Will those hold the differential gears in place? Because they look like they are just meant to be used to prevent fluid from leaking out of the transmission when the drive shaft is removed. Not hold gears in place.
I believe you’re smart enough to put jack stands under the car. You can add a block of wood for the floor jack and raise the vehicle higher. When removing the transmission from the engine, lower the transmission just enough to take some weight off the engine so the transmission disengages easily. Remove the flywheel and after prying the rear main seal out, inspect it to see if it’s gotten hard. If so, just replace it with another seal. Put a small amount of grease on the outside of seal so it will install easy. Remove the Torque Converter from the transmission and be careful since you’re going to loose some fluid. Replace the pump seal and be careful removing it since the pump in generally aluminum on most transmission today. When reinstalling the torque converter, rotate it until you hear in bottom out on the pump gear and the converter shouldn’t stick out past the bell-housing at all. If so, it hasn’t picked up the pump gear. Apply a little grease to the from snout of the torque converter so the unit will install easily. The engine has studs so alignment isn’t an issue during installation. Don’t forget to replenish the fluid in the transmission after installation with the engine running.
Go to this link.
http://www.mazdaspd.com/manual_files/03-60.pdf
It’s Special Service Tool 49 G030 455
Tester
We used wooden dowels to hold the side gears on some cars. A snug fitting dowel with a 1+ inch diagonal cut at the tip to wedge past the spider pinion shaft works great but the inner CV joint was the best tool and I acquired them for the most common models from a local axle rebuilder. The CV joints fit the oil seal and avoided spilled oil. The stub plugs in the link will fit a few cars but most are for RWD slip shaft outputs.
‘‘Apply a little grease to the from snout of the torque converter so the unit will install easily.’’
“Put a small amount of grease on the outside of seal so it will install easy” (thanks for posting Hiroshi)
I’ve got some grease left over from a split boot kit that is used to pack the CV joint bearings before putting the boot on. Would this type of grease be ok to use on the torque converter snout and on the outside of the rear main seal? If not, what’s the best kind to use?
And thanks for the link Tester. Nice find!
@Rodnox, I was thinking the same thing about using CV joints. But unfortunately I tossed my old drive shaft out. Held onto it for a couple weeks thinking maybe I could use it for something… If I had only known.
DO NOT PUT GREASE ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE SEAL!
The seal has a special coating on the outside that aids in installation and also seals the seal to the engine.
Tester