MK_951

I'm taking the bellhousing out by taking the transmission out so what is the best way to take out the bellhousing bolts and bellhousing? Do I have to remove the whole torque tube or will I have enough room to pull it out?

JFreeman

I have taken the bell housing off without pulling the torque tube out on 2 non turbo cars, i'm not too sure on the turbo because of the fuel tank. Just give it a shot and see what happens, if all else fails its not too difficult to drop the rear suspension low enough to pull it out, especially if you have a friend to help. Why are you pulling the bell housing?

MK_951

apparently i have the wrong one...im having problems getting the clutch fork out...cause apparently that seems to be holding the bellhousing in. Its been nothing but a big headache so far.

Van

Clutch job is a big job... read the factory service manual and do lots of searching here.

Tom M'Guinn

You can remove the bellhousing with the torque tube still in the car. Just pull it back. You might need to rotate it over so that big safety brackets clear the chassis. There you need to screw a bolt into the end of the clutch fork pivot rod and pull it out of the bellhousing (after removing its set screw bolt). If the rod won't come out by yanking, then you may need to work up a slide hammer to bang it out. As Van says, there is lots of info in the archives here. Also see Clarks-garage.com for a step by step description.

Chris White

Why do you think you have the wrong bellhousing?
The clutch fork never wants to come out. The best tool is to get a good old fashion slide hammer (dent pulling tool) and weld on the right sized bolt. Then you can screw it into the clutch fork pin and pull it out. The other ‘crude’ way is to screw in a long bolt into the pin, attach a vicegrip to the bolt shaft just before the head and beat that with a hammer. Some of these pins are very hard to get out!

Your best bet for the upper bellhousing bolts is a socket with a built in universal and a 3’ extension. Adding a separate universal to a standard socket does not always fit it the space.

But I am still wondering why you have to remove the bell housing…..

MK_951

@chris I'm replacing it because when I try to start the car, the starter gear grinds against the starter teeth, but just barely. I've had numerous posts and some people said its the bellhousing. I honestly don't know what else it could be but all I know is I am fiending to get her on the road so I've been day and night with this car.

Van

It would be far easier and cheaper to change the starter... When did this problem develop? Bell housings don't "change" or "go bad" over time.

MK_951

I bought two different starters and the same problem. It ain't the starter ring because n/a is 128 tooth count and turbo is 132 tooth count and I have the turbo starter ring. The clutch assembly was on the motor when I got it so there isn't anything wrong there either. So my last conclusion was the bellhousing

Chris White

I believe that the 951 had the largest diameter clutch out of the 944 series – so if the starter mounting point is different for the NA cars then the starter would be closer to the center. Check to see where the starter is grinding – is it on the face of the ring gear because it can go in any further or is it too far out to the side and not cleanly engaging the teeth.

Tell us a little more about the clutch, pressure plate and flywheel that is supposed to be on the engine.

MK_951

the starter gear is just barely grinding away at the starter rings teeth. The clutch is a stock 951 clutch...disc has a lot of meat still on it, the pressure plate was smooth other than your normal wear marks and the starter ring was in perfect condition (a little grinded down now on some of the teeth). I just honestly scratch my head on this one and today I found I've been leaking gas so my garage is literally a hazard zone...lol. The leak is coming from the plate on the gas tank, I'm thinking its the feed line from the tank is cracked or something so I'll be checking that out tomorrow after work.

Tom M'Guinn

Did it ever work with this bellhousing? Have you confirmed the motor turns by cranking it by hand via the front pulley bolt? How do you know the starter just barely engages? Have you checked the starter harness to ensure the solenoid is getting power when needed?

MK_951

The car runs...I've pop started it and it drives. Also, I know its working because I took the starter out, grounded it to the bellhousing, and watch it work. Adding to that, the teeth on the starter ring shows signs that the starter gear hits the ring teeth.

schip43

Can you see any numbers on the bell housing? Maybe check that way?

JFreeman

The bell housings are different, first hand experience. I put a turbo aluminum flywheel and pressure plate on a na 944. Starter wouldn't engage, and the teeth would hit the bell housing. Changed the bell housing and everything worked great, i think i also used a turbo starter. If i remember correctly the part numbers on the outside of the bell housings were off by one number. The part number on my 86 turbo bell housing is 944 116 401 2R. i don't have the na bell housing to check against. Good luck.