Pulling 164 Transmission (2 hours tops)

["Matthew Dooher" <matthew.dooher@domain.elided>]

I have removed the 164 Transmission in less than 2 hours this is how it's
done.

1	Put the front end on axle stands and remove road wheels. The left one must
go under the jacking point	(10min)

2 Drain the gearbox oil at the differential drain plug. Disconnect the
battery this is vital else you may short the starter motor.

3	Remove the left strut	( 5min)

3 Remove left front plastic stone guard and diconnect the gear box earth
strap

5 Disconnect left drive shaft. Use a hex driver and a short extension bar.
To make this very easy get someone to put their foot on the brake or put two
of the wheel bolts in the hub slide a big screwdriver between them, and
sitting with your legs under the car, brace it against your knee. (10min)

6 Disconnect right drive shaft in the same manner (10 min)


7 	Slide under the car and remove the 3 bolts holding the intermediate drive
shaft in place. Grab the shaft and slide it out of the diff. Use a 1/4 drive
socket set with a short extension bar and a universal joint to get at the
10mm bolts. (5min).

8 To get a bit of space so you can see what is going on remove the air
filter, the air filter intake box and the hose to the plenum. (10 min) if
you already have the left front plastic guard off.

9 Remove the slave cylinder by either taking off the bracket or just taking
off the circlip. Don't disconnect the hydraulic line	(5min)

10 Disconnect the gear lever linkage and the reactor rod. I know this looks
impossible at first glance but you can slide a spanner down behind the
plenum and use a socket on the gearbox side of the bolts. (10min)

11 Take out the bolts holding the gear box mount to the subframe and then
jack the gearbox end of the engine using for example a scissor jack and a
short piece of 2x4. Don't jack the sump. This should be done on the left
front of the block you need to go high enough to almost clear the reactor
rod and the gear linkage so it doesn't get caught when you slide the box of
the engine. Watch the top cam cover on the other side it is very close to
the right strut tower. (10min)

12 Remove the 3 nuts securing the ABS solenoid in place. This allows you to
lift the brake pipes up a little later on.(5 min)

13 Remove the 3 starter motor bolts. This is the hardest part of the whole
job. The top starter motor bolt is not easy to get to. You WILL curse the
day you even saw your first 164. It is possible to see the top starter motor
bolt from the top. You look over the water bottle toward the top of the gear
box and if you use a torch you can see the head of the bolt. It is about 1
inch to the right of the back of the block and only just below the lip of
the bell housing. You can get a spanner on it but you can't turn it more
than 1/16th of a turn. So getting someone to help, guide the socket onto the
bolt from the top, get under the car. You will need a 13mm socket, medium
length extension bar (long one won't fit because of the oil filter) and then
a universal. Slide this combination between the exhaust shield and the
starter. Getting the other person to direct you onto the bolt. It will tend
to drop too far to the front of the car. Once this is in place connect a
long extension and ratchet combination to the universal and remove the bolt.
It is quite long so it may take a while unless you have an air ratchet.
After that is off the other two are not all that difficult. To get the rear
bolt, just force a socket between the starter and the shield which will
deform. (ok first go at this it might take  quite a bit of time)

14 Ok you are almost done. Loosen the left side of the subframe and let it
drop. You only need about 1/2 an inch more clearance it may even be possible
without this step.

15 Take the plastic cover off the top of the box. This allows access to the
selector shaft. Remove the bolt in the centre of this shaft. Slide the shaft
back over the gear lever linkage rod. This will allow you to remove the box
mounting bolt behind the shaft. Once you get the bolt out slide the shaft
back into position and reinstall its small bolt.

16 Remove all the gearbox mounting bolts except the one nearest the top
(just loosen this) There is one hex head bolt at the bottom rear of the bell
housing that screws into the gear box rather than the block get under the
car and it goes the other way.

17 Put a jack under the box and using 2 people pull it off. With a little
wiggling it will go out the side of the car.

One last tip when you put it all back together. DON'T STRIP THE STARTER
MOTOR BOLTS

Matthew Dooher
1989 164 A
Dunedin, New Zealand
Phone	+64 3 479 7968
Fax	+64 3 479 7584
Matthew.dooher@domain.elided

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