Need a little advice..

Doing a clutch change on an 88 944 NA. Can't get the clutch bell housing off -- fork pivot rod is stuck in place (never been removed) and I broke the bolt off trying to wiggle it free.
Went on to removing the 9 bolts through the starter window, as most advise.

Bell housing is still stuck up around the sensor area (driver side, top).
Is there a shaft for the sensor preventing the bell housing from coming off with the 9 bolts removed?
(I can't get the 6mm hex bolt on the driver's side out of the sensor holder, either... )

Should I keep attacking the fork pivot rod or keep battling the sensor bolt?

Edit: also tried tilting the engine back toward the rear of the car - no help.

 

dont remember what the access looks like in the car, but there's a hole by the "lower driver side" bellhousing-to-engine bolt that you can use to punch out the fork shaft from the other side.

 

Looks too high up against the body. Here's the view from below.

 

I had to remove the sensor (singular on a 944 S2) to get the bell housing out. Once it's out, search here on "notching" the bell housing so you don't need to do it again. Once the housing has been notched you can slide it on and off without removing the sensor(s). You do need to add the shield over the sensors that was installed on the late model cars unless the '88 already has them. If you don't shield them they can cause random start and misfire problems.

The sensor on my '89 is shielded. If memory serves the '88 is too, but neither has a notched bell housing. I can look up the part number for the sensor shield if you need it.

 

I saw your thread with the nut cap on the 6mm hex socket - and tried the same, but the bolt closest to the driver's side still won't budge, even having used another wrench as leverage..
The sensors are out. I'm willing to break the holder and hunt down a replacement but that won't get the stuck bolt out with the engine in the car for a replacement anyway.

The fork pivot pin won't budge. Took a chip out of the bell housing and have little left to grab. No way I can reach the driver's side port to push it through. (the breaker bar with an extension doesn't seem to be doing much when I ram it in there)

Really stuck at this point. Probably best to just put the car on ebay and call it a week. Spent six solid days trying to change a clutch. It's ridiculous.

 

There's also a ground wire that bolts to the bellhousing up near the sensor...maybe that's stopping you from getting the bellhousing out. There's all a big bolt up there bolting the BH to the block incase you don't already have it out. There are a total of 4 bolts attaching the BH to the block.

Perhaps you can use the stud remover to get your brockent bolt out of the clutch fork pivot rod, and try again with a stonger bolt.

 

I'm confused why you're worried about the broken bolt if the sensors are out. With the pressure plate bolts off you will be able to punch the pin out on the bench.

 

Use a big-*** slide hammer on an M8 bolt threaded into the end of the shift fork rod. I've done many that way and always had success.

Watch around 21:30

 

On the sensor housing, the D sensor (closest to the engine) has a plastic sleeve that reaches into the bell housing - thus, it won't come off with the sensor bracket in place, despite the sensors having come out of the bracket.

 

My slide hammer didn't want to attach to the M8 bolt. I tried twisting it in there to break it free, but it broke and now there's a 5mm stub hanging out that I can't get a good grip on with the vice grips..... (or rotate to free..)

 

I believe the issue is related to #31 in the picture.. and now that the bolt (#15) on the sensor bracket is not going to take a hex wrench anymore, looks like it's going to be cut off.


I don't think the older cars had this sleeve (which probably alleviated some of the cranking issues complained about when it's not there due to noise or .. magnetic field interference from the other sensor mounted so close to it?)

 

Here's a picture (courtesy of Pelican's web site) of a correctly notched bell housing:

 

Yes, #31 is what you either have already or will need to install once you've notched the housing.

 

Part #31 is there - I can feel it.
I assume once I cut out bolt #15, the bracket will kinda slide off the stub with the housing. My concern is replacing #15 or having the bracket rest on the headless bolt.. not sure how that'll work or if I can get the stub out. It appears #15 doesn't screw into anything major?

Rather than notch anything, I'd prefer to omit the sleeve and cut some ESD foam in the shape of the bracket with holes for the sensors then glue it the bell housing. Should work better than any ABS sleeve and isolate both sensors at the same time, without any metal work.. not that cutting the bolt up isn't metal work.

 

If the bolt can't be extracted from the housing bracket, I'd suggest replacing the bracket along with the bolt. Registration of the sensor is very important to engine performance and even small variations in sensor position can cause the engine electronics to fail.

The sleeve is aluminum, not ABS. I'd strongly recommend using the stock sleeve. It isn't an expensive part.

PS: The purpose of notching the bell housing isn't to improve EMI protection; it's to obviate the necessity of removing the sleeve. It won't help you on this round of repairs but it will make future repairs easier. Think of it as saving your girlfriend for her next boyfriend