Nightmare Transmission Rebuild

Wow, I would never do it that way, but to each their own. Just remove the hub, two strut bolts out, then remove the CV shaft. Took less than an hour, and I'm one who takes his time.

How hard was it to get those two strut bolts out?

Last time I did that I had a torch and a sledge hammer and it was still hard to get out... That was in a Beretta.

Alex, that makes sense. And I will mark the bolt pattern with a white out pen. I believe this is for someone who has already replaced struts. I would need a torch/sledge if I hadn't.

Something I thought of on the way home today. I actually have physical play (about 1/4 - 1/2 inch) that I can actually move the CV joint in and out of the transmission. Is this normal? If not, that could be my problem. The car is popping around turns now and sounds like the noise the axle makes when I move it in and out of the transmission hole.

Quote :

How hard was it to get those two strut bolts out?

It's really not hard on this car. Just break the nuts loose and tap the bolts out with a hammer. Using an air impact makes the job much easier.

Morad's CV's came in today so I attempted to get the driver's side remanned CV out first. For starters, Aaron your method worked great. I don't know why I never thought of this. Simply mark where the bolts were with a white out pen. However....

for the life of me, I could not get the CV to budge. I must have wedged 3 different tools in there to try and get the ring to collapse but no dice. After hours upon hours of beating it and prying at it, I had to give up. I've done this before and remember the driver's side being difficult...but not this bad. Do any of you guys have any suggestions for getting the driver's side out? I even rented an autozone tool that did not fit onto this side. It seems like the guys who did my tranny job welded it in there.

you Cant get the old CV out?

You need a big ass Flat head pry bar.wedge it in between the CV and a hard part on the case.give it a big fuckin whang and she'll pop right out with a big KA-WHOK sound.go for it!

I popped the passenger side shaft with a Craftsman 3/8" ratchet handle from under the car. Don't know about driver side.

Haha. I tried with the big ass flat head and 3 different pry bars. I tried giving it a good whack but it's hard winding up for that on your back. So frustrating. I guess I'll have to try again and use a bigger hammer. When you say hit it are you talking about on the butt of the flat head as to drive it up into the gap or are you talking about parallel to to the flat head as to pry the CV outwards?

I just used leverage, no hammer. Need to find an object that matches the gap pretty closely.

Find a big heavy crow bar.if it's that hard to get out,it's in there good.Unusual. dont go hitting anythind down there with a hammer.you can crack the case.try and lift the car as high as you can.find a hard spot to wedge the crow bar,not against any seal or hose or anything like that,and whang it out.You need leverage.it doesnt sound like your getting enough of it.

make sure the car is properly supported by jacks.

Well I got mine all tore apart tonight. This car is a little different than the Alero. I left the lower ball joint attached, shock on. I pulled the control arm w/bracket and strut right off the car.

To get the CV out the easiest way I found is a rather large cresent wrench. I open the wrench up, fit it over the small diameter and keep it tight to it. A little leverage and pop shes out.

The fun part is putting that damned seal back in. Thats why I washed up early. I destroyed mine.

Gotta buy another $10 seal tomorrow and something to drive it in with. The pipe I had didnt work this time.

Well drew,

Based on the pictures in Ryan's thread, I have to backtrack a bit. The photos you posted look pretty normal to me now, I'm not so sure anymore about the shaft not being seated all the way. If the inner end of the CV shaft was a female end, I would have said that yours was too far out. But as it's a male end, and the visible shiny part is merely the seal portion, yours may be in properly after all.

Still, if it is leaking, you may need a new seal anyway.

Wish I had seen Ryan's pictures earlier.

Ryan, are you working on the Driver's Side? How did you mess up your seal? I was thinking about just popping it out with a pry bar similar to the saturn forum I posted: http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157297. If you could snap some pictures of your job that would be so helpful.

