Transmission removal on a C4

[machster]

I have a couple questions about the transmission removal on a 2003 C4. First, how high does the rear of the vehicle need to be jacked to get the tranny out? and how does the proceedure differ from a RWD car?

[987_RDC]

For some reason 19" pops in my mind. Make sure you support the engine when removing the trans. I had a hell of a time lining mine back up and had to loosen engine mounts.

[creekman]

I would put the car on jack stands so it's level, I think it would make it easier re-installing the transaxle.  As far as height, I would measure the height of the transaxle, add the height of the floor jack and put a another 6" or so for clearance and call it good.  You'll need to remove the front driveshaft.  

 

I would put some other backup shoring under the car just to make sure if the car falls off the jack stands you don't get squished.  It happens so be safe.  The transaxle output shaft has fine splines and can be a bugger to get lined up.  Sometimes turning the axle flanges while installing the trans can help seat the shaft into the clutch disc.  Speaking of the clutch, depending on how many miles you have on the clutch I would change it while the trans is out.  If you have more than 60,000 miles on your clutch, then change it...

 

Have you thought about how you're going to shore up the rear of the engine?  There's a transupport at the forward end of the transaxle, you'll want to take that down.  The reason being is that there is a belly pan tab that interferes with the vertical clearance.  None of this is brain surgery, just take your time.  Put the bolts in marked baggies or put them back where they came from.   There's a hydraulic line which serves the clutch slave cylinder that is on top of the trans, hard to see and hard to get at.  Best you have a "line wrench" for that.  It might be 11 mm?

 

Good luck,

[fpb111]

Make sure to put the mounting bolts back in the right places.  If you put a long bolt in the wrong spot you can break pieces of the engine casting.

 

There is also a fancy tool that supports the engine while the trans is removed. It has an adjustable saddle that helps with lining up the trans input shaft. SIR Tools SIR-P 254 http://www.sirtools.com/stuttgart_05_page_2.pdf

If you search they can sometimes be found for under $200.  I got a lightly used one for ~$100

 

You can remove the slave cylinder from the trans and tie it aside so that you don't have to bled the clutch system.  You need to drop the trans a little to get to the top bolt.

Edited February 4, 2015 by fpb111

[jaekormtb]

Here's a shot of mine when I droped the trans. The jack stands were at 15" and I did not have enough clearance to pull the trans all the way out (didn't need to). 19" would have been enough.