs another 10mm to close. put the gearbox in neutral it will slide in easy!
when replacing drive shafts... do not straight up hit them in with a hammer, use a rubber mallet or put the hub nut on half way and bash this.
i bent the thread on a cv joint couldn't get hub nut on and spent half an hour cutting new thread with a hacksaw 1
do not forget to fill the gearbox and transfer box separately with suitable oils, they are different, i got them from halfords...
Last edited by GTI-R US on 24th October 2013, 8:55 am; edited 1 time in total
