Ok I"ve got every bolt undone except a very small one at the very top of the transmission which is a nut with the end of the bolt facing towards the rear. I'm not sure if I need to remove it. It's damn near impossible so I really hope I don't.

The fsm said to take off the drive shaft, but seeing as how it is one solid bar I don't see how I could take it off before dropping the transmission. On other cards I've just dropped the trans, and then pulled it forward off of the drive shaft. How would one take off the drive shaft BEFORE dropping the transmission.

Right now the transmission just sags in the middle, but the driveshaft and something else near the bell are holding it on, although I've pulled a bolt in each of the four corners already.
Anybody know what I'm missing?

 

yup, you need to remove that nut (nut on transmission side) you can get to it from under the car with extensions and an impact driver... use some wd-40 or other penetrating oil on it... let it sit for 15 min and try again... if you dont have an impact wrench-- have you tried bouncing on it from uptop? use a hammer on the wrench to break it loose -- just dont round off that nut!

the driveshaft pulls out from the trans -- make sure you drained the trans or it WILL leak gear oil out the tail.

you unbolt the driveshaft from the rear- end

EDIT: oops i was wrong, the nut is on the engine side.

 

unbolt the driveshaft from the differenetial area, be sure to mark it so you put it back on correctly. the driveshaft will just slide out after you unbolt it. be sure to support the tranny with a hydraulic jack before you lower it. and be sure you empty the fluid as well, it will weigh less.
I think there is 6 bolts in all holding the tranny on, just follow the fsm

 

dont let the trans sag, your motor mounts will hate you, and possibly break.

 

It's not sagging, I have a jack holding it up. I started unbolting the drive shaft from the rear diff, but I couldn't get to the last bolt which is now on top of the drive shaft. The way it is sitting is kind of a diamond formation.

The FSM has been a great help, but I can't really see where 6 bolts are. I've pulled one bolt from roughly each corner, and one that ran through the starter. Theres still the nut on the transmission side that I'm gonna pull. I think I'm gonna have a friend bench press the transmission up some more so the nut doesnt have so much tension on it. I have had a lot of trouble getting it off. I guess that would make 6 in all now that I think about it.
Any ideas on how to reach the last bolt on the differential? That could very well be the last thing holding it on.

 

put the trans in nuetral and rotate the rear right wheel.

 

Ok I've had the drive shaft off for like an hour or more. but I can't get the tranny to come off anyways. the nut is facing the transmission on the aboslute top of the bell housing. I just can't get the (*&)($*()%* thing off. I have no way of getting a good hold on it, sort of removing the entire UIM to get to it better. Any suggestions/ideas?

 

Use a combination wrench to get it off. That is how I always do it. If it is too tight, get another combination wrench that is a bigger size and hook it into the prongs of the first one. You should have enough leverage and space to work now.

 

I didn't have to remove that one. It's just to line it up I think. Try just sliding it out...

 

I took a picture of it. I have the entire UIM off right now. It's definitely the last thing holding it on. I'll post the picture later.

 

Uh, you cannot just slide it out if it has a nut on it preventing the transmission from moving out. I am sure it is a line up stud, but it is also supposed to have a nut on it. I have only encoutered one RX-7 that did not have that nut on it. Likely due to the previous owner's negligence in putting it back on after a clutch change.

 

done. transmission out. Thanks boys. Turns out unless I had a special impact wrench I wouldn't have been able to get it off. Frozen to the max.
You guys are life savers as always

 

Alright, tranny is out like I said, but I can't get the flywheel to stay still for any amount of time. Every bolt in my car is guaranteed to be 20x more frozen than other rx7s I've worked out, so using counter pressure hasn't worked so far.
I've searched and searched, and I remember seeing one post where I guy said he knew how to build his own flywheel brake, like the ones mazdatrix sells. I don't mind the 20 dollars, I just care about getting the job done before wednesday. How do you guys suggest I stop the flywheel?

 

i took my tranny off and replaced it last week and it took me a little more than an hour to get he tranny off. First thing you do it remove the exhuast from the downpipe on back, and if you know what you are doing this takes about five minutes. Its is two bolts and a bunch of hangers. If you dont know what you are doing it will take you 45 minutes. Also remove the heat sheilds. Now what you want to do is unbolt the driveshaft and have enough play in it to where you can get all four bolts. Unbolt it and hit it upwards with a hammer to knock it loose and pull it down and once it is down just pull it back. Cover the end of the tranny with a plastice bag so when you pull it you dont have fluid all over the place. Now while you are still under the car undo the starter and the three tranny bolts from underneath. Two of them are easy to get to and the other you have to remove the starter to get to and it can be a pain. Undo that last bolt above where the starter is and pull the bolt out. Now that you have this done take your hood off of your car, this should take two minutes. Undo the slave cylinder, an as well if you know what you are doing and you dont have a bunch of hoses in the way this should take five minutes. Now after you have done that you will have two tranny bolts left. What you should do now is look as the BACV hoses and if you have an s4 there should be a gold pipe that runs on top of the back of the UIM. It takes two 10mm bolts to remove it and pull the hoses from it and then you have enough room to access the two 14mm bolts holding the tranny in. The bolt on the passenger side is fairly easy with a socket wrench, you just have to get used to manuevering it to fit on the bolt. As for the other bolt you are going to need a 14mm wrench as well as the ratchet. Once you have this bolt undone just get underneath and pull that nasty girl out.

 

thanks, I already got the transmission off though. Check the post above to see the problem I've having right now.

 

How about getting a long piece of angle-iron, drilling two holes in it, and then bolting it to the flywheel? Make sure it is long enough piece of angle-iron to contact one of the frame wheels. Then go to town on it with a large breaker bar or impact gun.

 

Actually I am going to go pick up an extra breaker bar from a friend, and put it on the crank pulley nut. since its on the opposite side. loosening on the flywheel side is tightening on the crank nut side. should work fine