A couple more hours and the engine/transaxle are out of the car! The tranny separated from the engine without any trauma. After pulling the drivetrain, I found these things. First, the starter was not seated correctly and the top nut was loose, the backup light switch was damaged and I found one of the driveshaft bolts on the tranny end was loose. I had the syncros in the gearbox replaced about 4 years ago by a shop in the Atlanta area. The first time around, I did the R&R and the shop replace the gearbox parts. When I installed the "rebuilt" gearbox, I could not get it to go into 1st or 2nd gear. The shop agreed to redo the gearbox and to do the second R&R at their expense. They did the work, straightened out the gearbox issues and reassembled the car. I have not had any reason to go back into the drivetrain since then so I am glad that I finally pulled it back apart now. Some pictures.
The starter w/loose nut.
The broken backup light switch.
I apologize for the blurry cell phone pictures. Don't know why they turned out like that!
The next step will be to pressure wash the engine and transaxle, put the engine on the stand and start the teardown. More to come in a day or two!
This is why I don't like to let others work on my cars!
The engine out on it's jack.
