I think I've caused myself a serious problem...!!!

**LimeyZ** · 10-02-2011, 08:00 AM

During a traditional 2 person bleeding of my clutch the 7/16" socket came off my wrench and bleeder and fell into the bell housing. Driving the car is okay but when I brake the the socket moves into some forward location where it gets picked up by the rotating clutch and makes an awful loud clattering noise as it gets whipped around before it finds a new resting place away from the clutch.

Can the transmission be simply be unbolted and traversed backwards about 1/2" to retrieve the socket is this going to be a big job of dismantling loads of other stuff?

Paul
1999 Z28

**cpop98ws6** · 10-02-2011, 09:07 AM

Can you get in there with a flexible magnet?

**LimeyZ** · 10-02-2011, 09:40 AM

Good idea but I think it would take a miracle to fish it out and absolutely impossible without cutting an access port through the transmission tunnel. The access port would make bleeding easier next time though! When the socket went inside the bell housing I was working blind feeling my way towards the top of the bell housing. I thought I was pushing the socket onto the bleeder but it must have been just off to the side and with minimal pressure it just popped through the gap. To pull it back through that gap would require it to be firmly attached to a wire or something. I don't think the magnet would hold it as it was dragged back though the clearance hole around the bleeder.
As I think about your idea, maybe I could drill a 1/2" hole in the very bottom of the aluminium bell housing a fish it out from there with a flexible magnet...

**cpop98ws6** · 10-02-2011, 09:51 AM

What about pulling the starter out, maybe you can fish it out from there.

**nfellman** · 10-02-2011, 10:44 AM

Yea I would try the pulling the starter before any drilling is done. Sorry man that really sucks. Keep us posted

**LimeyZ** · 10-02-2011, 11:07 AM

Mmmm, the starter motor might work! I can't visualize what access to would provide - never had to tinker with it in the 12+ years I've owned the car. The car has been put away in the barn so I don't have to look it but I'll investigate that possibility when I've finished sulking...

**SMWS6TA** · 10-05-2011, 07:25 AM

pulling the start will give you about a 3-4 inch opening. Use a flex magnet to reach for the socket. Other wise you will need to pull back the tranny like you posted in order to get it out. Do not leave it there. You are just asking for more serious & costly damage. It sucks, I know I've dropped mine 3 times in a 12 month period. I even had to replace the BH because it cracked.

Honestly I'm very surprised you haven't broke the fly wheel or something else yet.

**LimeyZ** · 11-16-2011, 07:45 AM

Tried the magnet on a flexible stick through the start motor opening and also searched with a digital inspection scope but still no success in locating the lost socket so off with the tranny!

I have also been unsuccessful in bleeding the clutch even after replacing the master cylinder (the drill mod was done years ago) so I'm assuming there must be something wrong with the slave.

I did grind an o-ring groove on a new socket and hammered on an external cir-clip to prevent it falling into the bell housing. Works great and is much easier to handle in the confined space.

**LimeyZ** · 12-27-2011, 04:36 AM

It's been a while but the car is now on ramps ready to be worked on. Just looking for a few guidelines on removing the transmission... If anyone can point me to a well written procedure I would appreciate it.

**Mr_Rich** · 12-27-2011, 09:49 AM

Get some long M10 bolts to use as guide pins when aligning or removing the trans from the bell housing. That T56 is too heavy to muscle like you were bench pressing a T10, Saginaw, or a Muncie. The tricky part is that a T56 has a V-shape on the bottom so a regular hydraulic trans jack doesn't work so well. I used a scissors-type trans jack with a V-notch support and it worked much better.

**LimeyZ** · 12-29-2011, 12:03 PM

Taking my time on the car... I do have everything stripped off and the 8 bolts removed from the transmission/bell housing joint but it seems to be stuck on the 2 locating dowels. I'm thinking about getting a piece of 2x4 wood and just whacking it. Probably be tomorrow when I try. Anyone have any suggestions?

**Deviant LS1** · 12-31-2011, 07:39 AM

When I first pulled my tranny the bellhousing was stuck on one dowel. It had corroded there. I carefully used prybars and a deadblow hammer and It eventually came loose after about an hour. Don't go too crazy prying it as the bellhousing will flex and break. It's not as solid as you would think.

**LimeyZ** · 01-01-2012, 05:20 AM

A long piece of 2x4 and a copper mallet... A Borg-Warner T56 now sits in front of my Camaro!

The little socket that fell into the bell-housing is clearly visible - jammed tight into the clutch mechanism. I will post a couple of pictures later - it's rather interesting to see where it finally came to rest.

**az gt eater** · 01-01-2012, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by LimeyZ

A long piece of 2x4 and a copper mallet... A Borg-Warner T56 now sits in front of my Camaro!

The little socket that fell into the bell-housing is clearly visible - jammed tight into the clutch mechanism. I will post a couple of pictures later - it's rather interesting to see where it finally came to rest.

And lucky.

**pajeff02** · 01-01-2012, 10:59 AM

I swapped out my A4 last summer and it was also hung up on the dowels. Touched the dowel with the blunt tip air chisel and it immediately popped free.

**LimeyZ** · 01-01-2012, 12:58 PM

The bell-housing to engine block dowels are a whopping 5/8" (16mm) in diameter. I battled for a good half hour trying pop the driver side one without success then I found a 2 foot slither of wood that taper from about 3/8" to nothing and knocked that up into the dowel area and it was free in 30 seconds.

**LimeyZ** · 01-01-2012, 02:32 PM

I have some .jpg's to share but it's not obvious to me how I can post them directly from my computer hard-drive...!!!

**LimeyZ** · 01-02-2012, 01:03 PM

Just testing with posting pictures... Success!

You can just see the socket hiding between one of the diaphragm spring fingers and the steel housing. Look at the distortion on the fingers!

**LimeyZ** · 01-02-2012, 02:09 PM

Looking into the bell-housing at the clutch pressure plate.
The socket is located at 11 o'clock

Looking up towards the 11 o'clock position the socket is hiding between the the pressure plate housing and one of the diaphragm spring fingers. It's under that tension spring at the top of the photo.

Getting in closer now. Notice how the diaphragm fingers are misaligned. The socket is just beginning to show itself

There it is, the little bugger, and wedged tight!

A little cir-clip on the end of the socket (left) could have saved me a lot of work. The consequences of not having a safety clip (right)

Looking on the bright side... A new clutch (this one is from a Z06 when they first came out - not sure what to get now...), a Firdanza aluminum flywheel, a TICK REMOTE BLEEDER, a better clutch master cylinder, a new shifter (Pro 5.0 or MGW?) and might as well install some Kooks headers and ORY while the car is on blocks.