89 engine drop for clutch, two quick questions.

[mtburman]

According to Bentley, I have to remove the slave cylinder on top of tranny in order to remove; can't I just disconnect hydraulic line slave and leave on as part of drop? Also, before I pull CV joints loose, I searched and noted that 87-89 must pull tranny with engine due to limited access to separate in car, just checking before I go for it, Last few steps before dropping, Thanks.

[ChrisBennet]

Well you can disconnect the line before you drop it but then you'll have to bleed the system. It wouldn't hurt to replace those 15 year old master and slave cylinders. I know I would.
Pulling the clutch pedal up with your toe after every shift really hurts your lap times. BTDT.
-Chris

[rzepko6194]

I dropped the engine/tranny just a few inches and then removed the clutch slave cylinder from the trans.

You may also want to do the clutch fork replacement, if your car has the early style fork. The factory updated these on cars made after April 1989. The door jam sticker will give you the month/year of manufacture.

[kiwior]

Chris is right on.

Disconnecting the line is no big deal other than bleeding afterwards. But, the bleeding is kind of a hassle if you don't really need to do it. With the trans. in the car, accessing the bleeder screw atop the trans. is a bit of a pain. I think you're better off disconnecting the slave cylinder from the trans. before you drop the drivetrain out. It's only two nuts that hold it on there. No big deal.

Chris also makes a good point about the master and slave cylinders for the clutch operation. Those things don't last forever and are not a bad "while you're in there" idea. Neither of them are overly expensive. Master is around $85 and slave is maybe $40. Also, the flex line that you want to disconnect is pretty much like a brake line and can swell with age. Not a bad idea to replace that too. Do those things and you'll not have to bother with your clutch system for a long time to come.

And yes, the trans and engine must come out together because it's basically impossilble to get the release fork shaft out of the trans. while still installed in the car. Sometimes that shaft can be really stubborn (and MUST be removed in order to separate the engine and trans), not to mention you can't even see the screw that holds the shaft in place. Not even worth the trouble to try. Just take the motor and trans. out as a whole.

[john walker's workshop]

just drop the engine down enough so you can reach in over the engine from behind and remove the two nuts on the slave and then hang it over to the left on the e/brake cable.