how to swap bell housing/take apart trans

[DaviDawg]

1. locate the cap on the trans (closest to front driver wheel, ill post pic soon)
2. remove 10mm bolts
3. remove cap
4. unbend tabs on nuts
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00645.jpg
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00646.jpg
5. remove nuts with 32mm or 1 1/4 socket (impact gun is recommended)
6. remove pin with punch
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00644.jpg
7. remove this piece (lol, idk what its called)
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00637.jpg
8. remove fork
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00638.jpg
9. remove 5th gear
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00640.jpg
10. remove spacer
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00642.jpg
11. remove drive gear
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00643.jpg
12. loosen all 14 mm bolts on housing (where rachet is)
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00467.jpg
13. remove this 12mm along with other 12mm directly to its left and sensor in between them which i used a 15/16 american, not metric wrench
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00632.jpg
14. remove housing (should look like this) p.s. pretend theres a diff in the last pic
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00627.jpg
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00626.jpg
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00610.jpg
15. at this point id take the diff out but its up to you, if you are, you can lift the gear assembly that the diff makes contact with and pull out the diff. use a krobar. :shrug: is that how you spell it?
16. once you have the diff out it should look like this (minus broken areas, lol)
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00611a.jpg
17. take this gear assembly out (slides right out)
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00619.jpg
18. remove this 12mm bolt
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00620.jpg
19. then remove this rod (slides out)
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00621.jpg
20. remove this too
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00622.jpg
21. pull this pin out (slides out)
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00617.jpg
22. pull this shaft out as in away from trans, lol (its hard to tell where im pointing but its at the bottom of the pic)
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00618.jpg
23. put that assembly aside
24. pull this pin out (theres a ball in there, so keep an eye out for it)
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00625.jpg
25. now pull the gear assemblies out. youre bell housing should look like this.
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00608.jpg
26. now put it all back together in reverse order untill you get to putting on housing on the trans.
27. make sure this bolt hole
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00632-1.jpg
lines up with this void
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00631.jpg
to get this bolt in
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00633.jpg
28. line up this hole
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00635.jpg
to this hole and use the other 12mm bolt
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00634.jpg
29. now put a rod, screwdriver etc into the shifter and shift through all the gears and if its ok, then take the housing off the trans again and put on the silicone gasket maker on the trans and put it back together. congrats!!!!

if it didnt shift through all the gears youre screwed lol j/k! this is most likely where your problem is. easy fix. use these pics as reference
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00624.jpg

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00630.jpg
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00623.jpg

[00zx2s/r]

I'm havin trouble gettin the tabs on the nuts in the first pic to open... I've broken 2 skrew drivers already... is there a trick to it?

[DaviDawg]

angle the screwdriver like in the first pic and hammer it. itll wedge it open.

[00zx2s/r]

ya I tried that it it just broke both tips of my screw drivers... lol. I'll try again tom. Thanks

[DaviDawg]

find the proper angle and hammer is all i can tell you. stronger screwdrivers can help too.

[ZX2 Sleeper]

Wow awesome write up! i was going to do this blind too with out any sense of direction!

[DaviDawg]

thanks zx2 sleeper. i went into this blind. me and ed_flip figured it out and i figured id spread some knowledge to everybody.

[ZX2 Sleeper]

I think im going to wait to do this when i actually have my mtx out. I hope it'll last for some boosting until end of summer/early fall. If i can put it together that soon.

[DaviDawg]

what are you doing to your trans when you get it out?

[00zx2s/r]

well I finally got the clips off and the tranny takin apart. But while removing the housing a few things dropped that I don't think were supposed to. Refer to pic below.

Do you know where they go? (1st pic)
2 and 3 pic: how do the gears look? they look fine to me but idk wut I'm lookin for... lol
pic 4: are those two gears supposed to be rounded on the top and bottom?
pic 5: I'm assuming that magnet collects debris from the gears when you change the tranny oil. Is that much debris good, bad, or normal?

