DIY: Tranny removal and Input Shaft Bearing change

**wynode** · 05-12-2004 05:27 PM

Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!

OK, so this kills two birds with one stone. THe first part of taking the tranny out is the same procedure for changing a clutch.

Aim: Remove transmission to change Input Shaft Bearing (ISB) and any other bearings.

Required:

(Sorry if I haven't mentioned tool/bolt/socket sizes as I don't remember them exactly!)

Tools
- A good set of sockets from 9mm upto 32mm
- 3/8 or 1/2inch (recomended) drive ratchets
- Socket extensions to get into those hard to reach places
- 1/2inch Breaker bar
- Hex key for interlock guide bolt
- Flat and phillips head scredrivers
- Torque wrench
- Trolley jack
- Axel stands

Other
- Around 2.5 to 3L of Manual Tranmission Fluid (MTF)
- High temp CV joint grease
- Hondabond or equivalent sealant to seal up the transmission housing
- Input Shaft Bearing (duh!)
- Rubber oil seal under the ISB
- Any other bearings that might need to be changed (check them now cause you don't wanna do this again!)

Ok so lets do it!

Steps:

1. First we need to jack up the car and support it with axle stands. Then take both rims off and disconnect the negative terminal from the battery.

2. Next we need to drain the gearbox oil. With the car properly supported by jack stands, look through the driver side wheel arch and undo the oil drain bolt till all the oil in the gearbox is empty.

3. Next, undo the 32mm hub nut that holds the driveshaft to the wheel hub. Use a flat head screwdriver to lift up the tab of the hub nut that keeps it from spining. Once this is done, unscrew the 32mm hub nut. You might need an air tool for this, but otherwise a breaker bar for sure. There's a few ways to remove this without an air tool, reply back and I'll tell you how.

4. We now need to pop the lower ball joint out. Many people have trouble with this. Most people tend to hammer the crap out of the lower control arm (LCA) to pop the joint but there is an easier way. Firstly, jack the entire hub assembly up by placing the jack under the LCA. Then, take out the cotter pin going through the castle nut at the bottom of the ball joint. Undo the castle nut but don't take it off, leave it a few turns on the ball joint bolt. Jack the hub enough so you can wedge the end of your breaker bar (or ratchet/anything solid) between the lower control arm and ball joint holder like so:

Make sure its sitting securely. Then lower you jack and the joint should pop. If it doesn't, just use your foot and give the wheel hub a whack straight down. I took a little video of it and it sounded like this when the joint popped. Ball Joint Vid

The popped ball joint should look like this:

5. Once the ball joint is popped, push the tip of the axle through the centre of the hub (use an extension and a hammer to hit it through if its hard to just push it) and let the drive shaft sit out like so:

6. Next we need to seperate the driver side driveshaft from the transmission housing. When doing this, NEVER just pull on the shaft as you will pop the joints! To get it loose, you will have to wedge a screwdriver between the transmission casing and the inboard joint to pry it apart from the casing. Hold the driveshaft like so when prying it/pulling it out:

7. The passenger side driveshaft and intermediate shaft are a bit easier. After you have popped the passenger side lower ball joint and seperated the axle from the hub, simply undo the 3 bolts near the oil filter that hold the intermediate shaft in place. Once these are undone, you can just slide the passenger side driveshaft and intermediate shaft out together as a single piece. These are the 3 bolts holding the intermediate shaft:

8. While we are under the car, we might as well take out the 2 bolts that connect the rear tortion mount to the tranny. There is also another bolt that connects the engine to the tranny. I didn't get a chance to take a pic of it, but i've marked where it is in the pic.

9. While we are still under the car, there are another 3-4 bolts that hold the flywheel cover in place (Sorry I haven't got a pic, but they are pretty obvious!)

10. Next we need to undo the shift linkage(s). There is only one rod for changing gears, the other one is a stabiliser. The stabiliser comes off easy by simply undoing the bolt. Undo it and move it out of the way.
The next bit is a bitch to do. You basically have to whack the spring clip out (use a hole punch or the like, i used a bolt that I had lying around) so you can seperate the spring clip. It requires a heck of a lot of pounding to get out!!! I actually couldnt be bothered pounding it under the car, so I undid the linkage at the base of the shifter and lowered the tranny with the linkage still attached to the tranny.

(Below: Shift linkage on the left, stabiliser linkage on the right)

11. Once this is done, get out from under the car and move towards the top. Firstly you need to unplug the following connectors from the top of the transmission housing. (It is best that you take out your airbox and intake arm to get easy access.)

A. Vehicle speed sensor (VSS)*
B. Backup light switch*
C. O2 sensor connector
D. The two connectors going to the back of the starter
*You do not have to take these sensors out yet, just unplug their connectors

12. Next we take out the starter motor. There are two bolts that hold the starter motor in place on either side of the starter. Take them out, and then the starter motor should just slide out.

