Pulled passenger trans. flange, now a problem...

[mitiemite75]

I pulled the 5-speed manual out of my 2000 Jetta with the passenger transmission flange in place and it took a little more manuevering than I liked. I chose to remove the flange when re-installing the trans (it did say "at your own risk") and the installation went easier. Unfortunately....when I tried to re-install the flange, the center bolt wouldn't thread in. When I looked in there with a mirror, I noticed there was nothing to accept the bolt. All I see is the bearing, the splined receiver (gear probably), and a ~3/4" diameter shaft across the rear of the splined female receiver which is probably some type of spider shaft for the limited slip differential. Whatever the bolt was threaded into is missing, maybe dropped down...I don't have a breakdown of the transmission. Anyone know what moved? There is a large hex-socket plug below the area, any ideas on accessing the plug, nut, etc. that is out-of-place. Anyone experienced this before? I'd hate to pull the trans out again if I didn't have to. I replaced the seal when I had the flange off which should be a common repair, so I can't see that pulling the flange should be a high-risk job....Any help would be appreciated....

[chittychittybangbang]

IIRC, there is a little spring there too right? You should have to press the flange in to get the threads engaged. Attached is an exploded view from the parts diagram

[mitiemite75]

Thanks for the parts breakdown, looks like I'm missing the small nut in the end of the bevel gears on subset #5 or 5A, part #2 from the bottom). There is a spring on the axle stub-shaft and I have to compress it with a tool (2x4) to bottom it out but that vertical shaft in #5 and 5A is the only thing at the "bottom" of the hole. The little piece, #2 from the bottom on #5A is missing....Now, where did it go?, not much room in there and it must be larger than the I.D. bore of the bevel gear,(#1 from the bottom), otherwise it wouldn't hold the axle stub-shaft in place, so it didn't come out of the transmisssion....Looks like I'm going to get intimate with the internals of the transmission this weekend...Any advice, or resources, on the internals of the transmission? Most threads on the net mention that a rebuild of the trans is tough, given the special tools needed. Any more blowup diagrams of the internals, or a specific book, manual, would help. Does the Bentley manual contain that level of detail?

Again, thanks for the pic. It at least shows me that I'm not crazy...

Separately, the reason I pulled the trans out was to install the VR6 flywheel/pressure plate conversion. Has anybody out there did this and do you like the results? Corey and Peter at IDparts have bent over backwards fixing the sins of a competitor to make sure I had all the missing parts I needed. Kudos to them....

[chittychittybangbang]

http://www.brokevw.com/020flange.html

Here is a useful page that shows an older transmission. Their home page: http://www.brokevw.com/index.htm

I know the paper Bentley does not have any details on taking the transmission apart. If you do have to pull it apart, please document it as much as possible to share what you've learned. FYI there is a writeup contest for best writeups and taking step by step pictures is free and would help many others as well.

I have no clue why your flange will not go back. Before you panic, try removing the flange on the other side and see how it is attached.

[mitiemite75]

Brian at brokevw,com confirmed that I have to remove the trans and split the case.
He answered a personal e-mail very quickly. It's guys like him and you that really help out....Found a great DIY at
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...or-LSD-install
so I'll use it to dis-assemble and see what came loose. Wouldn't even try it if you guys hadn't documented things like that. I've got nothing to lose. As they say, you don't learn until you have to redo things 2 or 3 times...
I'll let you know what I find and maybe take pics. I did find a post on the vw forum saying he couldn't thread his 83 mm flange bolt in either. Maybe I'm not the first.

[mitiemite75]

Dis-assembled my 5-speed using the DIY thread http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...or-LSD-install

and found that Brian at brokevw was right. The plastic cage housing that provides bearing surfaces for the spider and splined output gears was mostly gone, ground up into the trans gear oil. Took about 4 hours to dis-assemble using the 67 pages of photos and instructions to get to my differential. A few pointers:
1. Tried drilling out the M5 x 30 mm slotted roll pin and broke a bit in the blind hole. Stumped me until I placed a large socket under the spider shaft and struck the other end of the spider gear shaft about 3 smart licks to shear the pin and drive the shaft out.

2. Took about 4 weeks to get a new plastic diff. cage. Everybody in the U.S. was out and the part ($6.80 plus shipping) was on backorder from Germany. Zelek.com was able to send me a free used part (didn't use tho in perfect condition) and a new part a few weeks later. Kudos to them.

3. Nobody in SE Texas stocks metric roll pins. Ordered a pack of 100 M5 x 30mm from McMaster-Carr for $10 plus shipping. Anyone need roll pins?

4. Assembling the plastic bearing cage, spider gears, splined output gears, spider gear shaft, and threaded plugs for the output flanges was a puzzle but not hard. E-mail me if you need a description.

Took about 2 hours to re-assemble transmission. Re-installed in the Jetta and drove it around. Shifts sweet.

One problem. Alarm goes off when I start the car. Cranks good, runs good. Horn toots off/on as I drive off....It's always something. (probably because I took the battery out, then re-installed) Guess I'll read up on that.

I'm pleased (maybe surprised, too) that it went so well. The DIY thread was a life-saver.

[saucer]

This is quite scary. I pulled both flanges off to make manuevering the trans easier, but now can't get either center long bolt (part 25 in diagram) to catch any threads. I haven't looked in with a mirror yet, but was hoping someone knew of a trick to push the flanges back in a ways to reach the bolt's target.

I really hope removing both flanges didn't free a receiving piece in between...

[chittychittybangbang]

It shouldn't have, can you press in the flange?

[Seatman]

Why is everyone pulling the flanges out? With the little plate off the back of the engine to bell house I thought it was easy to remove the box. Sounds like a flippin nightmare if you do pull them anyway and I for one aint going to do that in a hurry.

I think this thread should be connected to the faq so that folk considering pulling them can see what a pita it is lol