Hello,

I'm in the process of removing the automatic transmission out of our 2009 Honda Fit Sport. The rear main seal has a really bad leak.

Is it possible to get the transmission out without dropping the sub frame? I'd like to avoid doing that and saw a guy on YT was able to get his out without dropping the subframe. However, that car was 5MT.

It does look like a tight (impossible?) fit in the back so I was thinking of maybe removing the radiator and leaning the engine/transmission in that direction as I try to remove it.

Thanks,
Bob

 

I bit the bullet and dropped the subframe. It was huge pain in the a**.

Helpful hints for anyone who wants to try it:
1. Support subframe with a strong floor jack and then remove all 6 bolts
2. Let the subframe drop about an inch. This will give you enough room to get the steering rack bolts out. The exhaust does not have to be dropped out (saw someone else did this and I sure didn't want to deal with rusty exhaust bolts and the O2 sensor)
3. All bolts can be loosened with a shallow 14mm socket on a ratchet. I had a pipe on the end of the ratchet to break things loose and then it was slow and painful (a few clicks at a time) to get the bolts out.
4. Attach the rack and tie rod ends to the body with some bungee cords or strong zip ties.
5. With the subframe removed there is tons of room for the tranny to drop out

Bob

 

Nice work, @bobonker ! I love the creative solution for retaining the steering rack. I hate dealing with tie rods as the bushings always rip. Good on yuh!

 

Thanks @Pyts .

Here's more pics of the work. The rear main seal was pretty much shot. Once I had the transmission out, I removed the torque converter and replaced the input shaft seal and put a new o-ring on the torque converter snout. Pre-filled with about 16 oz of new DW-1 ATF.

This transmission is HEAVY. I can usually handle a manual trans without a transmission jack but not this one. Transmission is back in the car and I'm starting to put everything back together.