So I'm under the 240sx lifting the trans...

[OldVDubGuy]

and I can't weem to get the spline lined up correctly. Finally quit for the evening and am now looking for some help. What is the "hot tip" for getting this thing back in the car? It seems to hang up on the starter hump every time. Along the same lines, I busted my crank position sensor getting the transmission out, and I'm hesitant to put the new on on while I'm fussing around with the install, any ideas?I'm doing the whole clutch deal because of a bad main seal, and am replacing the previous owners Exedy 4 spring clutch with an "OEM" 6 spring clutch. The Exedy had a lot of clutch material left, but looked glazed and had some darker oily? spots. Is this thing totally shot or could I clean it and reuse? Time to relax and have a nice cold Yuengling! ThanksBill

[TachyonS14]

I know what you mean, it's a real pain in the a$$ to get it in. This is what I did once I got sick of banging the transmission around 50 million times.

I found the transmission VERY easy to get in if you jack the car up, and put a floor jack under the oil pan with a block of wood in between so you don't dent the pan. Then, take out the motor mounts (or loosen them) and let the floor jack down a little (VERY SLOWLY). This way the whole engine will be lower and those top pesky bolts on the bell housing are SO easy to get to now. And the transmission is MUCH easier to put in. If you are not good with cars, I don't recommend this because you have to check all your lines up top so when you lower the engine, you don't stretch or rip anything.

If I recall correctly, I just had to pop the fan out of the shourd, but have make sure to look while you are letting the floor jack out.

[OldVDubGuy]

Thanks for the tip! I've always been a VW/Audi guy and I thought the Germans were into the whole masochistic thing because of how nearly impossible cetain things were to get at...but this takes the cake. This is my first Nissan and I'm gaining a whole new level of respect for the work involved.

[Cygnus_X_1]

i know when installing my auto (same bellhousing) that i had to turn the trans towards the passanger side about 10-15 degrees to clear the hump. made things easier with a trans jack, and second person tho...

[Shadar]

Another option is to use a jack + piece of wood on the very edge of the oilpan closest to the front of the car and jack the engine up in such a manner that it angles downwards a bit.. (while doing this watch for fans/hoses to make sure you don't jack it up too far...)

I really didn't have to angle it very much to get this to work and it went from a 3 hour struggle(failure) to like a 15 minute struggle(success) heh;)

once you get the transmission in a bit, you have to let the engine back down to get it to line back up, but this helps a lot for getting the engine/transmission close enough to do the final mating.

not sure where you're failing to get in though, as far as getting the splines to line up for the last couple inches, i dunno, try jacking the back of the transmission up perhaps? i think we ended up doing that also to get it to line up a bit better.

oh, and if you have a 95-98(S14) i've heard it's impossible to get the transmission in with that sensor attached, so you'll have to get it in and then reattach the sensor using your fantastic four powers;)

good luck,

Ben

[Structure240sx]

i nearly turned it 90 degrees before it would slide in. if you're talking about the sensor on top of the transmission it jsut bolts to the bellhousing with one of the bolts for the bellhousing iirc. btw i did this by myslef with a floor jack under the transmission and one under the oil pan to angle the engine. try doing it by yourself with an auto that weighs twice as much. thank god i switched to 5spd

[solaris22]

or have someone pull down on the rear of the engine...works better if you have a lift. Worked like a charm for us.

[extheflow]

i nearly turned it 90 degrees before it would slide in. if you're talking about the sensor on top of the transmission it jsut bolts to the bellhousing with one of the bolts for the bellhousing iirc. btw i did this by myslef with a floor jack under the transmission and one under the oil pan to angle the engine. try doing it by yourself with an auto that weighs twice as much. thank god i switched to 5spd

yep what he said, just did one a couple weeks ago and had one hell of a time with it, until of course one of my freinds crawled under there, twisted the transmission about 90degrees and slammed it in on the first try. if you look at the body there are three dents there that coincide with three humps on the bellhousing(when turned properly) fits in kinda like a key, once the input shaft is seated fully in the pilot bearing you can roll it around and bolt it up without breakin a sweat.

[TachyonS14]

I tried doing it that way too because when you pull the transmission out you have to turn it. But like you extheflow, I have lots of marks under my car from me bashin the transmission around. So I just used the floor jack way.

[OldVDubGuy]

Update...Thanks again for all of the advice. after jacking the front of the motor, we were able to slam the trans. home on the 2nd try, and only 5 minutes time. You were right TachyonS14, the two bolts on top of the bellhousing were MUCH easier to work on at that angle. She started up 1st try and after swapping the shifter 180 degrees DUHH! it shifted great too. No worries so far........Now on to the front crank seal this week. Thanks again.

[240 Trainee]

Jacking up the front of the engine didn't work for me. I used a huge crowbar against the firewall to push the engine donw. Never again, I would loosent eh motor mounts, but it worked at the time. Glad you finally got it in.