Day two, good result. I now have a gearbox safely sitting on the garage floor
I started by extracting the pin holding the clutch operating arm to the shaft. This arm has to come off the shaft to enable the shaft to rotate sufficiently anti-clockwise to release its forks from the release bearing as you draw the gearbox off the engine. Without removing
the arm, it just cannot be done.
That pin is in tight
A very good method I found was to give it a tiny drink of Plus Gas and then clamp a pair of Mole Grips onto the head of the pin and then, using a drift applied to the throat of the Mole Grip jaws, give the drift some sharp taps with a hammer. Do protect the rad from potential damage though. The pin came out easily enough and the arm followed with a bit of coaxing.
The pressure regulator on the early Xantia has the FDV (Flow Distribution Valve) mounted above it and is rather a large lump. An anti-sink Xantia will be rather easier here.
However, I freed a number of "P" clips holding hydraulic lines to the PR/FDV so that those pipes could move around reasonably freely. I then tied up the PR/FDV out of the way of the gearbox. In retrospect I wish I'd taken the trouble to remove it, life would have been easier later. I will remove it before replacing the gearbox as it's generally a bit weepy and never ticks, only hisses, so it could do with some TLC.
Although it looks as if it won't cause a problem, do remove the clutch cable inner anchor frame from the gearbox. It will foul a hydraulic pipe if left on even though it looks like it'll make a good handle for holding the 'box later.
Next, off came the roadwheels. I then draind the gearbox oil. Whilst it was draining I split the two lower balljoints. Clean up the threads with a wire brush and dunk them in Plus Gas before trying to undo them. I also sprayed the bolts holding the LH mudshield ready for its removal.
Take care not to damage the rubber boots when splitting the lower balljoints and use a high quality balljoint splitter (thanks MikeT, your donation to the toolkit does a wonderful job!).
Pull the LH driveshaft partially out of the gearbox. Very easy, it might even come out on its own. If you're doing a Rolls-Royce job, removing the LH driveshaft completely makes life a little easier but it's by no means necessary.
Not so the RH driveshaft. This driveshaft has an imtermediate bearing and the bearing must be released from its housing before the driveshaft will come out of the gearbox. Undo the two 11mm "Hockey-Stick" bolt nuts about three parts of the way along their threads. Then push each in and rotate them through 90 degrees. These bolts retain the bearing in the housing and have an "L" shaped head on them.
The intermediate bearing will be tight in its housing and will need persuasion to come out. Start with some Plus Gas and gently use a pry-bar between the bearing housing and the inner CV joint. If the bearing and driveshaft does not move, apply a soft drift to the collar on
the driveshaft behind the bearing and carefully tap with a heavy hammer whilst rotating the driveshaft. Go back to the pry-bar and repeat until the bearing gives up the fight and the driveshaft slides out of the gearbox. Don't bother to pull the driveshaft fully out, half-way is perfect. It'll come the rest of the way when you remove the gearbox.
Loosen the three Hex bellhousing bolts a little so they won't put up a fight later. Remove the 6mm Allen bellhousing bolt adjacent to the speedo drive housing on the diff. This one faces the opposite way to the others.
Now the fun bit. Take a look to ensure that everything is disconnected from the 'box and that there is noting to stop it dropping down to the ground. Carefully jack up under the engine (on the sump edge) to take the weight of the engine and gearbox.
Loosen the 18mm nut on top of the gearbox mount under the ABS block whilst ensuring the jack is taking the weight. If the nut is tight it's not. Once initially loosened, the nut should be finger tight. Run the nut neary to the top of its thread.
Using an engine crane, attach a length of stout rope via a "D" shackle to the front top) gearbox lifting eye. This lifting eye represents the point of perfect balance for the 'box.
Take the strain on the crane and confirm the strain is taken. Then remove the 18mm gearbox mount nut and recover its washer.
Ensure the LH driveshaft inner CV joint and shaft are out of the way and not likely to get trapped as the gearbox comes down.
Let down the jack supporting the sump about 2 inches. Let the crane down so that the engine and gearbox falls by about a couple of inches so that the gearbox mount threaded shaft is nearly clear of the mount rubber. Now undo the two 18mm bolts (they'll be tight) holding the
mount bracket to the gearbox. Let the crane down a tad more and remove the mount bracket complete from the gearbox. This really gives a lot more clearance to play with and avoids potential damage to two hydraulic pipes (the PAS pipes) that run along the bottom of the chassis rail near the end of the gearbox.
Let the crane down a bit more and sight-check you have clearance under the chassis rail to pull the box about 6 inches outward. Once happy, bring the jack under the sump back up to take the strain. Ensure now the jack and crane are taking the strain equally.
Check again for potential obstructions and undo a little way the three remaining bellhousing bolts. If they are tight then you've not got the strain taken equally on the jack and crane.
Once happy, remove the bolts. Insert a small bar in the clutch release shaft hole. Pull the gearbox off the engine about 1/2" or until it stops. Rotate the bar anti-clockwise whilst pulling the 'box back to disengage the release shaft forks from the release bearing. Now carry on pulling the box back as far as possible and at the same time very gently letting the crane down. Always checking for any obstructions or impediments, carefully manoeuvre the box to the ground. You'll need to rotate it backwards so the diff clears the subframe and ensure the LH driveshaft is clear.
Remove the crane rope and recover the gearbox from under the car and move to safe storage. Tie up the LH driveshaft and put something (I used oil-proof latex gloves) over the ends of the driveshafts to protect them.
Ensure the engine is safely supported for the duration. I recommend not using a jack for this but to use the engine crane to lift the engine slightly and place an axle stand uner the sump.
Part three to follow.That'll be the clutch itself. All this work so far has been to simply gain access to the clutch!!!
Two 10mm studs. Best to do that whilst you're underneath taking the Allen headed bellhousing bolt out.
Not sure what happened but woke up with it on Wednesday after going to bed on Tuesday absolutely perfect. It has only just got more or less good and the weather has broken just when I could recommence 