Holy crap, I get credit for threads I haven't even posted in yet! :hugglez:

For what it's worth, I'd also replace the trans myself. They fall in the $100 range on the used parts market.

When it comes to torque wrenches, they aren't really needed. I've replaced a few transmissions without.I've never needed a 13mm on a Honda, but it doesn't hurt to have one anyway.

 

I really couldn't be sure, as I work on so many cars, but you are going to be buying a whole set of wrenches anyway, cheaper to buy the whole set than go about it piecemeal. Don't buy cheap tools, just go to Sears (or order online) and get some Craftsman wrenches. Don't buy their vice grips though, they suck. The only locking jaw pliers worth the metal they are made from are the original vise-grips. The knock-offs make good window crank replacements on complete hooptys, but thats about it.

If you are doing a transmission swap you will be needing a rather large socket to fit the nut on the axle shaft. I don't remember what size that thing is, but I know I used an SAE socket that fit pretty well. Obviously it is metric, but I didn't have a metric socket that size.

 

i have my old tranny sittin in the garage, but it would probley be cheaper to rebuildt it yourself cuz of reliability issues, it has 185k on it.

 

It's a 32mm. That's a more useful socket then you'd think.

 

yah, big sockets come in handy for driving in seals and stuff. What else does 32mm fit? I have a 36mm I bought for the gland nut on VW aircooled flat-fours. No 32mm though, but 1 1/4" works. 32mm=1.26"

 

Yeup, the axle nut is a 32 mm, I'm in the middle of a ZC swap and we had to take off the axles. Also, get a BIG ****ing breaker bar. If that axle nut hasn't been touched in 200k miles, you're going to have hell to pay to get that thing off. For example, on my crx which has only 170k miles, we broke 2 1/2" extensions trying to get the axle nut off (which Sears gladly replaced with new ones =]). We leveraged our ratchet with the leg of the ****ing engine hoist, which is about 5 and half feet long and about 30 pounds, and my buddy was putting all his weight on the end of it, and it STILL didn't come off--it just broke all his extensions >=[. Now, that thing was WAY overtorqued, and the guy who put it on should be sacked.

...

I guess that was kind of a rant... I don't want to scare you off doing it yourself or anything, tho We'll help you through it.

 

RX-7 halfshafts.

I've needed them for Honda axles quite a bit, it's just a nice peice to have.

 

Aaaaahhhhh the beauty of air tools. I zipped mine off with an impact wrench. Really the only way to go.

 

There ya go! Nothing like the proper tool for the job.

 

Well I can officially say I've replaced a transaxle! And better yet it actually runs! It wasn't as easy as replacing a network server but I think I did all right for a computer geek. I got a used tranny for $250 w/90 day warr. Best I could do in town and on short notice. I have a cousin that works on his cars from time to time and had some tools. Unfortunately he didn't have an air wrench. We used his breaker bar with an addition piece of pipe for even more leverage on the hub nut. Even then we had to use a torch to heat it up before it would give. A hint for anyone else attempting this, clean the threads well on the replacement tranny before jacking it into place and bolting it to the motor. The threads for the mounting bolts were not in the best of shape. I bought a replacement seal for the torque converter but when I got to that point I discovered they gave me a seal for the axles or at least that's what it looks like. The one in the replacement seemed to be ok, we could still see the ridges on it. The area where the torque converter was didn't seem like it had been leaking. The fluid that came out of the replacement tranny wasn't that bad and didn't smell burnt. We drained any that was left and filled it with new. Started the engine let it run for a few min while changing gears. Drained that and filled it again. Took it for a spin and topped it off again. Seems to shift a little rough from 2nd to 3rd but that's what the original was doing about a year ago so if I get at least 12 months out of it I’ll be happy. Anyone know where the transmission filter is? They sell one and the book indicates in chapter one there are instructions on replacing it, but I didn't see anything in chapter one about a filter. Just draining and filling.
Another good thing is now I know how to get the axles out so if they or the CV joints need to be replaced I can do that pretty easily. It took us a while contemplating the instructions on swinging the hub out on the stearing knuckle. But after we got the first one off the second was a piece of cake.
Thanks again for all your input and advice. It really helped. Maybe someday I'll have enough experience working on mine I'll be able to give some as well. I'll have to come up with a clever signature then.

Tom