RWeber

I'm currently well into the process of replacing the clutch on my 87 Taurus and have run into a problem that I'd like some feedback on. So far, I've completely disconnected everything to the transaxle, removed the mounting bolts to the engine and still can not seem to pull the transaxle away from the engine by more than 1 inch or so before the transaxle hits the frame. I've never had a problem like this on any of the clutches I've replaced on other vehicles.

What am I missing and what is the trick to remove this thing? Short of pulling the entire engine, I can't see a way to get this thing out.

Any and all assistance is appreciated!

LunaticSVT

From my understanding in the Helms manual youwill need to have an engine hoist to lift the engine up to replace the clutch.

Drain the fluid first. The tranny itself is heavy enough.

There is no eye on the drivers side rear of the engine for the hoist to hook to atleast from the drawings and information that I see here. I have heard that there is on some of the 90 and newer models. Evidently, there's a Ford part that bolts on for this. Maybe you can borrow one.

There is a black bracket that bolts to the tranny damper/mount in the drivers-side fender well and runs to a bolt at the top of the tranny housing (evidently to protect clutch cable). Helm manual doesn't say it, but you must remove this to get room to drop the tranny.

Helm indicates you have to remove the speedo-cable connection housing. This clip is a Bear to get to.

The subframe is heavy. You can put a 4x4 block of wood under it with a floor jack to remove/install.

Unless you're Popeye after eating spinich, get help to drop/install the tranny. Holding it up aligning the shaft during install will be Tough if you dont have help.

Hope that this is of some help.

RWeber

Thanks for the response LunaticSVT. I just finished it up the clutch job and it was the most difficult clutch I've ever put into a vehicle. The Chilton's book I have kind-of left out a few "details" that they apparently didn't think were imnportant... like having to support the engine.

Since I don't have an engine hoist, I ended up using two 2" steel pipes spanning the engine compartment that I end-supported on wooden blocks. I then chained the engine to the pipes to hold it in place while I dropped the subframe.

I ended up removing the battery pan and air filter box from the engine to improve access. Made it real easy to get to the speedo cable and some of the other hidden bolts. Nonetheless, it was still a bear to get the transaxle out. The final trick was to remove the backup switch from the transaxle which provided enough clearance to drop and rotate the transaxle out the bottom of the engine. Since I only had one jack that I was using to adjust the engine height, I ended up having to horse it around from the top of the engine compartment and lower it down to the floor. If the crack Ford design engineers had moved the chassis frame up by about 3/4 of an inch, the tranny could have slid into the wheel well to provide more than enough clearance to rotate the thing up and out. It would have made removing the clutch a breeze with no need to drop the sub frame. Makes me wonder how many of these engineers have ever worked on a car.

Thanks for your help!