13. Now lets take out the clutch slave cylinder. Firstly remove the dust cover that protects the slave cylinder piston and the release fork. Then undo the 2 bolts that hold the slave cylinder hardline in place. Next undo the 2 bolts that hold the slave cylinder in place and then you can move the slave cylinder out of the way. We just tied the slave cylinder to the radiator fan bracket with some old wire! Be very careful that you do not bend the clutch hard line and also make sure you don't operate the clutch once this is done!

14. Now lets proceed to removing the tranny from the engine. We need to support the engine first, so place a piece of wood under the sump, and use a jack to support the engine under the sump (the wood prevents the sump getting damaged by the jack). You can use your trolley jack or even the stock honda jack. Jack it up till the engine/tranny rise up a little so you know for sure the jack(s) are taking the weight. I was paranoid so I used a few jacks I had he he he. Looks a bit like something from a construction site eh?

15. With the engine/tranny properly supported, lets get to seperating the tranny from the engine. Take out the 5 bolts that hold the tranny to the engine. I've numbered them the best I can in the pics (note there is one bolt under where the slave cylinder sits #1.

16. Next are the transmission mounts. THere are two on the driver side. The top mount and the front mount. Around now is a good time to put another jack under the transmission to help support it while you take it out. The tranny is not all that heavy, but its weight distribution makes it hard to handle.
Take out the earthing cable that connects from the car body to the transmission first (see pic below), then undo the 3 bolts that hold the top mount to the transmission.

17. The undo the 3 bolts that hold the front tranny mount to the tranny.

18. To remove the front mount completely, there are two bolts that go into the body (sorry no pic, but once you pop your head under the car and move away the splash guard you'll see it!)

Now all the bolts are out and the tranny is ready to be seperated

19. Lean over the driver side front quarter panel and (with a jack positioned with some wood on it, under the tranny) shake the tranny from side to side to get apart from the engine. We found the best way was to use a hammer and hit against the opening for the release fork a few times, then do the same on the opposite end, hiting the tranny against the diff casing. Once it is loose, make sure you support it properly as you slide the tranny out. Putting excessive weight on the input shaft splines could damage not only the splines and the input shaft, but also your clutch!

20. As I said before, I didn't seperate the shift linkage from the tranny, so once the tranny was out, it looked like this:

21. If you are going to do any work on the tranny, I recommend you tape up the input shaft splines to protect it. I used some electrical tape on it.

Now that the tranny is out, lets get started on opening it up and changing the ISB!

**wynode** · 05-12-2004 05:28 PM

Changing the ISB

22. With the input shaft taped up, place the tranny with the input shaft facing downwards, and make sure you place it on two blocks of wood in order to prevent damaging the input shaft.

23. Undo the 32mm sealing bolt using a 3/8inch drive.

24. Unscrew and remove the backup light switch and then loosen the transmission housing attaching bolts in a criss cross pattern and remove them.

25. Use a wedge or a hammer to seperate the transmission housing from the clutch housing (note you will not be able to remove the transmission housing completely till you get the snap ring out in the next step).

26. Expand the snap ring on the countershaft bearing using either some snap ring pliers or conventional pliers. NOTE: that this part is very tricky and can be quite time consuming!! You have to yank the case up and shimmy it while expanding the snap ring, in order to get it out of the groove and off the bearing!

27. Once you get the snap ring out, the tranny housing case should lift off! The reason you have to move it around is also because the mainshaft bearing sits in the transmission housing.

28. To get to the ISB, we need to lift out the shift fork assemblies and the gearsets. First undo the reverse shift holder by taking the two bolts holding it down. Then lift the reverse idler shaft straight up and take out the reverse idler gear.

Reverse shift holder:

Reverse idler shaft and gear seen at the bottom of the pic:

29. Then undo the linterlock guide bolt (hex key required) found on the clutch housing side. Then undo the Shift Arm B Attaching bolt and washer on top of the interlock.

Interlock guide bolt removed:

Shift Arm B attaching bolt and washer:

30. You can now pull the shift fork assemblies and gearsets straight out of the tranny. Just grab the mainshaft and countershaft assemblies cleanly by the gears (not the shycho hub/color) and lift straight up. A bit of wiggling may be required.

31. The differential can be removed by lifting it straight out of the clutch housing.

From the top - Reverse Idler gear, Reverse shift holder, Reverse idler gear shaft, Differnetial and mainshaft/countershaft/shift fork assemblies.

32. Getting the ISB out is pretty easy. Just go in through the clutch housing side and tap the ISB out using a long extension and 5/8" socket. If you have trouble, just heat up the area around the ISB with a hair dryer.

33. Take out the oil seal using a flat head screwdriver.

34. Put a new oil seal in (lube it up a bit with some oil before putting it in), then put the new ISB in and tap it down with even force. I put mine in the freezer for around 10 mins so it would go down easier! Ohh......and the trusty stock honda shift knob does still have a use!

35. I also noticed my countershaft needle bearing was sitting out of its seat, so I just tapped it back in.

Before:

After:

36. Once you have changed the bearings, I suggest you take out the 28mm plug bolt and 1st/2nd select spring so that you can turn the interlock in order to align it with the base of the shift forks.

