2.7L with W59 Xmission - Clutch job stuck - Sanity check

[Staplesofficewar]

Sanity check here. Struggling to get the transmission to slid off the motor. I Have a 1/4" gap between the bell housing and the motor on the passenger side, and just enough to get a flat head screw driver tip in the drivers side.
Not including the little access plate on the bottom of the bell housing held on by 4 bolts, I have in front of me: (2) 14mm bolts that hold the starter, (3) 17 mm bolts that go through the bell housing and straight into the block, starting from right behind the clutch slave cylinder and moving clock wise up and to just barely on the passenger side. Then (2) 17mm bolts that were on the passenger side going through an exhaust bracket into the bell hosing and block.

In summary:
(2) 14 mm starter bolts
(3) 17 mm bell housing bolts
(2) 17 mm exhaust bracket / bell housing bolts.

Is this the correct count? I have looked 15 times and dont see another bolt - am i crazy?

 

[Staplesofficewar]

I do have the 2003 FSM, and looking at the W59 section i see what i mentioned above, but I am working on a 1998. FSM shows these and the 7 bolts i mentioned.

 

[davidch]

I think you may be having the same problem I had on my 2000 4-cyl 5peed: there are two steel locating pins, about 12mm in diameter, 25mm mm long, that position the transmission (the bell housing, of aluminum) to the block (iron). Ordinarily, these pins, of steel, are pounded into the block. It's not uncommon for them to seize into the bell housing. Give steel and aluminum 30 years or so, and they'll do that.

The first time this happened, it was the driver side that got stuck. I removed the intake plenum and got screwdrivers or prybars into whatever gap I had and pried the transmission back.

In a similar episode 2 years ago, this time on a V6, the same thing happened. This time I bought a 1/2" turnbuckle at Lowes or Home Depot and bolted a piece of chain to some place on the left side of the transmission/bell housing and and the other end to the turnbuckle. At the back of the turnbuckle I used another piece of chain to attach to some fixed point behind.

Then I used the turnbuckle to pull the transmission back. (I hope the ref doesn't see this. Oh, wait, that's when you slam your opponent into the turnbuckle.)

Far more elegant.

One could probably jury-rig a come-along to do this job. In any case, pulling is preferable to prying at the block/bell housing interface.

I used heat, vice grips, and rust penetrant to remove the stuck pin. Cleaned it up and pounded it back into the block