Pbennison

Help please!!!

Ok, so this may sound like I am an idiot but I am close to having the transmission out of my 2003 S10, 4X4, 4.3L. I am following the Factory Service Manual and looking through forums like this one, but I have yet to figure this one out. I have the driveshaft out, the tranny support out, exhaust back to the muffler out, transfer case out and starter motor as well as the other stuff listed in the FSM. I have marked the relationship of the TCC to the flywheel, but the next step says to “Remove the flywheel to torque converter bolts. Use care not to drop the bolts into the bell housing”. I have no idea where they are but I assume they are inside since they say not to drop them. I have moved the flyheel looking for bolts but I cannot find anything?
I have been looking for a couple hours and now feel like I am just getting frustrated. I did take a break and even went back out and removed all the transmission bolts to the engine and after looking again with no luck.
Am I blind? Can someone may send me a picture or describe for me? I feel like an idiot but I know that someone may have a simple visual to give me an idea.

Thanks for any suggestions….

99MUSTANG5.3L

I have no experience with the 4.3 but it has to be like the v8's and they have 3 bolts holding the converter to flexplate. If you position yourself where the trans and engine meet where you removed the starter, you should be able to see the flexplate/converter. Use a large flatblade screwdriver to rotate the engine via the flexplate until you find the bolts. I then usually use the screwdriver to hold/wedge the flexplate while I loosen the bolts.

Y87bird00

iTrader: (6)

They are in there, you can use a breaker bar an a socket on the crank pulley bolt to rotate the engine over slowly until the bolts appear in the starter opening on the bell housing. They are sometimes a pain.



Be careful when you reinstall them, make sure they are good and tight with red locktite.

Pbennison

Thanks guys that was it and the picture made it clear. I got all 3 bolts out, with one falling before I could grab it. I assume I can grab that once the transmission separates from the engine.

Which is my next problem. I have all the transmission - engine bolts out, but I when I go to lower the transmission it will not break from the engine. I don't want to start banging things, do they sometimes take some encouragement to break free? I assumed with it being so heavy it would drop easily.

FirstYrLS1Z

iTrader: (4)

there should be/will be 2 locating dowels between tranny and block,requiring tranny to be moved back 1/2-1" before it can be lowered. The dowels are tight fitting and with additional corrosion,sometimes it becomes aggravating. You should have an extra tranny hole(that wasn't used for a bolt) on each side and spraying 'liquid wrench' or 'pb blaster' into those dowel holes should help.

Pbennison

I did notice that there was one extra on each side and didn't even think of it till you said that. I will go ahead and spray them and let them soak before trying again. Ordered a rebuilt transmission and it is supposed to be here Thursday, so I have some time.

Thanks for the quick reply.

FirstYrLS1Z

iTrader: (4)

most of the time,one side dowel pin will loosen first and when that occurs,it means the other one is close to looseness. some manual rocking up & down,left & right finishes it. once they start,using a very slight up & down with whatever tranny jack you're using will free them both.

Pbennison

Thanks everyone. I blasted it with Liquid Wrench and then hooked up a come along and with a couple clicks it popped right back. With a little bit of maneuvering I finally got it down and out from underneath the truck.

Between this forum and the S10forum every time I got stuck someone had a suggestion within an hour. I have never dropped a transmission until this one.

Now I wait for the rebuilt one to arrive on Thursday and reverse this whole process.

Thanks again and hopefully I can help someone out in the future.