[DaviDawg]

those go under the gear assemblies, in the "pockets" of the bellhousing. notice there is one on the right pocket but not on the left(my picture). put those in along with the plastic piece in the left pocket. your gears look good and your magnet looks fine, clean the magnet before you put it back though and dont forget the magnet when putting it back together. lol, i forgot to put the magnet back in and had to take it apart agian.
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00608.jpg

[00zx2s/r]

I found the location of the rings, it was actually on the part of the top of the housing, above the drive gear. Cuz I didn't take out all of what you did, I just took off the housing to check em! But what about that green spring and the ball bearing?

[DaviDawg]

the only place that i can think of is step #24. check it and post back.

[00zx2s/r]

well it's understandable if it was there, but I didn't mess w/ the any of the gears. I just took off the cover and looked at it and thats it... Who knows... lol

[DaviDawg]

im hoping it doesnt belong where i think it does or youre most likely gonna have to pull the trans out again. when did you first see the spring and ball?

[00zx2s/r]

as soon as I pulled the trans cover off.

[DaviDawg]

as in, when you seperated the housing from the bell housing or the cap to the trans with the 10mm bolts? if you first seen it when you seperated the housing from the bell housing then it should belong to step #24. if you seen it when you took the cap off the trans id still have to say it belong in #24 too but idk how the spring and ball would've got there. either way, it is very important to put the spring and ball back where it belongs or your trans will not function properly. the engineers that made this trans made it with the spring and ball in mind for a reason.

[00zx2s/r]

as soon as I did step #14 (remove housing) I saw it. It's not from the step #24 because that spring and ball is still there. So this one goes somewhere else that I don't know aobut...

[DaviDawg]

hmm, i think i remember seeing a spring and ball like that the first time i had to rebuild the trans and didnt know where it went either. i think i left it out cause i couldnt find where it belonged. wow, im digging into the archives of my memory. lol

[DaviDawg]

well I finally got the clips off and the tranny takin apart. But while removing the housing a few things dropped that I don't think were supposed to. Refer to pic below.

Do you know where they go? (1st pic)


since i was taking another trans apart today i figured id answer the question.

parts in question
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00873.jpg

those go in the housing here (right hole)
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00872.jpg
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00871.jpg

the ballbearing touching this part
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00869.jpg
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00870.jpg


i know you could've used this info much sooner but i just figured it out. next time huh. besides im sure its not a big deal anyway.

EDIT********************************************
youre in luck if you still have the spring and ball cause if you take this bolt (only bolt in picture) out you can insert the ball and spring(ball first).
fyi, the big hole next to it is the vss location
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00875.jpg

[ChillinZX]

Nice write-up, I still take my trans to a shop so I get my 1 year warrenty, but they just take it all apart and I choose what I want replaced and get them from Ford directly. They only charge me $240 to take it apart and put it together. Next time I need a rebuild I am getting them cryo'd.

[DaviDawg]

does the $240 include changing out parts too? cause thats a good price with a 1 year warranty. i don think anybody else can get that price.

[Gregersonke]

I hope that transmission is everything I said it was. Was it still in good shape?

[00zx2s/r]

^haha thanks for info. Someone else got me a tranny tear down pic and I found out where to put it... but still props for the help!

[DaviDawg]

I hope that transmission is everything I said it was. Was it still in good shape?
the guts looked very good. i didnt install the trans today but its ready to go in. ill post up tomorrow how the trans worked out. btw, thanks, i really needed to get my trans up


^haha thanks for info. Someone else got me a tranny tear down pic and I found out where to put it... but still props for the help!

dude, post the pic.

[00zx2s/r]

Alright well I actually have two! And go figure one has a few parts that the other doesn't and vise-versa...

[ChillinZX]

It is a great price, at $80/hr they charge 3 hours for an overhaul if you bring them the trans, which is what I always do. They take it all apart and ask what you would like replaced, I talk with the transmission technician and replace only what I really need, which is usually 2nd gear synchro and the 2 spider gears. I had them do my trans 2 times so far (in a period of the 5 years I've owned the car), but with the phantom grip installed my trans hasn't broken in almost 2 years.

