Hello all,
Has anyone separated the engine and transmission on a 2.0L 1996 Jetta? I am so close, but the passenger's side driveaxle connector (flange) catchs on the flywheel. There is no wiggle or rotation that will free it. I am tempting to remove the flange, but am very cautious. Does anyone have any suggestions. They will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Aaron Zimmerman
masterjaz_99@hotmail.com

Thanks everyone for helping me with this little problem. I ended up removing the flange by taking a rubber seal around a snap ring in the center of the flange. It was difficult, but doable. After that, it was cake.

I did end up bending the connecting rod that runs the length of the tranny. It wore a whole thru the pressure plate, likely due to a bad clutch cable. I really dislike the automatic adjusting cable. Has anyone removed that for a standard cable???

Thanks again everyone, and if anyone else has this problem, send me an email and I'll describe the steps in detail.

Aaron

Another way to gain clearance in to take the factory sissor jack and place it onto the subframe and press the engine towards that radiator. Stop pushing when you see the bracket for the front engine mount touch the transmission bell housing. This will give you enough room to twist the differencial housing up at about a 45 degrees angle and the pull the flange around the flywheel.

Don't forget to replace the half dollar sized seal with a new one that you removed when pulling of the flange. Otherwise gear oil will go into the inner CV joint and push all the grease out.

Todd

Thanks for the info. I knew I could get the tranny out without removing the flange, but I ran out of time. Everything is put back together and running great. Thanks again, next time I remove the tranny (lightened flywheel??) I'll try your trick.

Aaron