Grrrr 5 speed trans.

[svt4cam]

As some of you might have read, I recently picked up an 03 5 speed with 131,000 miles. I changed the trans oil to Redline GL4 75/90 and what came out looked pretty good. I took it for a longer highway drive the other day with a ambient temp of about 85 and on the way home I heard the tell tale of a bad trans bearing I think. A constant drive train noise that increases volume under load in higher gears and goes away with clutch depressed. Still shifts great no popping out of gear or anything like that. I'm going to yank the trans and open it up and see if I can find which bearing is causing the noise. My guess would be the output bearing by 5th just starting to go. Couple of observations. I was surprised by the Redline Gear lubes lack of viscosity, it poured like a 30 weight as opposed to a syrupy gear lube? Thoughts? Noise doesn't start until trans gets warm, so either the bad bearing is generating heat and lowering the viscosity of the lube. Possibly the seller put a viscosity increasing agent in box before to keep it quiet? Anyhow, from those that have pulled the boxes without lifts, how much height do I need to get it out underneath? Also, where is a good jacking point to put jackstands at the front of the car? Thanks!

[zbyers]

I have no comments regarding the trans issue itself. As for trans removal/install:

1) there is a tow point on the front of the vehicle; we used that to jack the car up as high as you can get it. We then put the jack stands on the frame rail, out of the way of where we worked
2) leave the passenger side engine mount attached. After undoing the other 3 mounts, when you go to remove the trans, simply let the engine rest on the engine cradle/subframe. No need for a cherry picker. Leaving the passenger mount in place gives you a pivot point to get the other 3 lined up when reinstalling.
3) When removing the drivers side axle, instead of messing around with the tierods and whatnot, just undo the two big bolts holding the steering knuckle to the strut. You can then swing the whole knuckle out of the way to get the axle out of it. Passenger side you can undo the axle nut, and then kinda leave it in place as it'll pull itself out when you remove the trans. EDIT: You also have to take out the 2 nuts and 1 bolt to the lower ball joint.
3) rear engine/trans mount is a PITA. Be prepared to swear a lot when removing/installing. While not recommended, you could cut the rubber dampener off when reinstalling and it'll glide right in. You will vibrate quite a bit more with that removed.
4) Everything else is pretty straight forward. It's not an overly difficult job, but there's a lot of crap in the way and it's pretty time consuming. Battery, intake, shifter cables, ground wires, and i think a few pieces plugs on some wiring harnesses. would probably also be easier if you remove the bumper cover, and whatnot too.

[svt4cam]

Thanks for the reply, zbyers. In the online manual I have it says to disconnect the exhaust at the cat, is that not necessary? do the two bolts in the steering knuckle affect alignment? Or are they just plain bolts with no eccentrics?

[zbyers]

We didn't touch the exhaust at all.

Technically, those bolts do affect the alignment. I never re-aligned after doing mine and it pretty much steered the same. When reinstalling, try to keep the bolt and knuckle lined up where it was. I'd presume you should be able to see outline of the nut and bolt head against the steering knuckle.

[Bookworm]

We didn't touch the exhaust at all.

Technically, those bolts do affect the alignment. I never re-aligned after doing mine and it pretty much steered the same. When reinstalling, try to keep the bolt and knuckle lined up where it was. I'd presume you should be able to see outline of the nut and bolt head against the steering knuckle.

One way to deal with this is to clean it thoroughly with carb cleaner (or similar), then use a paint pen or Wite-Out(TM) to draw around the outside before unbolting. You could also use a scratch awl if you didn't want to clean it.