[Gregersonke]

the guts looked very good. i didnt install the trans today but its ready to go in. ill post up tomorrow how the trans worked out. btw, thanks, i really needed to get my trans up


I take it the spider gears were toast eh?

[DaviDawg]

the spiders were toast but the damage was minimal. you must of stopped driving the car soon after the diff went out. i drove the car yesterday and launched it once. the trans is good as i suspected. btw, thanks for the header you gave me for free. im gonna get some flux core today cause i ran out some time ago. hopefully ill get the header on this weekend.

[zx2reme]

any tricks for removing the to nuts with the tabs. I tried using an impact gun but the gears keep spinning. I'm sure if I put a wrenck on the other gear, I could get one loose, but then wouldn't be able to get the other like that. Thanks.

[00zx2s/r]

hmmmm I think I was able to pop it into a gear and it stayed still. I think if you put it in 5th or reverse it'll hold both of em... I remember having the same problem as you but just kept messing around w/ em and it worked

[zx2reme]

nevermind. I got them off. I did runinto a snag. The black plastic piece that runs through the top half of the bell housing broke when I set it down. Wasn't paying attention. Anyway, I opened up my spare tranny to get the part off that and saw that it really didn't do anything. So is this piece necessary?

[00zx2s/r]

idk... mine also broke but never replaced it... idk if that's y my tranny struggles shifting into 1st and reverse. lol eh

[zx2reme]

where does the magnet go?

[ChillinZX]

That black piece is a trans fluid galley. Feeds that end of the transmission with trans fluid (5th gear). When I attempted to rebuild my tranny I popped that black cap off and that black piece broke off with it.

[00zx2s/r]

where does the magnet go?

into a slot where the drain hole is

[krux]

Nice write up you have there. Ill be getting a spare tranny soon and putting in a phantom grip with rebuilt gears and probably a longer 5th gear also.

[DaviDawg]

Nice write up you have there. Ill be getting a spare tranny soon and putting in a phantom grip with rebuilt gears and probably a longer 5th gear also.

SWEET!
(get the 98 for better acelleration, if you dont, the taller 5th isnt necessary)

[sparkyzx2]

what does the top sincro do?? up by fifth gear will that affect 3rd gear???

[DaviDawg]

5th gear doesnt affect 3rd gear.

[sparkyzx2]

ok im pissed i bought a tranny with a bad diff and mine doesnt have third gear so i swaped the internals and kept my diff and housing. i tested all the gears with it up right, on its bell housing they were all there and the all caught. so i seal every thing and test them again before i put the pan on ( tranny is still up right) all are still fine. so i seal the pan lay the tranny on its side and now third wont bite again, if i keep presser on the shifter do dad it will bit but as soon as i let off it doesnt. any ideas????

[00zx2s/r]

ok im pissed i bought a tranny with a bad diff and mine doesnt have third gear so i swaped the internals and kept my diff and housing. i tested all the gears with it up right, on its bell housing they were all there and the all caught. so i seal every thing and test them again before i put the pan on ( tranny is still up right) all are still fine. so i seal the pan lay the tranny on its side and now third wont bite again, if i keep presser on the shifter do dad it will bit but as soon as i let off it doesnt. any ideas????


You have a really fucked up tranny that needs fixing some more! lol sry, all i could come up w/...

[sparkyzx2]

maybe the slots that the gear rods slide into are worn??

[DaviDawg]

could be. you learn from experience. but i would have simply put your good diff in the other trans.

[sparkyzx2]

i would have but the pin in the diff ate up the housing and it was a shift fork the one was realy worn

[sparkyzx2]

oh ya and i forgot to say great write up davidawg i would have never known what to do thanks

[DaviDawg]

youre welcome.

[joshalabama]

After putting it back together I put a screwdriver in the linkage connecter and it pushed all the way in but doesn't want to come out now, (I was trying to shift through all the gears) Is this because I don't have enough leverage using a screwdriver (instead of the long shift linkage) or is it because I have reassembled it wrong and need to revert to the last few steps you posted about screw bolt locations?

