96 Cherokee 4x4 AW Tranny

Long story short replaced the transmission filter and while torquing the screws the middle one in the rear broke off. There is a cross member that is in the way of anything going straight in.

Any easy way of removing the broken screw (whole head is missing) without removing the crossmember.

I was considering dremelling a notch or even possible removing the crossmember.

Any ideas?

 

does it leak?.... take the pan back off and grab the bolt with vice grips

 

Dunno... haven't filled it yet. Was also debating just saying screw it and fill it and see.

 

whats the worst that will happen lol

 

hehe... I'll drop the pan again tomorrow and try getting my broke screw remover and pray I have a better day at this. Chiltons failed to mention the tube which luckily I was able to twist out from the top and the bolt securing it to the bell housing and the cross member simply being in the way.

 

I guess i will ask this now in case I try it. How hard is it to remove the crossmember?

 

not hard. You'll have to put the tranny pan back on, put a floor jack and block of wood under that...or maybe under the t-case Then remove the 4 nuts that secure the tranny mount to the crossmember (~13mm socket with extension), then 2x ~15mm bolts and stud/nuts on each side hold the xmbr up.
Putting the crossmember back on can be a little tricky, one side (think its the passenger side) is slotted, do that side last.

 

Underneath the transfer case is another part of the cross member with two bolts in the middle of the main one and it goes on the driver side to the read with two more bolts. There is nothing else attached to it but I am not sure if the two in the middle actually bolt to anything other than the main crossmember. The whole thing looks more like a y with the long part of the y being the one that goes straight across .

I'll be trying it tomorrow as I would almost rather do that than remove the pan bolts and finagle the pan out again.

 

that sounds like the factory t-case skidplate. I've never had to work on one, I assume you could leave it attached to the tranny xmbr, just unbolt it from the drivers side unirail

 

Screws are M6-1.0x15m/m or 20m/m (I don't recall the length,) and I typically replace them with socket heads and flat washers (easier to handle.)

If I'm in a hurry, there are enough screws under there (nineteen?) to share the load out, I'll daub a bit RTV in and around that screw hole in the gasket to help it seal. Not much, and not anywhere else.

Those screws are exposed to enough that I usually just replace them every time I drop the pan - when I had rigs with automatics, I just bought the screws & washers by the box.

Drilling that screw out will be a bit difficult - you'll have to remove the crossmember to access it properly, make sure to centre punch/drill the centre of the screw (so you don't chew up threads!) and I wouldn't use a bit larger than 5/32" if I could get away with it. A left-hand twist drill bit will often grab the screw and rip it right out without further headache.

Worst case, get a HeliCoil kit (you'll want a wire insert - there's not quite enough material there for a bushing,) overdrill/overtap the hole, and put in the insert (you could use an M8-1.25 screw or a 5/16"-18, but that gives you one odd screw to keep track of, and that's a headache. Better off just fixing it right - I know HeliCoil kits can be spendy. I have many of them, accumulated over the years...) You can get a kit with the proper tap and drill bit in, which saves you having to figure it out yourself.

The fact that there's no pressure on that join it also a factor in your favour - just gravity, submersion, and splash. This makes it easy to half-**** the job (although I don't if I can avoid it, that's just not me.)

 

Sometimes the remainder of a broken bolt is surprisingly loose with no tension form being tight. If you could dremmel a slot without boogering something up, that might work out slick.

Drilling something small out of aluminum can be a real booger. If you go that rout, STOP if you are not perfectly centered. The bit will prefer the aluminum to the steel!

On my old thing, I might just cuss and leave it. See if it leaks more than the other stuff. Maybe fix it when I change my broken tranny mount.

 

Is it a good idea to just support the transmission while it is lifted (front of vehicle is driven up some ramps)? I was pondering just putting it in nuetral and sliding it down the ramp and support the tranny like was mentioned with a block of wood under the tranny pan maybe another under the transfer case somewhere. The xfer case is harder to support due to the skid plate under it.

 

??^^? I'm not familiar with the skid plate. Of course a jack and a block of wood would hold it up. Not sure I'd slide it in neutral..Moving things around and lining up bolt holes it's nice to have a jack and a pry bar.

 

aye carumba!...bad idea. You dont need to lift the tranny much at all (it will only go up 2" or so before it hits the body anyways), just take the weight off the tranny support crossmember after you remove the 4 tranny mount nuts. Unbolt the skid plate from the drivers side rail first, then the 2 crossmember bolts per side, remove xmbr and skidplate as one.