Removed 48RE in my driveway

[PHeadings]

Read a while back someone dropped there transmission in there driveway, does someone recall the thread? I broke my flexplate :{

 

[ThomasLawrence]

Read a while back someone dropped there transmission in there driveway, does someone recall the thread?

Not specifically, but I've done it a few times (twice on my truck alone) on a lift (once on a 4-poster, so other than the concenience of standing instead of laying under the truck, the procedure's the same).



First, remove the skid plate and skid-plate crossmember. Next, remove your front driveshaft. You'll need a T-40 Torx bit. Having a long-necked bit (4-6") will really help, but it can be done with the normal-length bits, if you re-position the truck as needed (to turn the shaft and get the U-joint at the proper angle to allow clearance for the bit and socket). Alternatively, I disconnected the CV joint from the transfer case (four 15mm bolts), and slid the shaft apart at the slip joint (just remove the clamp that holds the boot in place).



Once that's done, drain the fluid from the transfer case (use a clean container, and you can re-use it if desired) by removing the drain plug with a 3/8" allen key. Next, disconnect the rear driveshaft from the rear differential (four bolts), and drop the center carrier bearing (tow bolts - QC/LB only). Slide the slip yoke out of the transfer case. Set the driveshafts aside.



Disconnect the electrical connectors from the transfer case (if it's electrically-shifted - if it's a manual case, disconnect the shift linkage rod). Also disconnect the vent tube from the top of the case. Now remove the six nuts that hold the transfer case to the transmission. They're on the back side of the mounting flange (they point towards the front of the truck). You can safely remove these without the T-case falling on you - just don't bump it when you remove the last nut. Some of the nuts are in tough-to-reach spots - Gear Wrenches are your best friends in these situations.



Once they're off, get a good grip on the T-case, and slide it back and off the transmission. It weighs about 100lbs. , so depending on your physical ability, you might be able to handle it yourself, you might want a helper, or you might want to put a jack with a transmission adapter under it (probably the safest way to go). However you do this, set the T-case aside.



Now you need to drain at least some (if not all) of the fluid from the transmission. If you have a pan with a drain plug, that's the easiest way. If not, stick some tubing down the dipstick and siphon out about 4 quarts. The last option is to drop the pan itself, which is potentially the messiest of all options. The bottom line here is that you're going to have to remove the dipstick from the passenger side of the transmission, and the fluid level is higher than the hole where the dipstick goes into. However you choose, get the fluid drained from the transmission, the remove the bellhousing bolt that holds the dipstick in place, remove the dipstick, and plug the hole in the case where it came out of.



The next step is to remove the six converter-to-flexplate bolts. Remove the inspection cover (two little bolts) to expose the ring gear. On the passenger side, locate the engine adapter plate (big hunk of aluminum that the bellhousing actually bolts to). On the engine-facing side of this will be a cover plate. Remove this cover plate to expose about a 1" hole (this is where the barring tool would go to allow you to turn the engine). This hole will let you access the converter bolts. Using a big flathead screwdriver, rotate the engine (counter-clockwise as you look at the ring gear from behind) until a bolt becomes accessible through the hole. Remove it, and repeat the process for all six converter bolts. The FSM tells you to remove the starter, but that's completely unnecessary (and doesn't help with access to the converter bolts, either). I've since done transmission R&R's without touching the starter.



Now that that's done, you can disconnect the cooler lines from the driver's side of the transmission (have something to plug the tubes with - they'll probably have some fluid left in them). Disconnect the electrical connectors (don't forget about the overdrive connector, towards the back), the shift linkage, and the TV cable linkage. Now it's time to support the transmission with a jack. Once done, you can unbolt the rear mount, and remove the rear crossmember (two big bolts on each side, and it will slide out).



The last step is to remove the remaining bellhousing bolts, then you can slide the transmission back, drop it down, and remove it from under the truck.



Here's a link to some pictures of my ATS transmission swap - it's got some specifics on bolt/nut sizes:



http://home.earthlink.net/~tlawrence5/trans/trans1.html



Hope that helps... good luck!



-Tom

 

[PHeadings]

Tom, nice right up! I see you got the flexplate to, thumbs up! I guess i didn't understand the flex plate was used for more than just starting the truck. So, how hard do you think it would be to change just the flex plate? I still don't understand how it mounts to the t-converter. It looks like it mounts to the main shaft from the engine before the transmission goes back in. How do you get it mounted to the t-converter brfore installing the transmission? Do you split the case on the t-converter and mount the back half to the flex plate first?

 

[ThomasLawrence]

I see you got the flexplate to, thumbs up!

Yeah - but initially, I didn't. When I had my trans out the second time to replace a bad front band, I smartened up, and installed the billet flex plate. Once foolish, twice stupid

I still don't understand how it mounts to the t-converter.

The torque converter is bolted to the flexplate by six bolts. The head of the bolt is on the engine-side of the flexplate (which is why you have to access it through that cover on the engine adapter). If you look at some of my pics of the stock transmission (this one in particular), you'll see blocks welded onto the torque converter. These blocks have tapped holes for the bolts to thread into.



The torque converter is welded shut - you can't open it up.



Once you remove the transmission, the flex plate will unbolt from the crankshaft with another 8 bolts (shown here).



When you re-install the transmission, you bolt the bellhousing up to the engine adapter plate first, then you spin the flexplate/ring gear and converter to align the bolt holes with the mounting lugs of the torque converter, and install the mounting bolts through the front side of the adapter plate (through that cover-plate opening). Look again at the image of the flex plate. You'll see the six mounting holes around the outer circumference. The one at approximately 3 o'clock (more like 2:45) is dark inside... that's lined up with the access hole in the adapter plate. You come through there with the bolt, and run the bolt into one of the mounting lugs on the converter. Rotate the flexplate/converter (now that one bolt is holding them together) to align the next hole with that access cover, install another bolt, repeat.



It'll make more sense when you're actually doing it



-Tom

 

[PHeadings]

Ya, I think I got ya.

It sounds like the t-converter splits in two parts. The main guts and the back half stay on the input shaft. The other half of the t-converter gets mounted to the flexplate. When trans goes back in and is lined up you can attach the small outer bolts through the inspection hole to bolt the t-converter together. Right?

 

[ThomasLawrence]

It sounds like the t-converter splits in two parts.

It does? You must have missed this:

The torque converter is welded shut - you can't open it up

The main guts and the back half stay on the input shaft.

Nope - the converter unbolts from the flexplate, then when you remove the transmission, the whole converter slides off the input shaft. Look at that previous picture I linked to of the stock converter. That's the entire converter there in the bellhousing. At that point, you can just grab hold of it, and slide it off the input shaft. This (click here) is what the transmission looks like with the torque converter removed. And this (click here) is the torque converter re-installed. The converter has a hub on the back side of it, that slips over those splined shafts (the input and reaction shafts), and engages the pump. The only thing that holds the converter in place is the fact that it's bolted up to the flexplate, and the transmission bellhousing is bolted to the engine.

When trans goes back in and is lined up you can attach the small outer bolts through the inspection hole to bolt the t-converter together. Right?

This is correct. You'll install the converter onto the input shaft first (that's assuming you actually remove it from the transmission - you don't have to if all you're doing is changing the flexplate)... make sure it completely seats. You have to turn it back and forth, because you have three sets of splines to line up (input shaft, reaction shaft, and pump drive dogs). You know it's in all the way if the trans bolts up tight to the engine, and you can still spin the converter. Then yes, you bolt the flexplate to the converter through the hole in the engine adapter plate.