I am also having issues with how the gear sits on top of 5th gear...Does it just rest on there or does the entire piece need to sit flush on top? Everytime I put it on the center with the spines slides down but the rest of it doesn't want to push down with it, this is how I had all those pins pop out when the couple pieces came apart (and putting them back together is a bitch) Thanks for any advice.

[slymjym350]

I had this exact issue and figured that i didnt have enough leverage with the screw driver. I ended up putting the transmission in the car and its stuck in what feels like 3rd gear.

Good luck with it man. I think im just going to try and find a used transmission and put it in.

[joshalabama]

lol, that is reassuring. Good luck

[DaviDawg]

joshalabama
you do need more force when making sure you can shift through the gears because you don't have enough leverage using a screwdriver (instead of the long shift linkage).
do you have the trans in neutral when trying to put the trans(5th gear) together?
the part i think youre having a problem with is here(pictured), correct me if im wrong. this part has to be put back exactly as pictured(synchro along with fork) and move as one piece. the splines on the synchro have to line up as you push down on it and make sure the whole sunchro is moving along as one part with the fork. i hope this helps you.
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00638.jpg

slymjym350
the gears should shift with the trans out of the car but with more force, and i mean much more force. since your stuck in third its possible your poblem lies in the last 3 pictures of the how to.

[joshalabama]

Hey david, so I have the tranny together, bolts in and lined up...we are at the point that you pointed out in the picture. I can shift the trans easily with a screwdriver, it is hard, but I can..The problem is I don't know what I am shifting into, when I turn the screwdriver to the left and push in it is silent and turns, when I turn it to the right and turn it is silent and turns, when I just push in and out it turns but I can hear gears clanking. Did I misalign something? Obviously, but any ideas?

[DaviDawg]

Did I misalign something?
no, thats normal

[joshalabama]

It sounds like gears clashing with eachother...You sure? I mean I would hate to plug it into the engine and have a shredded trans at the end of the day. I have the trans put together, I'm guessing that it goes into 1st and spins the diff, 2nd it doesn't turn at all, 3rd it does, 4th and 5th. I think reverse works as well but 2nd may not...I think tommorow I am just going to call around and see how much someone will charge me to fix what I can't, I'll tell them that I have put it together, I don't need any parts replaced but something is array, can they look/align it.

[DaviDawg]

the reason youre hearing the sound you hear is because you dont have the leverage to put the trans into gear smoothly so youre actually popping it into place. you also dont have fluid in the trans which make the shifting not smooth at all, and to top it off, the trans is right in front of you so the sounds seeems exaggerated.

[joshalabama]

Not the trans shifting, the gears grinding.

[ChillinZX]

Your better off paying the few hundred bucks to have a shop do it.

[joshalabama]

Local shops want 350-450 for an overhaul, they won't take the liability to give me advice or comment if it is fine. One told me if I jack it up and shift it through all the gears then they'd assume it was put together correctly...Thanks for the write up david, i'm sure i'll keep using it..I'm going to get this piece of shit working today. Goal.

[DaviDawg]

Not the trans shifting, the gears grinding.

i cant comment on that cause i havent had this problem. sorry.

[joshalabama]

Okay, here is the issue, I am not sure this gear is engaging correctly:
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00610.jpg

The one that pulls out easily, does it engage reverse? Here is my problem:

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x312/joshalabama/ModifiedProblem.jpg

The yellow circled part appears to have a break in the back of it where the green rectangle slips out so it doesn't push up the orange gear to engage reverse? If I am understanding this right, whenever I am shifting gears the orange gear is physically not coming up. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but looking at my other trannys it appears that the yellow circle might have a break in the back of it..I am a big newb on this, i'm sorry if i'm vauge, i'm just frustrated and tired, I havn't had a running car in 2 months now...Thank you for any advice.

