I'm in the process of dropping and rebuilding my transmission. I'm also doing it in a 1 car garage, alone, on jackstands, without air tools. Yeah, well, I do have plenty of time.

After a couple good PB Blaster soaks I've only been able to budge loose one of the 4 bottom PPF nuts. I used an 18" breaker bar and dead-blow hammer to bust it loose. I've always felt the hammer is very important to busting loose the fastener.

- Ok, so I can hammer at the lower ones like this, but it looks like I'll need a 8-12" extension to reach the upper nuts. Can't hammer on the extension setup - will a big cheater pipe do the trick?

Suggestions please. I nearly popped my shoulder hammering across my body on my back.

Dave

 

A cheater pipe might work. However, you might need an extra hand tugging on it to help break it loose.

I've had one or two instances where a second person just barely adding any force at all was just that little extra I needed to break something loose.

 

a 3-4 ft length of pipe will make it easy work and is pref to the hammer... it also makes it easy to put the approx 130 ft pounds of torque on the nuts when you reinstall..

good luck

howard coleman

 

Will pick up some pipe on my way home today. (Or just detach my jack handle and use it)

Makes me nervous though - being entirely under the car and yanking with all my might. It's steady as a rock on the jackstands, but it's up a little higher than normal. I think the extra day of PB soak will help though. Is there loc-tite that might justify a little torch heating?

On retorque, I figure I could do two things: 1) tighten to 100ft-lb using my 1/2" torque wrench, then use the breaker bar for an extra fraction of a turn or 2) retighten using the cheater pipe, and a 50lb fishing scale attached 31" from the bolt.

Should I use copper anti-seize on reassy? Or loc-tite blue?

Dave

 

Those nuts were a bitch to remove when I did my tranny. I just used a breaker bar with a long extension, and they came off without too much trouble. It did take some hard pulling to get them loose. For re-installation, just tighten the crap out of them I didn't put anything on the nuts.

If you feel uncomfortable under the car during this, put an extra jack or two under the car to catch it if it comes down.

 

the last time i had to remove them, i braced myself and pushed with my leg. i didnt take a whole lot of effort doing it that way.

 

Thinking physics, that would be a hell of a lot safer since I won't be directly pushing to topple it off the jackstands.

 

I know what you mean, those nuts are freaking tough. I am not a big guy by any means, but I did get them off. At first, I used a crap-brand wrench and broke it. So, I had to use my buddies Craftsman wrench. I used a pipe that was probably 1', but then I realized that it wasn't torquing on that nut hard enough to make it bust. So, I got a longer and thicker pipe (3') to torque that nut. I used a wall to brace myself as I thrusted at the long pipe, and eventually, the nut busted. Afterwards, I did the same to get it back on, but I didn't use any liquid thread sealer. It has been fine for 6 months of driving.

 

Yeah. It's critical that they stay where they are, and medium (blue) Loc-Tite won't make them impossible to remove again if you need to. Red Loc-Tite would probably require heat to break loose.

I believe they have some sort of thread locker on them from the factory, which is why they're such a bitch to remove in the first place. BTW, watch out for the PPF when you get them off. It may come down in a hurry.

 

I'll keep that in mind. Not only can the car do 1 g lateral, it does 1 g vertical, too.

Dave

 

get some airtools....trust me. i tried the other way no way in hell they come off easy. goodluck. kvn

 

Well I'm done with the PPF. (Next stop, tranny!)

The solution for me was about 3' worth of cheater pipe (my floor jack handle) + 18" breaker bar. For the 4 deep nuts I used a 1/2" drive 10" extension. I set up the wrench so it was pointed along the length of the car. In that orientation, it was easy to put one hand on the PPF and one hand pulling away on the end of the cheater pipe. Plus, the PB blaster had a night to soak. Air tools or heat really aren't necessary at all once you get set up right. I saw no evidence of loc-tite, and they didn't make any noise when they let go. Just the nice solid torque of a clean, fine threaded bolt.

Conclusion: use a cheater pipe, get set up so you can put some leverage on it, and steadily pull.

Dave

 

I lost one of those nuts and would like to get one from the local NAPA auto parts store.

Does anyone know the size & thread pitch ? Looks like a M14, but I don't know thread pitch.

TIA,
:-) neil

 

dont forget when reassembling to adjust the ppf to specs.

 

i had no problems with the 8 inch extention...jus have sum1 hold it in place while you use a longer bar and it should come off very easily...and you woulding even need a hammer either