Thanks Derek. Do you know what would cause this seal to leak? I'm leaning toward the fact that it's an Autozone reman cv axle in there now. Would anything else cause it to leak that I should be considering? I'm trying to trouble shoot out the autozone reman by replacing it with a used OEM cv axle from Morab. Note this is a brand new rebuilt tranny as well.

Its an oil seal.

Working in industry theres a few things that can cause them to leak. Improper assembly. If you just toss the shaft in dry its possible it could be damaged. Installation, it could pull the seal off center.

The reman CV axle I got isnt polished. The oil seal and surface that rides in the bushing are sand blasted finish. Thats a NO-go (So I gotta polish mine). Also the diameter could be to small.

The oil seal is a rubber seal with a spring around it to provide a clamping effect on the shaft.

Oh and Im working on the passenger side.

Ok. That's the side I'm going to do also. Hopefully replacing the CV and seal solves mine and your leak problem. Do you know a proper way to install the new seal? Can you take pictures please?

Crap guys I ordered the wrong seal off of rock. I need "drive shaft oil seal assembly - right"....anyone know where I can get one for the 4T60-E transmission? I'm thinking dealer.

Is there a way I can get a part number for this part? Ryan, where are you getting this seal?

Advance auto parts- about $10

Im going to see if they have a loan a tool for a seal installer.

I tried a piece of pipe. But since there was no flat back to beat on and apply equal force mine wedged and ultimately mis-shaped.

For installing I try to use a very large socket. I have a 3/4 drive socket set so I usually end up finding the right size somewhere. The other option is to tap gently with a hammer criss crossing and rotating around until it goes in. This has almost always worked for me. Even with a socket it's still possible to get the seal in a diagonal and mess it up.

Weird, I'm on their site and don't see the part.

EDIT: Got the part!

OK Im all done.

I got the seal installer. Its basically worthless, meant more to install taper bearings. I had a large pipe that sat pretty well on the very outer flange of the seal. I then used the seal installer as a flat devise so when I hammered I was on center.

If you do this with my method I wise idea would be to clean the upper strut tower inside the engine bay. Use a black sharpie and trace the outline of the oblong washers. Under those are slots the strut is in. This should get you back together close enough.

Good luck with your endeavor. Im glad this car is done and this weekend I can get the for sale sign in it and get it out of here.

You're not keeping it!? Glad to hear you finished. I was thinking of just using a block of wood to bang on to make sure the seal goes in flush without damage.

You cant.

The trouble is the seal has a steel guard that is cone shaped that sticks out. Why the "Master seal installation" tool wont work.

You will need a pipe or large socket.

To much of a press fit to tap it in with a hammer. Probably will just mangle it like I did.

Hey guys. I've gone back and tried to trouble shoot one of my initial problems from this project, the inoperable cruise control. So after I got my trans rebuilt I realized my CC wasn't working. I was also getting 2200 rmp at 65 mph on the high way so I wasn't going into TCC lock up. I figured these two issues were related. I took it into the dealer and they said to try replacing the 2 brake switches under the brake pedal. I got the two switches (one is the brake light switch, one is the CC release switch). Here is what happened.

- I replace the brake light switch only and I get 1800 rpm at 65 mph (lock up!) and I get intermittent cruise control (about 10% of the time) and the CC light comes on.

- I replace BOTH the brake light switch and the CC release switch and I get 2200 rpm at 65 mph (lock up gone!) and I get absolutely no CC. The light won't even come on.

I'm confused!
I noticed the CC release switch is connected to a vacuum tube that goes into the floor. Is this connected to the trans? Where does it go? Can anyone help me or know anything about this circuit or what the hell could be going on? I feel like I'm close.....

I'm pretty sure the cruise control will not work without TCC lock-up. If your TCC isn't engaging, it's probably preventing your CC from working. So the problem may not be your CC at all, but your TCC working intermittently. Fixing the brake switch and CC unit may have seemed to fix, but maybe just coincidence.