if i recall correctly there's one on top, on that same side as the starter, but it should be easily accessible from above

 

yeah, there is one more on the left side of the bellhousing above the starter. find your negative battery cable and follow it to its grounding point on the trans. that will be your last bolt.

 

Like right beside the oil filter? I already got that one.

 

like i said, follow your negative cable to the trans. the negative cable is grounded to the trans through the bolt im describing. its above the starter on the left side of the bellhousing. you should have to remove 5 total bolts.

 

Hey, I feel your pain. The first time I took out my tranny I was by myself. It gets easier every time though. I'm sure the guys here can attest to that.

 

Ok with my brother helping me, I got *most* of the trans separated from the engine. However, the engine hook bolt is holding it on, and for the life of me I can't get that stupid bolt out. Any ideas? The end is slotted, but I can't get enough torque on a screw driver to even turn the thing.

 

i don't know what you mean by the engine hook bolt?..

 

Its the bolt that goes through the engine and bellhousing that attaches the engine lift hook. No matter though...



Finally gave after prying with screwdrivers, tire irons, wrenches, jack arms, twisting, shaking, and cursing it to hell. Weird part is...the pilot bearing didn't come out with it like I thought it might. Also, the t/o bearing looks to be in good shape too, it moves freely with no noise. So I don't really get why the clutch just stopped working.

 

Enji, (name of the car), she works strangely. The method that worked for getting it out was whispering softly to her, sort of caressing her, then ramming everything I had, as hard as I could into any orifice I could find. Yeah shes a kinky bitch, but it worked.

 

hahahaha congrats, sometimes that's the best way to do anything.."hold on babe, this will only hurt a bit.." .....anyways, so your P/B is not trashed?...what is the reason you're taking out your tranny for?...what happened to the clutch?

 

I'll refer you to the thread...

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/driveline-sound-what-781483/

It stopped working completely shortly after the intitial post. I'm kinda worried now as to what it could be. Any ideas?

 

you know, i'm not sure, but it sounds to me like it has to do with your tranny more than the clutch components,...unless your clutch has broken springs or something, but if it has trouble going into gear unless its under load then i believe it has to do with your tranny gears and stuff, just my opinion.

 

I was thinking possibly the same. However, it never once grinded any gear before it went, and the end play on both the input and output shaft are very, very good. No pieces of metal in the gear oil larger than the typical "dust" and when it finally did quit working all together (broke) I was parked with the clutch in. Also, last time I started it, this is what happened. I could move the shifter around completely normally in and out of gears when the car was OFF. When I turned the car on, and pushed in the clutch and tried to move it into *any* gear the car would begin to creep forward like the clutch was not disengaged from the flywheel. It would be like starting it then trying to force it into first gear without pushing in the clutch. Maybe my pressure plate broke? Although it looked fine to me? I'll figure it out next weekend, when I work on the car again. School leaves me no time during the week.


NINJA EDIT: By the way, thanks everybody for all the tips and support. I'm fairly certain this is the most kick-*** forum on the entire internet. May teh 7 neva lose.

 

Where was your clutch engaging before it all went to ****? As far as the pedal I mean. On the fiance's FC I needed to adjust the pedal because it was doing the exact same thing you are talking about. The clutch was being moved but not quite far enough to completely disengage. I bet you had a hell of a time shifting with the clutch too???

 

^^ sounds like he did....or maybe the travel distance was too short so it was overpressing the clutch thus it screwed up the pressure plate ... but you said you had the tranny off already didn't you?...it should be easy to check from there if clutch components are good, then i'll say check the tranny internals

 

Only after the car got warm (driving for 20 mins or more) would it be any harder to get it in gear, but when it was cool it worked fine, and the pedal engagement didn't seem abnormal to me. Am I looking at a hydraulic problem, not a mechanical one? The only thing is that it made a really nasty sound just before it stopped working, which leads me to believe its something inside the clutch, not the master or slave cylinder. I didn't look inside, but could it be that the pilot bearing broke in half or something and was preventing movement? The pressure plate looked "ok" but I didn't really investigate it.

 

if it was making grinding noises from the tranny area then make sure you inspect every part thoroughly but there's only so many things that can be making those noises and it's always because they're shattered, i'm still going with tranny internals if you can't find any broken pieces of either pilot bearing, throwout bearing, or clutch springs....or the pressure plate's teeth are weak

 

if the pilot bearing were to go bad, it would prevent you from putting the trans in gear with the engine running. it would feel like you are not pressing the clutch in. this would mean that the pilot bearing's needle bearing seized or were stuck to the input shaft of the trans. which would explain why the trans was very difficult to remove. been ther done that. check for small needle bearings on the floor and for loose ones rolling around in the race. check for marring of the input shaft and inspect for any metal burrs as well. i would remove the pressure plate and clutch disc as well. inspect the disc for wear of the friction material and loose springs. check the pressure plate for bent forks or a work or blued friction surface. let us know what you find.

 

I have a new t/o bearing, pilot bearing, pressure plate, and clutch disk, and I plan on replacing the whole thing (I think its on original factory parts still, at just over 100k miles) I too think its the pilot bearing, but it didn't come out with the trans, I'm gonna feel around in there see if its in pieces.

 

i HIGHLY reccomend the oem mazda pilot bearing remover. i have not found anything that has worked to remove the pilot bearing as well as this little guy. its expensive but in my opinion, WELL worth the price. i use it a couple times a year and it is such a valuable tool. it can be purchased here: http://www.mazdatrix.com/ftools.htm
here's a pic of the beast:

 

Yeah I saw it on mazdatrix, but can't afford a $100 tool right now

 

best of luck getting the pilot bearing out without it. i've tried the elcheapo pullers and nothing has worked as well as this tool...

 

People have slightly modified the one off harbor freight to work. Costs ~ 20 bucks. I know a bunch have people have done it, cant remember what they do to it though

 

well, if you remember, please post. i have th eone from harbor freight and it would be nice to have a second pilot tool

 

the three bottom teeth on the harbor freight one are too big to fit inside the pilot bearing so basically people do trial and error and grind the teeth down until they can get it to fit but being careful not to over do it.... https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...harbor+freight