remove intake, battery box, loosen strut mounts

jack the car up
drain oil from trans
pull the wheels
remove the brakes
knock axle loose (or remove with the knuckle)
remove ball joint from knuckle
remove passengers carrier bearing bracket
remove passengers axle (just pulls out)
remove drivers axle (long punch threw the diff)
remove starter
disconnect shift linkage and electrical connections and clutch line(cap off)
remove dog bone
remove fans
support engine and trans (engine from top trans from bottom)
take off the drivers engine mount and tripod
start removing bolts from bell housing
once removed wiggle the trans around so it slides back enough to rotate the diff downwards then remove the trans.

replace parts reverse for install. bleed the clutch once the bell housing is bolted back together. i put in a new slave in my trans swap, put everything together last thing i did was bleed the clutch, was going fine then heard a pop and saw fluid running out of the bell housing the slaves seal blew on it (slave came with my SPEC clutch kit), so out everything came again. had the trans pulled 2 times in 3 days.

hope i didn't miss something lol. good luck

 

for the shifter stuff i found it easier just to leave them connected to that bracket and take the bracket off the trans, they can be stuck to the ball on the tower, i used body panel pliers on mine but they were new so came off easy.

 

Rep awarded man, And what about body panels? Does the whole front need to come off or the side fender, and is there anyway to do it without removing the passenger axle?

 

passengers the easy axle. drivers the hard one. passengers just pulls out the drivers is held in by a c-clip and the easiest way is to use a punch threw the diff.

i did it one time pulling the fender liner, other time without didn't get in my way so its up to you.

 

I replaced the clutch on my daughters car last weekend. What a job. Makes sure you have two people. I also removed the subframe and driver side strut for extra room. As an earlier poster recommended, the trick is to rotate the differential end so it is pointed down to remove. Took me two full days to do this project. Best of luck!

 

Thanks guys, so far it is coming along, the pass side lower control arm came undone easily to my surprise, but the driver side one is going to need to come out with the lower control arm, and put into a vise, as far as top side, I got all the wires and coolant tubing out the way, so now I can see all the wiring to the trans, and the shifter connections.

BTW what is the trick with the shifting stuff?

 

I recently did dropped and reinstalled the trans on my car to put in a new clutch, flywheel and LSD. I recommend dropping the subframe, especially if you're working by yourself. Putting the transmission back up will be much easier with this route.

For me the tripod to transmission bolts were torqued well in place, luckily air impact made quick work of them.

 

^^This was done on my 2.3L car, so post up if you have any other questions.

 

WRC_Fan: What parts did you pick for your clutch, flywheel, and diff?

My Diff started to give out yesterday on my drive home. My 2007 2.3L ST has 88K on it and while I am in there I should be replace the clutch/flywheel with an upgrade and the differential to.

I am a little worried that the way the differential was failing (slow grind of death), that when I break open the trans I am going to find a big mess, and a even bigger mess of parts that need to be replaced. I am thinking about buying a low mileage trans to replace it with, would that be a good idea? Or should I drop it and crack it open first before I start counting the $$$$.

 

WRC_Fan: What parts did you pick for your clutch, flywheel, and diff?

I replaced my clutch and flywheel with CFM's branded stage 1 replacement (rebadged clutchmasters parts).
http://focus.c-f-m.com/cfmheavydutyclutchkitwithaluminumflywheelforfocusduratec2023.aspx

For the diff I went with a Kaaz, which is an expensive rare piece, and I would not recommend it for a daily driver due to its maintance needs.

If you feel the differential is the issue on your car, I would say there is no harm in cracking open the transmission and seeing what damage is done. But I think you would find the cost of a low miles replacement transmission much better than if you had to start replacing internals.

 

Thanks wrc_fan, but could you tell me if this is a good replacement for the stock clutch plate and pressure plate, along with the slave cylinder?>

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/pa...003-Ford-Focus/_/N-jk8uwZ6o243?counter=0&itemIdentifier=315649_301326_4121_6577

I don't want to put this on, and then figure out a year later that it broke up on me.

 

?????

 

That's tough to say, as I was really shopping for something that was a bit of an upgrade. The clutch does look very similar to the one I pulled out of my car.

Maybe shop around a bit and compare some differenent brands and see what is available?

 

Well the limit for the clutch plate and pressure plate with slave cylinder is going to be at very most $300.00, any more then that and I won't have enough to replace the gaskets I got to replace and ball joints and stuff.

