will the tranny clear the crossover pipe for removal?

[scotty1957]

Hi all,
'95 Explorer 4x4 w/M50D manual tranny.
I've got a bad/leaky slave cylinder to replace and was going to do the entire clutch while in there. It's only got 100k light duty miles.
I swear the 4 crossover pipe mounting bolts are welded. I've soaked and torched with MAPP gas and impact wrench and a 2 foot breaker bar wont budge 'em. I don't have the tools (or guts) to get any more agressive.
My question is - is there clearance enough to pass the transmission over the top of the crossover pipe? Anyone ever do this?
Or any advice on getting those nasty bolts to let go would be appreciated.
Thanks,
scotty

 

[MrQ]

You could try heating the bolts AFTER you clean the flammable stuff off them. Also an impact with a long extension works very well.

As for pulling the m5od over the cross pipe the answer would be yes if you had at least a 1" body lift otherwise no.

 

[gmanpaint]

Since you already tried the "heat em up" & "hit them with an impact", with no luck, I would think your going to have to cut them bolts off. Sawzall, cutting torch, comes to mind.

 

[MrQ]

Whoops, didn't see you had already done those things. Phone screen needs to be a bit bigger.

I vote sawzall.

 

[scotty1957]

Thanks for responding guys. You answered my questions. I'm gonna keep trying with the heat - maybe I'm not getting it hot enough. I've heard cherry red is what I need but not sure I can get there with MAPP gas. Never say die.

As far as the cutting them scenario - how do you do the repair? Would this necessitate removing the exhaust manifolds? Just wondering how others have handled this situation.

Thanks for the help guys! Much Appreciated.
scotty

 

[MrQ]

As for cutting...um, how bad do you need your exhaust system?

I don't know how you are going to get a big sawzall up I'n there on the bolts. You may have to cut out the crossover pipe and replace it.

 

[gmanpaint]

Keep trying to either heat and break loose with the biggest damn torque impact you can get your hands on, or soak the crap out of them for a week with PB blaster then go at them with the BFImpact.

If that fails,....(This is last resort only.)
You can go thru the wheel wells to get to a couple of the bolts with a sawzall.
Your goal is to only cut the bolts in half behind the nuts so you save the collector flanges. Cutting torches/plasma cutter would work best for something like this, but you make do with what you got.

When all else fails, take it in to a muffler shop, let them remove the exhaust, then tow it back.

Or.....Go ahead and install a 3" body lift for less than $200, and lift the trans up and over the exhaust

 

[MrQ]

The toughest bolts are going to be the ones closest to the engine as the bulk of the exhaust flange will cover them up. Those you may need to keep heating up and using the impact wrench on. Be careful where that blade or torch hits though. You may not like the result.

 

[scotty1957]

Hi guys - me again with an update on this thread.
Sooo ... I upgraded to a 60 gallon 5hp compressor and went to Northern Tool and came back with an AirCat impact gun rated at 800 ft-lb torque. Still wasn't able to get the y-pipe bolts out.
I finally gave up the battle and took it to Midas because a buddy I work with, his brother is the service manager there. They got them out. It took more heat than I had available and a BF impact just like you guys had suggested. It cost me $84 shop labor which was a deal cuz they worked on it for close to 2 hours. They struggled with the last one (inside closest to engine) for about 45 minutes and almost gave up for fear of breaking something. They put some anti-seize on them and put them back in and I drove it back home. I'll replace the bolts when I get to that point. They are a bit buggered up - LOL.
So now the exhaust is out. Since the nuts were FUBAR I had to cut the 3 studs off the cat to get it off, but I'll deal with that later. I took a few moments to celebrate this small victory and hoisted a beer.

Soo ... as the original goal is to replace a leaky clutch slave cylinder - I am now trying to remove the transfer case (BW 4405 control trac).

I can get it to rock slightly but it is not sliding off. It appears to be stuck on the dowel pin. No suprise - nothing has come easy with this job. So I got one more question for the experts:

Before I get too agressive with it, am I correct that it should slide off after removing the 5 screws or am I missing something here? If so, any tips or technics to help get it off would be appreciated. And, yes, I did remove the drive shafts, LOL.

Thanks again,
Scotty

 

[scotty1957]

Before I get too agressive with it, am I correct that it should slide off after removing the 5 screws or am I missing something here?

13lb slide hammer popped it off!

 

[scotty1957]

That 13lb slide hammer is my best friend. Needed all of it to coax the tranny off the dowel pins. 16 years of life in the salt belt has taken its toll.

New clutch plate, cover and pilot bearing installed on the old flywheel. Found the flywheel was in good shape with most of the original tool marks sill visible on the face. The ring gear looked good. Torqued all bolts to spec.

