I need to replace the throw out bearing. I originally tried to remove the bell from the motor. It was stuck and would not budge.
My transmissions is 3 pieces
the bell
the trans
the shift box
So since I couldn’t get the bell apart i thought I would separate the trans from the bell. This is also stuck.
I can move the trans from left to right and pull the bottom and the sides about 1/4th an inch. The top of the trans will not come apart. I assume its caught on something. I also assume I have to pry it apart. I have been trying to pry but its not working. I dont want to use brute force because im afraid of jacking it up. I need some direction. Some pointers something to get the trans out.
If the bellhousing has to come out, as @Nevada_545 's manuals say, unbolt the bellhousing from the engine. You may have to let the motor hang at the rear (drop the jack under the bellhousing) so the engine tilts enough to get to the upper bellhousing bolts. You will likely need a loooong extension and a swivel at the end to get to the bolts.
It’s a little unclear what your plan of attack is. From the photo above it is pretty clear to fix the throw out bearing/slave cylinder you have to remove the bell housing from the engine. Was your plan to get the transmission out of the way first, then that would make it easier to remove the stuck bell housing?
The engine is supported by the motor mounts. How do u plan to lift the motor without also lifting the car? Next question? No, u do not need to touch the motor mounts to remove the trans. U support trans and than remove trans mount. Than u lower trans slightly to reach bell housing bolts. On some cars. U may need a 24" extension to reach bolts. Not hard.
The photo appears to show 6 bolt holes for the bell housing and also shows that the throwout bearing/slave cylinder connected at the transmission front bearing housing and the hydraulic port is blocking the removal of the transmission.
Ford Rangers and Broncos had a 1/2 inch flange of metal at the floor to firewall pinch weld that interfered with removing and installing the transmission. Working on a lift with a transmission jack I used a support jack to tip the front of the engine enough to lower the bell housing clear of the flange coming out and used a hammer to bend the flash upward and out of the way for reinstallation. Mustang may have a similar problem.
No experience with this job, but just curious about the comments above. From the photo above it appears you might could remove the transmission without removing the bell housing from the engine first. I mean if the transmission input shaft would just slip through the hole in the middle of the throw-out bearing. Is the basic problem that the transmission input shaft simply won’t slip through that hole, b/c of some protrusion on the input shaft prevents it?
In the picture you will see two bolts holding the slave cylinder marked with blue ink, those bolts are threaded into the transmission, not the bell housing.
