Bell Housing Removal

[C.C. Rider]

Anyone with tips on removing the Bell Housing on a Dodge truck would be much appreciated! Thanks!

[Merle Coggins]

Remove clutch and flywheel, remove bell housing bolts, remove bell housing. There are 2 locator dowels on either side near the bottom edge of the block that will hold it snug.

[C.C. Rider]

1 minute ago, Merle Coggins said:

Remove clutch and flywheel, remove bell housing bolts, remove bell housing. There are 2 locator dowels on either side near the bottom edge of the block that will hold it snug.

how do i go about removing the clutch and fly wheel?

 

[Don Coatney]

Do you have a service manual? If not you should get one.

[Merle Coggins]

26 minutes ago, C.C. Rider said:

how do i go about removing the clutch and fly wheel?

 

 

I have to assume that you already have the transmission removed... Then there are 6 bolts that hold the clutch assembly to the flywheel. You will have to bar the engine over to access them all. Once you have the clutch off you will have access to the flywheel bolts/nuts. Remove them, and the flywheel, and then you can remove the bell housing.

If the engine is still in the vehicle you will need to support the back of the engine, as the rear engine mount are on the bell housing.

[C.C. Rider]

1 hour ago, Don Coatney said:

Do you have a service manual? If not you should get one.

yes sir i have one, but i always check here first!

 

 

[C.C. Rider]

1 hour ago, Merle Coggins said:

 

I have to assume that you already have the transmission removed... Then there are 6 bolts that hold the clutch assembly to the flywheel. You will have to bar the engine over to access them all. Once you have the clutch off you will have access to the flywheel bolts/nuts. Remove them, and the flywheel, and then you can remove the bell housing.

If the engine is still in the vehicle you will need to support the back of the engine, as the rear engine mount are on the bell housing.

is there a bar tool that i need to get?

[C.C. Rider]

my engine is out of the truck, but its seized

[Don Coatney]

49 minutes ago, C.C. Rider said:

yes sir i have one, but i always check here first!

 

 

 

The advice you get from a service manual was written by the folks who built and designed your vehicle. Suggest you read the manual first and then check here.  

[Merle Coggins]

To bar the engine over, you can typically use the nut on the front of the crankshaft, or use a pry bar on the ring gear against the bell housing. However, if the engine is seized you won’t be able to bar it over to access all of the clutch bolts. The other option, since it’s out of the truck, it to use a punch and drive the dowel pins into the bell housing a little bit, so they’ll clear the block, then lift the bell housing up over the top of the flywheel. 

[Dodgeb4ya]

^^^^^^ 100% except the crank bolt will provide very little leverage to attempt to turn the crankshaft compared to using the flywheel ring gear.

I  broke off the hollow crank bolt trying to break free a frozen up junk car engine. 3/4" drive ratchet.

[Brent B3B]

On 6/29/2018 at 12:54 PM, C.C. Rider said:

yes sir i have one, but i always check here first!

 

 

I usually check here first also CC....  I am not a mechanic and I have found a few who will "dumb it down" for me and it builds my confidence. ?

 

the manual doesn't always cover my scenario.

good luck and report back!

[wayfarer]

The manual will not tell you how to deal with a stuck/frozen assenbly and the ensuing issue of the flywheel bolts.

You will absoultly have to be able to rotate the crank in order to access the nuts on the backside of the crank flange or,

remome the crank/flywheel as a unit...except that that does not always clear the con-rods.  Fun Eh????????

Edited July 1, 2018 by wayfarer

[kencombs]

On 6/29/2018 at 3:03 PM, C.C. Rider said:

my engine is out of the truck, but its seized

If I were working on it, the head would be removed, cylinders and valve soaked with ATF and I'd make every effort to make it rotate before proceeding.

 

Lots easier to work on if you can make it turn!  It will take some time, maybe days of soaking but they will usually break free will soaking and persuasion.

[Merle Coggins]

When I disassembled my engine it was seized so tight I wasn’t able to access all of the Fluid Drive retaining nuts. So I laid the engine on its side and pulled the crankshaft out the bottom with the FD attached. I could then remove it from the crankshaft. Now I could focus on extracting the pistons, which was quite the task. Most of the valves were seized in place too, so that was the next struggle on disassembly. Once I got it all apart a trip to the machine shop got it back in good shape and it runs strong to this day. 

[C.C. Rider]

have any of y'all tried diesel to free up a frozen engine? I was told it works faster to break. I used atf before and it didn't free it up. But for sure , freeing up the engine would be a better option 

Edited July 2, 2018 by C.C. Rider

[kencombs]

Yes, I've tried it.  ATF seems to be better from my experience.  Some say a 50/50 mix of atf and acetone is best.  But, anything takes time, lots of it. 

 

Are the head and pan both off?   Often the valves are stuck and with the head on it's almost impossible to get enough of any lube to them to free the stems. 

How to the cylinders look?  lots of rust, or just a surface coating? 

Edited July 2, 2018 by kencombs

[C.C. Rider]

yes. i have the head off but not the oil pan. from what i can tell the cylinder walls look good. 

