Yet another separator plate thread.

[hfxdesign]

So I know you guys haven't heard from me in a while, car's been running good after the diff swap. Just hit 126k and found out my oil separator plate is leaking. I decided to go with dropping the transmission because I don't know anyone who owns a cherry picker. I've got everything off and the trans is broken free from the engine, then an idea occured to me that might speed the process up. Would it be possible to do this job without completely pulling the transmission? I think it might be do-able. Unbolting and sliding the trans back a little bit (but not off the mount pins completely) should give me enough room to get my hands and a ratchet in there, and saves me the hassle of having to attempt lining the transmission and engine back up with a floor jack. I really don't see any added benefit of pulling the trans completely out unless I was planning on working on it.

Also I have some woes regarding the TQ (4EAT, 1995 Legacy L), when I separated the block and bell housing, how would I know if the TQ shifted at all? I heard this happens alot. And if it has shifted, how do I fix that?

[decke48]

If you have an older plastic separator they use tapered Philip screw and you need a impact driver (a screw driver tool that uses hammer strikes to turn) or some time you can be lucky with a plain screwdriver and hammer. You'll need amply room for this to remove and silicone a new one.
If the tqc has pulled out. just rotate pushing in with moderate pressure a bunch of rotations until you feel no clicks ( like engagment of input shaft or oil pump)

[hfxdesign]

Gotcha, for the impact driver: Hows about a 3/8 drive breaker bar, hammer, and a phillips bit inside an 8mm socket?

[hfxdesign]

Hmm, were the screws supposed to be finger tight? Because they were, lol. Anyway, got it off without having to remove the transmission completely, time to put the new one on. Checked RMS while I was back there, little bit of seepage (fine oil lines along the back of the flex plate), but it looks pretty decent so I'm gonna leave it alone.

Update: New separator plate is in, got everything taken care of without having to drop the transmission. Just hoping I put enough RTV on it to hold, 1/8in bead all the way around and smoothed down, but the plate shifted back and forth a little when I was trying to put the screws in. Car is now ready to put back together, so here's the final question. Is there any order that the flex plate bolts have to be tightened? Should I just use a regular star pattern?

[jjay03]

I dont think the pattern matters too much for that plate as long as you tighten them a little at a time evenly.

[hfxdesign]

Got it snugged down, just did a finger tight then used the torque wrench to snug em down. Transmission is mated back up to the engine, but I'm having trouble getting the passenger side dowel pin back in, I mushroomed one side of it a little bit, but I can fix that. Is there a trick to get them in there properly?

Update: Nevermind about the dowel, I'm just gonna take it to work with me and add a slightly larger taper on one side, while shaving off the mushrooming on the head. :D All should be well!

[hfxdesign]

Final update: Car is fixed; well, mostly. Fixed the dowel pin and it went right in, got everything bolted up, save for the tail section of the driveshaft, which I'll be reinstalling this weekend. I will say it is possible to do this job without pulling the trans completely off the engine, but I do NOT reccommend it, space is very limited and it makes the job time consuming. I did it simply because I didn't have the option of completely dropping the trans (no trans adapter for the floor jack). Now let's cross our fingers and make sure I applied enough sealant and the gasket holds!