started working on the Festy yesterday

[mullet man]

all i have left is the bellhousing bolts to get the 4sp manual out.
then i have to get the flywheel resurfaced if it needs it.
then reinstall the 5spd.

got a new autozone clutch kit. i have never seen a clutch this small before, its quite cute :lol:

any tips or words of wisdom for the final tranny removal and reassembly of the new stuff?

gotta finish the festy up by Wed. then i get to pack all the crap from my house into a U-haul for the move up north.... YAY thats gonna be fun!

[Pu241]

words of wisdom:

Hope you have something in the 5 spd tranny to hold the spider gears in place till you get a half shaft in there!

[mullet man]

ruh roh, care to elaborate and recommend? didnt know about this issue.

[kzbill]

Some say the spider gears fall out of alignment. I personally have never had this problem. and I have changed three or four. so not a huge panic if you have removed it already. but, I would agree that if not for safety's sake it wouldn't hurt either to put something thru the outputs of the trans. I don't under stand the theory that the spider gears can fall I would think they would be held in by the output bearing but I don't have my manual at hand to tell you for sure.

I find it easiest to jack the car up and remove the "crossmember" and mounts. after rigging up something to hold the motor up across the inner fenders. I saw a 2X4 and a turnbuckle used on here somewhere. check the threads.
then after removing the axel shafts and dropping the trans out thru the bottom. The hole where the starter goes is a great hand hold. it wieghs about 40 lbs. so it is an easy drop.

[mullet man]

yeah, i've got that far already, i have an engine hoist holding everything up right now. only broke 1 bolt so far, the shifter linkage bolt snapped off on the nut side.
the 4spd is still currently attached to the motor, the bell housing bolts and starter are the only things left to undo/remove. the 5spd came extra with the car since the 4spd was stuck in gear. i will have to take a look at the spider gears in the 5spd.
currently the drivers side CV is out of the tranny 95% of the way. the pass. side is still in there but i did unbolt the spindle from the strut (on both sides) to give room for removal. hoping i can just wrestle the trans out from underneath with the CV's like they are right now.

if for some reason the spider gears are out of placement or just gone in the 5spd, can i just swap the 4spd differential over to it?

[Axlander9289]

I find it easiest to jack the car up and remove the "crossmember" and mounts. after rigging up something to hold the motor up across the inner fenders. I saw a 2X4 and a turnbuckle used on here somewhere. check the

I used a bottle jack under the oil pan and a block of wood to separate them when I did mine, seemed to work out all right, but something across the inner fenders would be more advisable.

[mullet man]

wiring on the transmission?
what wiring differences is there between years or trans models?
there are 3 connections on the 4spd and only 2 on the 5spd.
4spd has 2 sensors located within inches of each other at the tail end.
the 5spd only has one in the same location.
i will take a picture if no one knows what i am refering to.

[FB71]

I'll check my wiring diags in the morning, and let you know.

[worfdog]

one of the connections is for the shift light on the dash which the 4-speeds had and one is the back-up lights. the 5-speeds do not have shift indicator lights that i know of . when i changed my 88 to a 5-speed i just tucked the shift light plug up out of the way.

[FB71]

sounds correct. Called a "High Gear Switch", it kept the shift light from illuminating when in 4th gear. I just don't remember which one it is...

[mullet man]

OK fellas, that makes sense. was hoping it wasnt for a skip shift or clutchless start mechanism or something. the 5spd has a black connector and the 4spd has one white and one black. i will follow the wires on he 4spd to make sure they go to the same sensor location on both trans'. (i'm betting coloring to be the same tho).
thanks for the input!

tomorrow i get the flywheel resurfaced and bolt it back together.

oh and it nice only having to pick from 5 socket sizes to do this entire job! 10-12-14-17-19mm 8)

[kzbill]

5th gear switch, on passenger side halfshaft, thread: http://www.fordfestiva.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13337

[mullet man]

thats a different connector then what i am talking about.
that one is on both of mine tho.

the ones i am referring too are on the drivers side most part of the trans.

[FB71]

the other two switches are the reverse lamp switch (backup lights) and a neutral gear switch (computer input for carb adjustment)

[mullet man]

thank you sir.
so its likely that the 5spd came out of an EFI car?