how to separate motor from auto trans

[beige97camry]

motor thru rod and I can't turn motor over to remove converter bolts, any ideas how to turn motor over or do I have to remove motor/trans as a unit???? thanks.

[96CamrySport]

is it in park? disconnect shifter rod from PRNDL switch, put it in neutral, turn crank by crank pulley bolt. since you threw a rod, it may be jammed inside the engine block, which means that you will have to pull engine/trans together (it's almost easier, believe me) and leave the converter with the flexplate when you pull the two apart. then you can use a wrench and get at the bolts without the bellhousing in place. OR, you can try sliding the two apart and getting at the bolts, but I don't know if it would actually work.

[beige97camry]

can I pull the pan while engine is in car to check out lower end and try to unjam???

[Eye8Pussies]

yes, if you can reach it


but your original qustion- are you talking about figuring out a way to undo the crank bolt without being able to crank the car?

you can always try taking out the starter and jamming a large scrwedriver in the flexplate teeth and then turning the crank bolt

or you can also try the same thing using the access panel under at the bottom of the tranny

[beige97camry]

no, I need to turn motor over so I can get the flex plate bolts out and separate eng and trans so I can pull engine. put crank bolt in and tried to turn but motor appears to be frozen unless it won't turn while in park. should though since motor runs when in park

[Stillrunning]

From reading "I did it" posts here it seems that pulling the engine without the trans is not worthwhile and maybe not possible??

[Eye8Pussies]

pulling teh engine without the transmission isn't possible...no....especially since he can't get the flexplate bolts off lol


and sorry man...I have no idea...I think that a mechanic or somebody who has a better knowledge of the internal workings of hte engine has to be asked


my only suggestion is to try doing it when the tranny is in neutral, since having it in park usually locks the transmission and will keep the engine from turning as well

[beige97camry]

engine is froze, rod is jammed preventing crank from moving...will pull motor trans as unit, if I had thought of it I would have pulled everything out from the bottom with a lift at a shop. oh well, live and learn. only experience I have on toyota is my 355,000 mile 83 supra, currently down for a timing belt which makes me drive my corvette while the wife drives my truck until I fix her camry or buy her a 06 camry she wants, whichever comes first

[96CamrySport]

errr....ummm...thought about it, park wouldn't matter. sorry, vodka makes me dumb . I have pulled the auto tranny without the motor and it was a lot of work. I know you're going the other way around, and it is possible with both 5s and 1mz, but it only takes about 25 more minutes to pull it with the trans attached and involves a lot less swearing when both come out together. Honestly, using a lift would be the easiest way to go-unhook everything, set jackstands out for the front subframe, set car down on them, unbolt subframe, lift car out of the way, hoist engine/trans off of subframe, unbolt the two and so forth...

If a rod were jammed against the block, it would have some movement. You might have luck pulling the pan off and removing the broken rod, but you probably should just take the hood off and pull the engine/trans as a pair. It's not that hard, you just need a lot of patience to unbolt and disconnect everything.