hi all,
i am looking for a little advice on removing the auto trans in my 1976 240d. i had to replace the driveshaft support and flex plates and thought that while i had everything apart i would take care of the atf leak that is coming from the front of my transmission. i have an old chilton manual, that really sucks, and their comment is to take the engine and trans out as a unit. am i missing something? it looks really staight forward. i mean i can get to all the bell housing bolts (i think). can't i just take out all the bolts, drain and unbolt the torque converter, undo the rear trans mount, unhook the linkage, exhaust, filler tube and spedo cable and pull this thing out? does the trans foul on anything when you pull it back? do i need to lift the engine to get a better angle to remove the trans? any help will be greatly appreciated.
240dude

Kind of a big job for a DIY. Are you going to fix the oil leaks on the transmission when you get it out or you going to bring it to somebody? Sorry I don't have directions for you, but good luck and keep us informed if you do it.

i'm pretty sure it is the front seal which looks just like the rear main seal on an aircooled vw which are super simple to replace.
240dude

On a 240D it is much easier to drop the tranny, leaving the engine in the car. A 300D is much more difficult as those top bellhousing bolts and starter bolts are so close to the firewall.

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'83 240D with 617.952 and 2.88
'01 VW Beetle TDI
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD
'89 Toyota 4x4, needs 2L-T
'78 280Z with L28ET - 12.86@110
Oil Burner Kartel #35

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...oD/bioclip.jpg

Sounds like you got it covered dude. Don't forget to remove the fasteners that hold the torque converter to the flywheel. It should come off with the tranny.

One other thing - make sure you drain the torque converter and the pan prior to removing it. Make sure the car is high enough to drag the tranny out from under it when you prepare for the job.

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Jim

i learned about full torque converters the hard way when i swapped the engine in my wife's (then girl friend) autostick vw beetle. man was that a mess. i have my 240 up on jack stands and i'll give the ground clearance a quick check before i do anything.
thanks,
240dude

With my friend we dropped down the auto transmission of my 1975 240d today. It's really a hard work, but if you're determined to do it you can do it. I kept saying how I miss the simplicity of toyotas. To remove the starter we needed a 10mm hex drive (like allen wrench). We also used a real long extension to take the two bolts on top of the bell housing. We used 17mm socket and open wrench for bell housing bolts, 13mm or 1/2 " for the torque converter. There were six bolts holding the torque converter to the flywheel. We used a center punch to mark the drive shafts and the diff and transmission plange on the other sides. I'm wondering if we could have just left the torque converter with the flywheel. I'm still not decided if I'm going to have my transmission rebuilt or just buy a used one from the junk yard. I hope I can have this running by January. We didn't lift the engine, but raised the vehicle real high to have a comfortable working condition underneath.