I have gathered all the needed parts for my transmission rebuild and ready dive in to the unknown. Here's my question..... I was just looking in the FACTORY Suzuki Samurai manual and it does not mention having to remove the transfer case as I've read else where. Anyone have practical experience with this? Is it just easier with the transfer case removed? Any last minute tips?

Thanks,
Dennis

Removing the transfer case does give you a little more room to work with and it really isn't that hard to pull out.  I would just drop the transfer case to give you plenty of room to slide the transmission back and forth without being cramped.

But no, it is not required.  If you pull off the jack shaft that connects the transmission to the transfer case you should have enough room to pull the transmission.

Then again, I have a SJ-410 so there is a bit of size difference between the 4 speed and 5 speed transmission. 

I will be pulling the transmission in my Samurai tonight (again) the rear seal failed and the transmission developed a very lovely growl. I pulled it without much difficulty with the T-case still in place last time. You will need a jack for safety but, I can remove my all by myself in just a couple hours if I am taking my time.

Transfer case stays. Check it for leaks while you are under there though. I drive onto a couple ramps and floor jack the back or you could go with all jack stands. What I do is get a bungie cord or two to hold the front drive shaft out of the way as well as the exhaust pipe. I disconnect the exhaust between the cat and the muffler and swing it to the side and secure it with a bungie. Disconnect the clutch cable and secure to the side. Careful not to mess up the clutch cable.   Disconnect the neg from the battery. unbolt the starter and secure it. You don't have to fully remove it but you can. I just unbolt it and secure it.

It is helpful to have a bottle jack handle about 20 inches long to jam under the transmission when you are putting it back on as well as dropping it. I always wedge it between the frame spots that are by the transmission for when my arms get tired. I also use a pair of vice grips lightly attached to the splines at the back of the transmission to help turn it to line up the splines that go in the pilot bushing.


Disconnect the two plugs from behind the distributor that connect to the wires coming out of the transmission. Don't ruin them because the switches aren't cheap. One's the backup light switch and the other is a modulator valve switch of some sort that has to do with the stock carburetor. It can be sold but the hole in the transmission still has to be plugged.

Put the transmission in neutral. Remove the stick shift.  Next, drain the transmission, and unbolt it. Remove the support bar (two 14 millimeter bolts.) Now here's where I catch hell here. I support the engine from above (come along to a chain attached to a bolt in the ceiling) and unbolt the motor mounts from the frame and slide the engine forward a couple inches. Then disconnect the transmission mount and pull the transmission back, tilt it forward and remove it. Now clean the outside off really good to save time later. You could sand blast it to look like new but don't get any sand in it.  Most important is to make sure that any rusty bolts get pb blasted if they don't want to let loose. Also, you are dealing with aluminum so don't over torque on reassembly on aluminum threads or you can easily strip them. Keep track of what bolts went where and what direction exhaust hangers and such reattach.

As far as the tranny, get a nice big table with a towel or two to lay out your parts. I hope you have the right pullers and pipes and stuff to get all of it apart and back together. I would help you out but I'm a good 1000 miles away. Watch the orientation of the synchros, shift collars etc. Basically, lay it out in PERFECT ORDER.

The rest will be the learning experience.

I hope I haven't forgot anything. The reason I undo the motor mounts is it gives good clearance plus the first time I did a tranny on a samurai, I broke a motor mount. Some of these methods may be unorthodox but have worked for me all 4 or 5 times I have had my transmission out since the first time on the Samurai. 

Just take your time, be careful and use your head.

I've done clutches before drunk but it's better to do the drinking afterwards so you don't mess anything up.

Hope that helps.

-Adam

I will be pulling the transmission in my Samurai tonight (again) the rear seal failed and the transmission developed a very lovely growl. I pulled it without much difficulty with the T-case still in place last time. You will need a jack for safety but, I can remove my all by myself in just a couple hours if I am taking my time.

Oh yeah, be careful not to mess this seal up when you put the front of the drive shaft back into the back of the transmission. Also check your u-joints out too.

-Adam

Took about 1.5 hours to remove mine tonight. 

Some good advice above. I missed those switches the first time I removed mine.

I don't remove the motor mounts. I just have my wife tilt the motor forward and voila in under 10 seconds I have the transmission on the ground.   

Thanks guys for all the great information and support.

The rebuild kit I bought came with new synchro rings and the small needle bearing... It has always shifted very smooth do you think I should mess with replacing them?  I feel it's a... "if its not broke don't fix it" type of thing.... What do ya think?

Thanks again for all the hot tips,
Dennis

is it the same for a 96 trak.

Swap the synchros since you have them. Save any good parts in case you rebuild one for a spare. One thing to note: I rebuilt a transmission and left the original needle bearings in and there was no scoring on the shafts. Once rebuilt, the transmission was quiet. I was told that the needle bearings don't carry any torque, they are just there sort of as a carrier bearing. Same guy told me that if those bearings were bad, the shafts would probably be bad too from scoring or discoloration. The big bearings do wear out. Not sure how bad though if you religiously change the fluid. Most people don't. The biggest killer of the transmission is a worn out pilot bushing, a bad u-joint on the intermediate driveshaft, the rear seal going bad and old dirty fluid.


The reason I unbolt the motor is because I broke a mount once trying the tilt method and good mounts aren't cheap.

-Adam

The reason I unbolt the motor is because I broke a mount once trying the tilt method and good mounts aren't cheap.

-Adam

Makes sense. That's would be why I have my wife do it. I don't think she could pull on it hard enough to break a mount. 

Well I've hit a bit of a snag... While removing the starter motor on the Samurai this evening I did a bone head move and unintentionally rounded the 12mm bottom bolt head. My battle plan to tomorrow is to get in close with a small Dremel cut off wheel and cut the head off. I tried everything I could think of to remove it... nothing worked. For you non Samurai owners this is a very tight one handed braille job.

Any other ideas as how to remove this bolt?

Thanks,
Dennis

Problem solved.......

Dennis

Problem solved.......

Dennis

Did you use a dremel after all?

No Dremel used but it was a two man job. I  used a 12 point socket when I rounded it. I was able to tap a 6 point socket on to it with a hammer and with a buddy keeping the extra long extension centered and with a few swear words we were able to back it out. I sure had a bear of a time wrestling the tranny out and to the ground... Getting it back it will be a real challenge.
One thing I found right off the bat was that the shifter pin was broken in half but had not fallen inside.

My Transmission is now in my shop awaiting the bearing transplant.
I will keep you posted as to my progress.

Dennis

is it the same for a 96 trak.

No, Sami uses divorced setup.