New slave which was the reason for this project. 2-bolts torqued to spec although I cringed during the whole process. Seemed like it would never get to the specified torque of 14-19ft-lbs. I got it finally to 15ft-lbs and stopped there. Too much plastic in this part for my liking. I'll clean up the dowel pins some and its ready to button back up

Oh, and I struggled forever with the clutch line "quick" disconnect fitting at the slave cylinder. I finally used dental picks to remove the plastic sleeve and then I could get a spray nozzle of canned carb cleaner up into the void left from the sleeve and pressure washed it with cleaner. Then I used the dental pick to reach into the void and feel for the springs and gently work them. Continued this process until I felt it was ready to try with th sleeve again. Re-installed the sleeve and pushed it in and presto the fitting seperated. Yay! After I got a good look inside the female end and it still had alot of dirt and grime packed in there. Anyway, clean clean clean and don't give up - it will come apart! those lines are not cheap so that is incentive.

I also took the opportunity to replace the 16yr old original starter while I had a good open access to it.

Cheers!
Scotty

 

[MrQ]

Good job! Sometimes it does take some brute force in order to get things moving. Reminds me to invest in a deadblow hammer.

 

[scotty1957]

Thanks Dan Yeah - tools range from impacts and slide hammers to dental picks for this job -

X-mission slid right back on once I got it lined up - I know, shocking, right? I used another jack on the back end to adjust the front to back angle till I got an even gap all around and the pins lined up with the holes. Sometimes you have to get creative when your working by yourself.

I added a couple pics of the female end of the old slave connector to try and show the crud that was still inside after I got it apart. This is why these give people trouble. Trick is to get it cleaned out so the springs can move out of the way. Hope this helps others that are struggling with this connector.

Snow on the pumpkin this morning so it will be good to have my 4x4 ready for the winter. My D-D is my '89 2WD Ranger - but it's probably the worst vehicle on the planet when it comes to snow and ice.

Cheers!
Scotty

 

[snoranger]

Oh, and I struggled forever with the clutch line "quick" disconnect fitting at the slave cylinder. I finally used dental picks to remove the plastic sleeve and then I could get a spray nozzle of canned carb cleaner up into the void left from the sleeve and pressure washed it with cleaner. Then I used the dental pick to reach into the void and feel for the springs and gently work them. Continued this process until I felt it was ready to try with th sleeve again. Re-installed the sleeve and pushed it in and presto the fitting seperated. Yay! After I got a good look inside the female end and it still had alot of dirt and grime packed in there. Anyway, clean clean clean and don't give up - it will come apart! those lines are not cheap so that is incentive.

Scotty

I know its a little late for you. When the connector wont come apart, pull the master off the firewall and drop it with the trans. Its much easier to get that apart when the trans is on the floor next to the truck.

 

[fsb2xlpodr]

i saw this thread a little too late.. had the exact same problem with the exhuast bolts on my 95 sport, i got the tranny to clear the pipe quite easily by lowering the t-case really far and then pulling it out almost vertically. cant be done that way on the ground i dont think, i used a 4 post lift. doesnt help now but oh well

 

[scotty1957]

I know its a little late for you. When the connector wont come apart, pull the master off the firewall and drop it with the trans. Its much easier to get that apart when the trans is on the floor next to the truck.

Your right there - that would have been alot easier! I don't know how many times I had to walk away when my thoughts turned to taking a knife and cutting the line out of frustration.

BTW - I am a fan of your Cummns swap thread.

 

[scotty1957]

i saw this thread a little too late.. had the exact same problem with the exhuast bolts on my 95 sport, i got the tranny to clear the pipe quite easily by lowering the t-case really far and then pulling it out almost vertically. cant be done that way on the ground i dont think, i used a 4 post lift. doesnt help now but oh well

Yeah, I was on the floor - I don't have the luxury of a lift - so that would not have worked out for me.
Good to know that for others that happen onto this thread. Thanks for posting your experience.

FYI - after getting the factory exhaust bolts out and inspecting them, it appears they were the 3-lobe thread locking type screws. There were definitely 3 shiney lobes along the threads on each screw - similar to these:
http://www.semblex.com/files/Powerlok-Semblex.pdf

I replaced them with property class 10.9 grade M12x1.75 hex flange bolts I got at the local Ace hardware. I found the flange dia on the head of the new screws to be larger than the originals so that I needed to use a couple washers under the head to raise it up because it would not fit down in the exhaust flange recess. It was either that or grind down the flange diameter on the screws. I also noted that the hex size was 16mm on the new screws vs. 15mm on the original screws. I wanted to know why and did a little research (I know, I'm **** about these things):

I found the original factory exhaust bolts matched (other than they were locking threads) the American National Standard Metric Hex Flange Screws ANSI/AMSE B18.2.3.4M-1984 standard. These have a 15mm hex and 24.7mm diameter flange.

The new bolts I got to replace them matched the DIN 6921 Hex Flange Bolts standard. These have a 16mm hex and 26.6mm diameter flange.

Both the same thread just slightly differing head design. For those asking why I didn't just use a standard hex head screw, it's because they have a 18mm hex - significantly larger. It was difficult enough getting a 15mm impact socket squarely on the bolts.

Sooo ... for anyone else **** enough to still be reading this ... there you have it.

 

[snoranger]

Your right there - that would have been alot easier! I don't know how many times I had to walk away when my thoughts turned to taking a knife and cutting the line out of frustration.

I've done it that way too. then spliced it back together with one of these: