Well tommorrow morning i am swaping trannys and i wanted to know how hard it is to take out the aod and what i have to do to get the shifter out.?
AOD removal
- Thread starter RsStanG1987
- Start date
89MustangGX
I have nothing productive to add!
It's definitely a lot more work than any of the 5-speeds I've done!
It's bigger, heavier, and harder to get to some of the bolts. Other than that, it's basically unbolting anything attaching the tranny to the rest of the car/engine. You'll need a friend to hold the crank while you loosen the nuts on the torque converter. You'll probably also need a friend to help with the tranny itself.
No need to remove the shifter, just the cable.
It's bigger, heavier, and harder to get to some of the bolts. Other than that, it's basically unbolting anything attaching the tranny to the rest of the car/engine. You'll need a friend to hold the crank while you loosen the nuts on the torque converter. You'll probably also need a friend to help with the tranny itself.
No need to remove the shifter, just the cable.
1990Coupe
Founding Member
89MustangGX said:
He said u dont need to remove the shifter, just remove the cable leave the shifter to the tranny... Me and a buddy just got done over thanksgiving swapping his 93 from an AOD to a T-5. Its not that bad at all.. Take your time, take it apart and it wont be that bad. You will need tho to do some prying on that AOD to get it off the block, that was the toughest part, that and the petal install, which i might add u dont need to take out the dash, OR loosen it. We installed the petals just fine without taking out the dash.
crazypete
All my crevices are greased.
I swapped my t-5 for an AOD and lemme tell ya, that AOD is a monster! Over 200 lbs fully assembled and filled. DONT be under the car in any way and you'd better have 3-4 jacks holding it up. The problem is that you need to slide the transmission backwards to get it off the flewplate. You'll need to crowbar the bellhousing off the engine block then walk the 4 jacks (2 on either side on the lip and 1 front, 1 back) back a little bit at a time then spend an hour lowering it to the ground a few turns per jack at a time. This thing will kill/maim you if it falls on you!
I used to take t-5's and pull them onto my stomach and arch my back to get them it into it's mount. With AOD, it's all about lifting equiptment.
You want to:
1. Remove aod dust shield on bellhousing and rotate the motor until all 4 of the torque conveter to flexplate bolts are off. Drain the conveter too. Most have a plug.
2. Disconnect the shifter up under the floorboard and leave the cables attached to the trans. Disconnect the TV cable at the throttle body.
3. Disconnect the cooler lines
4. Disconnect the speedo cable and the electrical connector above the shifter assebly.
5. Unhook the driveshaft.
6. Support this bad boy.
7. Undo the bellhousing bolts
8. Undo the crossmemeber
start lowering.
BTW, AOD's can be quite fast. It's all in the shift kit and converter and this is a lot easier and cheaper than a conversion (about $400 in parts). My AOD would dance circles around my T-5. Really whips me into the seats. Plus I dont have to shift. But to each his own.
I used to take t-5's and pull them onto my stomach and arch my back to get them it into it's mount. With AOD, it's all about lifting equiptment.
You want to:
1. Remove aod dust shield on bellhousing and rotate the motor until all 4 of the torque conveter to flexplate bolts are off. Drain the conveter too. Most have a plug.
2. Disconnect the shifter up under the floorboard and leave the cables attached to the trans. Disconnect the TV cable at the throttle body.
3. Disconnect the cooler lines
4. Disconnect the speedo cable and the electrical connector above the shifter assebly.
5. Unhook the driveshaft.
6. Support this bad boy.
7. Undo the bellhousing bolts
8. Undo the crossmemeber
start lowering.
BTW, AOD's can be quite fast. It's all in the shift kit and converter and this is a lot easier and cheaper than a conversion (about $400 in parts). My AOD would dance circles around my T-5. Really whips me into the seats. Plus I dont have to shift. But to each his own.
TheBocSez
New Member
To remove the shifter, you are going to have to take the center console out.
1. Remove the shifter bezel
2. Remove the console arm rest
3. Remove the top center console
4. Remove plastic cover around your ingnition bezel
5. Remove the instrument cluster bezel with light switches
6. Remove the trim piece under the steering wheel wher your knees are
7. Remove the trim peice around the HVAC controls and control themselves
8. Remove your stereo
9. Remove the 4 screws holding the center console to the dash
10. Place shifter down into 1st and wiggle center cosole out.
11. Put shifter back into Park and Unbolt cable from the front of the shifter assebly (this is the cable that wont allow you to shift without the brake being depressed.)
12. Use a screwdriver and remove the E clip holding it to the shifter gate.
13. use long needle nose pliers to pull the cable out of the detent on the shifter gate.
14. Remove the 4 bolts holding the shifter down to the transmission tunnel and wiggle it out
15. Pop off the shifter linkage cable with a screwdriver and its out.
Think that just about covers it, its not that bad, just a lot of stuff to take out to get to it, but you will probably have to remove most of it to do a T5 swap anyways.
Here are 2 links to help in the AOD removal and T5 swap. Good luck
http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/general/AODRemoval.html
http://www.wcfords.com/articles/tech/t5swap/t5swap.html
1. Remove the shifter bezel
2. Remove the console arm rest
3. Remove the top center console
4. Remove plastic cover around your ingnition bezel
5. Remove the instrument cluster bezel with light switches
6. Remove the trim piece under the steering wheel wher your knees are
7. Remove the trim peice around the HVAC controls and control themselves
8. Remove your stereo
9. Remove the 4 screws holding the center console to the dash
10. Place shifter down into 1st and wiggle center cosole out.
11. Put shifter back into Park and Unbolt cable from the front of the shifter assebly (this is the cable that wont allow you to shift without the brake being depressed.)
12. Use a screwdriver and remove the E clip holding it to the shifter gate.
13. use long needle nose pliers to pull the cable out of the detent on the shifter gate.
14. Remove the 4 bolts holding the shifter down to the transmission tunnel and wiggle it out
15. Pop off the shifter linkage cable with a screwdriver and its out.
Think that just about covers it, its not that bad, just a lot of stuff to take out to get to it, but you will probably have to remove most of it to do a T5 swap anyways.
Here are 2 links to help in the AOD removal and T5 swap. Good luck
http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/general/AODRemoval.html
http://www.wcfords.com/articles/tech/t5swap/t5swap.html
Well I started today i put the pedals in last week. The drive shaft was a bitch to get out even with an impact gun. Then i couldnt get the bolts off the stock headers, so i had to cut them off. Now my problem is i went to take the starter off and find out the bolts are rounded off. I figure i can grind then off since im not using my aod any more. I dont have anymore energy to finish today ill pick back up where i left off in the morning. I am doing this because my tranny is starting to slip and i miss shifting. I know aods can be fast. This way was just cheaper. If anyone has anymore pointers they will be greatly appriciated.
TheBocSez
New Member
have you tried using one of those kits for stripped bolt heads, you can get them from sears or even home depot. Kinda like an easy out for bolts. Looks like a socket set, each socket has a set of "teeth" inside the grips the bolt head. Has worked great for me the times I have needed it. Runs about 20.00.
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/sear...get=searchresults&gobutton.x=32&gobutton.y=13
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/sear...get=searchresults&gobutton.x=32&gobutton.y=13
In case you dont know, the top bolt will require 2 feet of extensions to make it easy. You go in beside the motor mount and you have a straight shot at it. Consider a transmission jack, I have seen them for about $50. You dont have to get it back up though. Put a 2X4 under the tranny pan and use a large floor jack to hold it up for you. Have a bud hold it steady, or drop the jack while you hold it steady. The you can ease it off the jack and slide it out.
Get the car up as high as you safely can. It will make it much easier.
Get the car up as high as you safely can. It will make it much easier.
89MustangGX
I have nothing productive to add!
RsStanG1987 said:
Just want to mention my answer would have been different if you had actually mentioned you were going to a 5-speed. It's always nice to give someone all the information they need when you ask them questions. Thanks.
