I have a problem that is really getting on my nerves. My son and i are attempting to change the clutch and pressure plate on his 96 Firebird. It has the 3.8 V6 with a 5 speed. Not sure which transmission. It has a hydraulic clutch. Got far enough to where we have the tranny separated from the bellhousing about 2 inches but it will move no farther. All the other clutch jobs i have done used a manually operated clutch. I'm not sure what the hydraulic clutch looks like.

What would be keeping the two together? There has to be something stopping the tranny from coming all the way out. Any ideas? We had the same problem last year on a mustang, but it was a severely deformed throwout bearing that wouldn't slide off the input shaft.

Got me mad enough that we are just going to stop for the night and buy a manual tommorrow.

Thanks, Jerry.

 

Did you get it off of the dowel pins? I just replaced mine several weeks ago we just kept working the tranny up and down. Hang in there it will come.

 

Many hydraulic lifts and jacks tend to drop a few hundredths of an inch per hour due to lost pressure. "Hang weight" could be binding the transmission. Just make sure the tranny is still at the same height it was when you unbolted it.

As to the hydraulic clutch, they're a little more sophisticated than a mechanical(cable) clutch, but usually easier to deal with and take less maintenance. The clutch master cylinder should be somewhere on your firewall to the right of your brake master cylinder. The slave cylinder will be at the end of the hydraulic line leading off the clutch master cylinder. Sometimes they're a bolt-on unit on the exterior of the bell housing near the end of the shifter fork, sometimes they're built in to the bell housing(again at the end of the shifter fork).

 

Ok, finally got the POS out, and i figured out why it came out so hard. But i still don't understand why it's put together this way.
The slave unit is bolted to the front of the tranny. 2 bolts. We literally pulled the bolts holding the slave out from the front of the tranny. (Borg Warner). Threads and all.
So that means that going back together, the slave needs to be bolted back to the tranny. But the only way that can happen is to bolt the bellhousing to the tranny first, then install slave to tranny, and then heave the whole mess back up and bolt the bellhousing to the block.
That would mean that it's not possible to separate the tranny from the bellhousing until you have it all out on the floor. It all has to come out in one piece. Tranny + bellhousing. That doesn't make sense. You can't bolt the slave to the tranny then slide it into the bellhousing. The slave is too big to do that.
Is there something i'm missing here or is that the way some of them are built and made to be taken apart?

 

I was hoping to have this job done by the end of the weekend, but it's looking like thats not going to happen. I know most forums are pretty slow on weekends. But i sure wish someone had an idea for me.

The main problem we are having now is the bellhousing/tranny combo has to go in together. The way the slave cylinder bolts to the tranny with the bellhousing in between makes it impossible to do the bellhousing first and the tranny second. The Chiltons manual i have doesn't even tell me that.

So here we are with the clutch and pressure plate on trying to bolt up the bellhousing/tranny combo. But to get that to bolt up the engine has to be tilted back pretty good. Moreso than when just the bellhousing is installed by itself. So we're getting frustrated trying to get the engine tilted back and everything lined up to let the input shaft go in. Punched out one of the engine mount bolts, the other wont come all the way out because the ac compressor is in the way. We haven't unbolted the exhaust. So far it hasn't been in the way, but i may have to if it helps tilt the motor back more. Going now to look for a jack to jack up on the balancer (gently).

Any ideas?
This whole bellhousing/tranny combo having to be installed in one piece really makes it a pain in the a$$.

 

As to why? My best guess is that GM arrogantly despises the American customer, and purposely makes it difficult for us.

Wish I could help you out more as to how.

 

Finally got it by gently jacking up on the balancer. Geezzz. What a PITA.

Almost at the end but need a hydraulic clutch line separator tool. Can't get it with a screwdriver. The white ring barely wants to budge and i don't want to break it and have to put a whole new line or master cylinder on.

 

Hey you are on fullsizechevy.com to with the same post lol

 

Yeah, i wanted to get the most exposure i could.

 

Ok...on to the next hurdle. Bleeding the slave cylinder. Can't get any pressure at the pedal. Bled it for an hour at least. Refilled the reservoir 5 or 6 times, so it has to be going somewhere. Hopefully not the bottom of the bellhousing. Can never get a "stream" of fluid when you open the bleeder. Just a little. First pump after sitting 5 or 10 minutes seems to pump the most out. All we can feel is what is like spring pressure holding the pedal up. We should be feeling something by now, shouldn't we?

Hope it's not the master cylinder. He had problems disengaging the clutch before. Would that be a symptom of the hydraulic brake master cylinder going out? God i hope not. This thing has kicked our a$$es so far and i just want it to end. One problem after another.