I'm STUCK in the Transmission!!! HELP!

Got the valve body out, and the shift lever. I cannot get out the outer seal out to replace it. Got the o-ring out, the stuck seal is a little bigger than a quarter around the outside of the O-ring.

That is the main reason I am in here, and figured I would do a shift kit at the same time.

Any suggestions for getting this seal out. I have torn it to pieces trying to get it to come out, pried, cut a little, and if I do anymore "force" to it, I will likely do permanent damage to the material around it.

If I cannot get it out, I will HAVE to tow it to a shop and let them do it.

This would be the first time in my life I have been beat...I have never had to take anything to the shop.

Can anyone suggest a way to get it out?

It is a rubber seal with a metal casing around it, kind of like wheel-bearing seals. The replacement is all rubber, and should be no problem reinstalling. But the metal casing appears to be stuck in there.

 

see if your auto parts store has a rental "seal puller". it looks like a gear puller but the jaws are backwards. they make diff. size jaws to fit diff. seals. it is a kit that fits a lot of diff. seals. it looks like a "slide hammer"..frank...

 

sorry, never had that problem. just do what you must carefully without scoring the bore the seal fits in. possibly tap something pointed with a thin rounded tip betwen the seal and the wall. if it were me, a cotter pin removal tool would be my first try. or try to find a small seal puller.

 

Cotter pin removal tool...Never heard of it. I will have to look into that.

As for the seal puller, do they make one that is "quarter-sized"? This is a pretty small seal, and it has not moved out at all.

If I don't get it out, I will have to drop the entire transmission, lay it on it's side, and cut the damned thing out with a dremel tool.

All this for a $2.00 part. The entire car is incapacitated because of a $2 part!!! Kinda ticks me off

Thanks for the suggestions, I will have to look into those items.

 

Well thank God its just a seal , I thought you had a hand stuck in you`r tranny or something .

Since I can`t see you`r problem I don`t know if this will work or not but try hammering it out with a screw driver . Thats worked many times for me .You might also try using needle nose vice grips to get a hold of it .

 

my cotter tool is a craftsman. looks like a thick icepick with the last inch bent at a 90 deg angle. pointed but not too sharp. you put the tip into the eye of a cotter pin and lever it out of its hole. also great for freeing rad hoses stuck to the metal neck.

 

Can youget to the back side of it? If so try a sock that is just bigger than the bore and tap it out? Just guessing here.

 

Russ (with the cool 3-chuck icon) no can get from the inside... that would be too easy. This has to be hit from the outside. the 90-degree tool might work. If I can find one. I have been fighting with the screwdriver all day...with no luck. I am guessing that the metal ring is rusted in, because the screwdriver just bends the top part out, without moving the seal. The screwdriver is just chipping chunks of rubber seal out and bending the casing into shreds. I have tried to use pliers to pull what is left out, but it appears to be rusted into it's place and won't budge.

I am stuck...

Elliot...if my hand was stuck...I would be cussing tremendously...and my wife would be typing the curse words into this website...It would be a nasty thing to read :bananaman (she loves the dancing banana!)

 

Try running a self tapping screw into it at the top and bottom. this will allow you to grab it with a set of vice-scrips. If that does not work get a seal puller that attaches to slide hammer. Also if possible you could try a dremel tool like you mentioned. just be very careful not to grind into the transmission casing. Good luck!!!!!

 

Homemade seal puller---Find a socket or a thick washer that will just fit the bore of the hole-larger than the seal. Insert from the back side. Put a piece of threaded rod thru the hole in socket or washer, then thread a nut on the back side. Then slide a heavy weight on the threaded rod from the outside- this needs to weigh a couple of pounds, I usually use a sledgehammer head that has no handle in it. Now put a thick washer or a flat piece of steel with a hole in it on the threaded rod and put a couple of nuts on the end. Now slide the weight back against the outside nuts like a slide hammer. You don't have to slide it very hard, just firmly. This works like a slide hammer to pull out the seal. An alternate method is instead of a weight, put a socket on the outside that is big enough to span the bore. Then thread the washer and nut down to the socket, and then start tightning the nut, which will force the inside socket/washer to pull the seal to the out side. I have used both methods when a seal puller wasn't available. I would soak the bore with PB Blaster overnight, will make it a lot easier to slide out.

 

What about like a small pry bar with an angled end ,it wont bend. Usually if u just stick in at an angle from the outside and push it comes right out.

 

that tool is also great for loosening hoses that are seized on

 

I always just use a flat tiped screwdriver. you have the linkage out of the tranny right??just slide the screwdriver thru the center of the seal and pry it out they are not a very tight fit.

 

For me it is a 1 hour round trip to the parts store to pick up something. I always end up spending 5 minutes to find a crappy old screwdriver that I hate and make it into what ever shape I need. Sorry you're having so much trouble. Time is money. I feel your pain. Been there

Cleaver

 

The hole that the seal is in is about 4-5" long, that the linkage rod slides into. The seal is on the outside of that hole, with about 4" clearance before it hits the floorboard or the header. I would be much easier to remove if out of the car, but...I would hate to drop then entire trans for a $2 part that should "just pop out".


After reading (and looking at) your suggestions, I will have to make a trip to Sears and see what they have. If I don't find something, I might take a fairly large allen wrench and cut the shorter end off and grind it to a flat tip, but only 1/2" long or so. Then slide it from the inside and tap it out from inside the trans body.

The valve body is out, so there is plenty of room from inside, maybe 8-10". I could tap it on alternating sides until is starts to come out.

If that doesn't work, the tranny comes out and I will really have to get to work on it.

How long does it take to drop then trans? And how difficult by one's self. If it is too hard, I will probably just do a complete rebuild while it is out. Wouldn't hurt it at all.