[JBNeal]

I have used diesel on engines that haven't run in decades and Marvel Mystery Oil on engines that haven't run in months/years, would fill up cylinders and walk away for a week before checking on progress...first, I would just pull spark plugs and fill thru that hole, checking depth with a dowel to see how far the fluid had dropped...typically, the stuck cylinder would leak down the slowest...after a couple of weeks, I would pull the heads, then smack the stuck pistons with a short 2x4 and a 5# hammer to introduce some vibration into the piston, then refill only the stuck cylinder and check daily...once the cylinder had leaked down again, I'd repeat the 2x4 smack then try to rotate the crankshaft at the ring gear...if no movement, repeat penetrant fill then smack after bleed down then try ring gear turn...when the ring gear turns with little pry bar effort, I'd attach to the crankshaft nut and turn with a wrench and a cheater bar and continue to turn with penetrant in the cylinder for lubrication until a cheater bar was no longer required...then it was time to disassemble as the pistons were free enough to be removed from their bores

[kencombs]

46 minutes ago, C.C. Rider said:

yes. i have the head off but not the oil pan. from what i can tell the cylinder walls look good. 

Are the valves stuck or is it just the pistons?

 

The last poster's comment about hammers and 2xs is a good suggestion.  But, after waiting an appropriate time for the solvent/lube to go to work.

Another approach, since the head is off. would be to wash it out well with a strong oil cutting cleaner.  Really well.  Then fill the cylinders with white vinegar.  Let is soak overnight and scrub. then let dry/  Back to the ATF/diesel whatever. Vinegar will dissolve a lot of rust and make the process easier.

 

There are commercial products that do that also, but they all cost much more than vinegar for just small improvement in performance.

 

[C.C. Rider]

On 7/2/2018 at 4:57 PM, kencombs said:

Are the valves stuck or is it just the pistons?

 

The last poster's comment about hammers and 2xs is a good suggestion.  But, after waiting an appropriate time for the solvent/lube to go to work.

Another approach, since the head is off. would be to wash it out well with a strong oil cutting cleaner.  Really well.  Then fill the cylinders with white vinegar.  Let is soak overnight and scrub. then let dry/  Back to the ATF/diesel whatever. Vinegar will dissolve a lot of rust and make the process easier.

 

There are commercial products that do that also, but they all cost much more than vinegar for just small improvement in performance.

 

im thinking just the pistons are stuck. not really sure

[johnsartain]

I had a 218 that was stuck. I drove the locator dowel pins back into the bell housing a bit, then removed the bolts and slipped the bell housing off from around the flywheel clutch assembly. You could also remove the crank, flywheel, and clutch as an assembly. My engine was so rusted it was beyond using MM Oil or anything to loosen it up. You may find that depending on the condition of the cylinder bores that all you have to do to get it to turn is remove the timing chain and gear. For whatever reason, folks just love to remove the hood and air cleaners and leave the engine exposed to the outdoor elements for years. I never could figure that out. It totally rusts up the entire valve train.

Edited July 5, 2018 by johnsartain

[C.C. Rider]

just a quick update. today i went and was able to move the flywheel about 1/2" up and down today. hopefully this is a good thing

[HotRodTractor]

I have a history of unsticking "stuck" engines when dealing with antique tractors. I start with a mixture of 50/50 ATF and acetone - the acetone thins the ATF to get it into spots you normally couldn't get it, and it eventually evaporates. I fill all the cylinders right to the top and let it sit at least over night (up to your judgement/discretion as to how "stuck" something is). On a flathead engine such as these - I then make a "best guess" at what cylinder has the valves closed (fastest way is to just use a rubber tipped air gun and hit each spark plug hole until you have resistance). Once I have my cylinder chosen - I top it off with diesel fuel (cheaper than oil and also soaks and lubricates). I then have an adapter I made that screws into the spark plug hole for that cylinder and allows me to attach a manual grease gun hose to it. With all the other spark plugs removed I start pumping - if I hit a lot of resistance I will let it sit for a while and see if it dissipates - if it doesn't, I find a different spark plug hole and try again. You have to be careful and methodical - but the pressure with either push fluid down past the rings and free it up, or it will start to turn the engine over. Be wary of cylinders that are at top or bottom dead center - they are no good to put pressure on.

 

A manual grease gun can provide up to 3500-4000psi of nice smooth even pressure in a cylinder. Its also enough to brake things - so be cautious.

 

On an engine that isn't a flathead its easier - just remove the rocker arms and make sure the valves are closed.

 

It takes a VERY stuck engine, or a mechanically failed engine for this method to fail. In 20 some years and just as many engines - I've only not succeeded once.

[Don Coatney]

19 minutes ago, HotRodTractor said:

 

 

A manual grease gun can provide up to 3500-4000psi of nice smooth even pressure in a cylinder. Its also enough to brake things - so be cautious.

 

 

In my working days I was responsible for annual inspection on a pair of coal fired boilers. Would saturate the boilers with water filled to the very top. Then use a grease gun to bring the cold boilers up to working pressure for a leak down test.