My Bad next time i will. I Just bought those Craftsman Bolt out things. Mom got me an ugly sweater from sears for x mas so i Returned it and got theese. Ill update more on my progress tommorrow.89MustangGX said:Just want to mention my answer would have been different if you had actually mentioned you were going to a 5-speed. It's always nice to give someone all the information they need when you ask them questions. Thanks.
wht93gtEd
Active Member
yeah, you definitley need a 24" extension with a nuckle on the end to get at the top bellhousing bolts. They do come out pretty easy. When we pulled the AOD, we really needed to pry the thing off. And we definitley used a lot of muscle to pry it loose. Also, make sure you drain the convertor and tranny, as we thought that we could just lower it "evenly"......HA, this is the aftermath:
04sleeper
Founding Member
I did mine by myself on the round with a jack. It was HEAVY....but I managed to get it out in 1 peice.
I had fluid all over the ground as well......LoL
I did my pedal swap the week before so that saved a little time.
But I had to cut the tranny tunnel opening bigger to fit the lower rubber boot for the 5 speed. Just cut enough to line it up with the bolt holes.
Also had to pull out the gauge cluster to move the spedo cable over to the proper hole in the firewall. It was routed where the clutch cable was supposed to go and had a rubber grommet where it was supposed to go. So try to get this done early as well.
Be careful and just take you time. Another person would be a good idea.
Good Luck!
I had fluid all over the ground as well......LoL
I did my pedal swap the week before so that saved a little time.
But I had to cut the tranny tunnel opening bigger to fit the lower rubber boot for the 5 speed. Just cut enough to line it up with the bolt holes.
Also had to pull out the gauge cluster to move the spedo cable over to the proper hole in the firewall. It was routed where the clutch cable was supposed to go and had a rubber grommet where it was supposed to go. So try to get this done early as well.
Be careful and just take you time. Another person would be a good idea.
Good Luck!
ram360
Founding Member
RsStanG1987 said:
Considering it took you the better part of a day to remove the driveshaft I would imagine that AOD should be out sometime in early spring. BTW if you used the right size wrench in the first place, you wouldn' have rounded off the starter bolts.
Let me know when your working on it again..... I need a good laugh. 
You stupid prick they were already rounded of and if you read your email youd be there today to help me, By the way i heard that 83 of yours is gonna be in Muscle mustangs and fast fords. Its gonna look good rolling down the street with a god damn tow truck pulling it.ram360 said:Considering it took you the better part of a day to remove the driveshaft I would imagine that AOD should be out sometime in early spring. BTW if you used the right size wrench in the first place, you wouldn' have rounded off the starter bolts.
One Question though for the real people here who have done it. Do i have to drain my radiator when i dis connect the lines from my tranny? I imagine when i do disconnect them coolant might leak everywhere.
TheBocSez
New Member
No, you wont need to drain the radiator for the purpose of disconnecting your transmission lines that run to it. The transmission cooler in the radiator is a seperate section (if they were all on, you would have coolant mixed in with your tranny fluid LOL). Disconnnected mine when I installed and aux cooler, a little trany fluid may leak out but thats all.RsStanG1987 said:You stupid prick they were already rounded of and if you read your email youd be there today to help me, By the way i heard that 83 of yours is gonna be in Muscle mustangs and fast fords. Its gonna look good rolling down the street with a god damn tow truck pulling it.
One Question though for the real people here who have done it. Do i have to drain my radiator when i dis connect the lines from my tranny? I imagine when i do disconnect them coolant might leak everywhere.
wht93gtEd
Active Member
make sure you use a flare nut wrench to get the tranny cooler lines off, so you don't round those off too 
.....j/k. But seriously, after you get the lines loostened on both ends, don't waste your time trying to get them out in one piece, unless you're re-using them, because it's a major PITA. Just cut them out.
.....j/k. But seriously, after you get the lines loostened on both ends, don't waste your time trying to get them out in one piece, unless you're re-using them, because it's a major PITA. Just cut them out.
TheBocSez
New Member
Yes. I would just cap off the ports to the trans cooler after you remove them to prevent what ever tranny fluid is in there from leaking out later.RsStanG1987 said:
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