Plug bolt @ base of picture:

37. Now lower the mainshaft/countershaft/shift fork assemblies and once the mainshaft/countershaft/shift fork assemblies are in, install the plug bolt (54Nm) and 1st/2nd select spring (put some liquid gasket on the threads of the plug bolt). Then install the shift Arm B attaching bolt+washer (31Nm) and make sure the interlock is lined up correctly with the base of the shift forks.

38. After you do this, ensure that the interlock is aligned up properly with the interlock guide bolt and tighten it (39Nm). If you don't, you will not only damage the interlock when you put the interlock guide bolt back in, but also be locked out of some gears.

The pic below shows the correct alignment for the interlock guide bolt (on either side of the hole are the sides of the interlock and in the middle is the shift arm shaft).

Correct alignment:

39. Clean off any old sealant from the mating surfaces of the clutch/tranny housing and apply a new layer of liquid gasket.

Ben hard at it with the sealant!!!

40. Lower the tranny housing casing and expand the snap ring so that it sits in the groove of the countershaft bearing and also in the groove of the tranny housing casing. Once you get the snap ring half way in the groove, try turning the tranny on it side so the weight of the gearsets will pull the snap ring into its groove (kinda hard to expain, but you'll know when its in!)

41. Torque all the tranny housing bolts in a criss-cross even pattern to 27Nm (tighten them evenly first, then torque them after that).

42. Screw the backup light switch back up again.

43. Put some liquid gasket on the 32mm sealing bolt and torque it up to 25Nm.

44. Puting the tranny back in is pretty much the reverse of taking it out so just take your time and don't rush things.

45. Filing up the gearbox oil can be done either via the fill hole, or by taking out the vehicle speed sensor (VSS). There is ONLY 1 BOLT holding it in and it's a really tall bolt. Just fill it via the VSS hole till you see fluid coming out of the fill hole. My D16A8 took a bit over 2.5L.

You can see the VSS siting on the left of the pipe here:

Be very careful that you do not over tighten the VSS bolt as it will snap the bracket (trust me I did it!).

46. MAKE SURE YOU DO THE FOLLOWING when puting everything back together.

- Lube the mainshaft splines, release fork (where it contacts the release bearing, its pivot and the slave cylinder) and the release bearing insides and circular contact (where it touches the pressure plate/diaphram spring) with some high temp CV joint grease
- Lube the drive shaft/axel splines with some grease so they don't rust and are easy to take out in the future.
- Torque the castle nut on the lower ball joint to 55Nm
- Install the cotter pin on the castle nut (YOU MUST NOT SKIP THIS!)
- Tighten the 32mm hub nut to and bend the metal tab into the indent (YOU MUST NOT SKIP THIS!)

Other comments

I think i've covered most things, so reply back if I haven't..........and just take your time when you are doing this and don't rush anything

Gluck and have FUN!

PS: I would like to thank ECU-MAN, Bren, some of my other mates and the internet for all the help they gave me

**SiR JDM** · 05-12-2004 07:28 PM

That is a very indepth and well writen guide!! Top work win!

**showpony** · 05-12-2004 07:49 PM

Awesome write up, well done. This will help heaps for when i have to do this myself once i get my car back from the panel beaters. Its only my third gearbox.

**ECU-MAN** · 05-12-2004 08:17 PM

nice write-up Win.

**Choongas** · 05-12-2004 10:27 PM

Awesome write-up! I was gonna one but knew you were doing yours too soo...

Pretty much the same with a B16A box... a breaker bar is a must!

I also took off the gearbox with the shift linkage still attached.. that damn pin wouldn't come out!

**wynode** · 06-12-2004 08:04 AM

I just had to clarify the order of the shift arm B attaching bolt and interlock guide bolt installation so have updated steps 37 and 38

**jim** · 06-12-2004 09:10 AM

Whoa! Good work man, Great pics and commentary.

**bennjamin** · 10-12-2004 12:36 AM

*update*

Another Ozhonda success story - today myself and the Admin pulled out another D-series gbox...in record time.

Id like to add - the most annoyign art of this , step 3. , can be replaced with simply breaking the ball joints, then lifting the midhaft+LHS drvieshaft thru...and same with the RHS driveshaft.

Also , for STOCK exhaust manifolds - the 2-1 exit for the exhaust manifold MUST be removed ( 5 x bolts + 2 spring loaded bolts) to access flywheel cover etc.

**wynode** · 10-12-2004 08:08 AM

I concurr!

You don't have to take out the annoying 32mm hub nut! Just pop the ball joints and pull the driveshafts out and move them out of the way

SHould reduce the time it takes to do the whole thing dramatically!

**bennjamin** · 10-12-2004 09:34 PM

*AND* to add !

Flywheel machine / clutch change / rear main seal can be done easily when the gb is out ! DIY soon...

BTW take apart the GB via snap-ring etc FIRST before handing to a professional...sometimes there is things you can do yourself before gettign charged labour *sigh*