My part list so far is:
1 gasket for the coolant passage way thingy on the right side of head.
2 front lower ball joints
1 outer tie rod arm
2 sway bar end links for front.
2 hub axle nuts
And that's all I can think of right now, besides the clutch plate, pressure plate, and slave.

 

^^ Sorry I didn't directly respond to your question on the clutch. I don't have experience doing many clutch changes, I'm still running on the OE clutch with 120K miles on my '04 DD. Haven't ran any duralast parts either. I believe that exeddy and Luk are tow of the biggest clutch makers, so a replacement by them would probably be the best quality.

 

Hey does anyone know how many bolts/screws are on the starter? I think it's just the two at the wire connection end, but there seems to be two torque head screws on the side which the starter gear is in?

 

3 bolts, one on the passenger side, two on the other. One of them is a combo bolt/stud which holds a bracket for a line.

 

That's what I was thinking, thanks.

Should be pulling her soon, just got to punch the driver side axle out, and get ready to disconnect the shift cables and drop her.

 

Well I'm getting there. Got the lower control arms, painted and new ball joints installed, left one bushing un-painted, because it needs to be replaced.

Also painted some other engine parts to hide them a little more, cause eventually I will paint the valve cover, and I want the valve cover to be the main focal point.

But right now besides the new parts I'm getting ready. I am at the point where it is time to disconnect the shifter cables and stuff, now someone said to just remove it all as one with bracket and all, so I just want to be sure I'm not F'ing something up here.

Now on the bracket here, there are about 6 small bolts that look to be all the same size, I'm guessing those are the ones holding it to the trans? But what is there to look out for when I get all 6 out and go to pull it from the trans? I bet there is a shaft that goes into the trans? Is it easy to pull out with the bolts all undone?

Thanks guys, rep will be awarded for helping me with this project. I do have a Haynes manual, but it does not cover this section.

Dj

 

Hey, didn't see you post this yesterday, I don't check this section of the forums too often, but a few tips to help you out.

-Unrelated to the transmission, on the balljoints. It looks like you have the bolts pointed upwards with the new balljoint install. If you are lowered, the bolts may interfere with the knuckle in this orientation (did on my setup). I recommend reversing that and having the bolts point down.

For the transmission stuff, the 6 bolts you are talking about hold the shift tower to the transmission. It’s not necessary to remove this while in the car, may be impossible in fact. Just pop off the two cables from the linkage. You’ll need to take off the small bracket that the cables run through anyway. Also take a look at the wiring harness routing. There is a bracket that holds one of these harnesses up, and has a clip that you may be able to avoid breaking. Make sure you also unplug the speed sensor plug on the back side of the transmission.

Also note where you pull the bellhousing to block bolts from. There are different sizes here.

I can't tell from the picture, but did you drop the subframe. Things were much easier for me once I did this. Good luck!

 

I didn't think about those bolts being up while being lowered, dam, thanks man, I could have done some damage there.

And I pretty much got everything undone right now, I found out earlier in the day, that it is easiest to un-hook the cables connecting to the bracket there^, and then un-hook the other bracket which has two nuts.

O and also, thanks for the heads up about the bell housing to motor bolts, I'll use a piece of cardboard to keep track. And as far as the sub frame.... If I can, I want to try to keep it in, because isn't the steering rack, and a couple other things attached to it?

 

This is what I've done so far, to get the axle's out. But I have not drop the frame yet. And I hope to not have to?

 

better put in new pinch bolts for the ball joint or this will happen.

 

To drop the subframe, you take out the 6 bolts from subframe to chassis, the bolt at the steering column, one bolt where the hoses go into the steering rack, and one little bolt that holds a bracket for said hoses. So the rack stays attached to the subfram, and you drop the whole thing to give you more clearance with the tranmission.

I found that there just was not enough clearance to move the transmission down and keep it in the same orientation. You have to rotate the entire trans forward, and drop the engine down on an angle. To get the trans back in, you'd have to lift it such that the trans is rotated forward, then as you lift it rotate it back over the sub frame into position. Without the subframe there, you just get the trans into position, and lift up.

 

Ouch^, Yea they came with the ball joints, probly for that reason.

And wrc_fan, thanks for the info, I'll try dropping the frame tonight if it's not too hard.

 

no prob, hope it makes your work easier!

 

I have a tip about painting parts []

If you paint them with appliance enamel it comes out really good and is really really hard to scratch
I used it to paint all the under car parts on my old baja and the only time it scratched is when i bottomed out on somthing or hit a rock[mad] but sand and small rocks didnt faze that stuff[race] and you can get it in black if you wish from hardware stores like osh or home depot