[DaviDawg]

are you shifting through the gears without the housing on? i only know the way i did it and i think youre making variables and its confusing me. lol. help me help you by telling me you did 27-29, put in those two bolts, put on a few bolts to hold the trans together to shift it. also make sure the trans looks like this in this area. i have found that sometimes, simply doing it again does the trick. let me know how that goes, and we'll go from there.
(yes that one engages reverse)
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00624.jpg
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00630.jpg
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm254/davidawg/zx2%20trans/DSC00623.jpg

[joshalabama]

Trans was completely together when shifting, those 2 bolts were aligned and in the right place. It feels like it is shifting through all of the gears, I mean it isn't easy to and it is getting stuck every now and then, but it is shifting. It is just I can not tell that it is going in reverse, I don't think that gear is being picked up. Some of my trannys had that ball and spring on the ground does that matter for reverse to engage? I don't think it does, and when we physically lift it up you can see the differential start turning a different direction, but when i'm shifting through all the gears the reverse lock out is working and everything is fine but it doesn't seem to be engaging that gear.

[DaviDawg]

that spring and ball does nothing to cause it to not engage, so dont worry about for now. my trans does this from time to time. i simply wiggle it neutral and place into 4th before putting it back into reverse. youre probably thinking you should feel like it should click or notch in place when placed into reverse but it wont do that because the ball and spring isnt in place to give you that feeling like the rest of the gears.

edit*************
the spring and ball im talking about is on page 3 reply #20

[joshalabama]

I guess what i'm wondering is I don't think that gear is sliding into place to make the diffy turn a different direction...I don't know..I have the trans put together now and it seems to shift through all the gears so I will probably just hook it up and see what happens. I mean I followed this write up to a tee just to replace the differential so I didn't physically move any of the gears besides lifting them up with my hand to get the differential in there. So I mean I guess there is only so much that can happen.

[DaviDawg]

report back with results of installation.

[joshalabama]

http://www.teamzx2.com/showthread.php?p=129473#post129473

[scort2498]

hey hey...so i put the trans back together and everything went soothly and before i put the trans case back on i shifted through all the gears put the case on and it was a lil harder but i could still shift through them all... tightened everthing down and it wont go through all the gears and the gears wont spin when i try to spin the drive gear... the wont budge at all... let e know your thoughts and oppinions
thanks.

[zxtwou2]

^might have had one of the gates come off the collar when you put it together or something. if you like, i can look at it for you later this week. i'm free tuesday, wednesday and thursday after about 4pm. i'll be right up the road from you in Elk Grove Village.

[DaviDawg]

i love the way this thread has turned out. thanks zxtwou2. this would be best.

[Psychotuner]

old post, but yes I searched!!

Here is the problem im having, the part where the shift gate is, a little up from that there is this piece with a ball and spring, I couldnt figure out how to get the ball into the piece/

[zxtwou2]

there's only 2 ball/spring sets i know of. one is on the reverse gear lifting lever (the one you take put back in after the case is assembled)...and the other is in the shaft of the hinge of that lever. that is the one that goes on the 3 grooves of the peice at the bottom of the shift fork shaft. what i did with mine, can't be done with all i think. at least not to chris's. on that shaft that comes out to the peice with the 3 grooves...mine had a slot in it, so you can see the spring's side from the outside. chris's did not. i did find that one side of the shaft has a slot, the other does not..so you may be able to take that shaft out, and put it in backwards to have the slot where you can see the spring. with the spring exposed, sticking a scribe (any small object to keep the spring from coming out) in there while holding the ball flush with the end of the shaft kept the spring compressed, and allowed the ball to stay there without providing constant pressure. with the ball resting in the end, i inserted the gears and shift fork shaft all at once...and once it was in place, i simply took the scribe out, and the spring pushed the ball into the grooves. wish i could illustrate it for you. maybe saturday when i help chris with his tranny, i'll get video.

[Psychotuner]

right and there is like 2 spots for the ball to go into. i dont know what spot the ball is suppos to go into and hopw that piece is asemble upsidedown or not.

[zxtwou2]

what do you mean 2 spots for the ball to go in? there should just be one side of the "tube" that the spring and ball slides into so the ball gets pushed into the grooves on the shaft peice. simply put the spring in, put the ball in, insert shaft, voila. i'll try to get video for you on saturday.