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this is what im faced with.

any suggestions as this is a pretty freshly built tranny with a brand new clutch.

Bell housing swap, be sure to re-shim the diff.

The end.

how much work is involved in doing that swap?

Drop trans, split trans case - a bit. In for about the same amount of work whether you swap bellhousings, or weld the old one up. Either way you're pulling the trans at a minimum.

Is that a bolt through the bell housing? If so, can you swap bell housings?

That would be an easy weld fix, if you have access to someone that can TIG. It is far enough out, you shouldn't have to worry about heat soak damaging anything. Just bevel the edges, and clean it good. Clamp the work ground near the break, so current isn't flowing through the MTX. Heck you could even leave it in the car, just unbolted enough to slide it away to weld it. I would pull the pcm for safety's sake. Granted being properly grounded it won't fry anything, but why risk EMF from blowing a chip.

occasional demons wrote:That would be an easy weld fix, if you have access to someone that can TIG. It is far enough out, you shouldn't have to worry about heat soak damaging anything. Just bevel the edges, and clean it good. Clamp the work ground near the break, so current isn't flowing through the MTX. Heck you could even leave it in the car, just unbolted enough to slide it away to weld it. I would pull the pcm for safety's sake. Granted being properly grounded it won't fry anything, but why risk EMF from blowing a chip.

AKA zip ties and duct tape

thanks guys. i will inquire about welding.

thanks.

missing this bolt as well, its right beside the crack.



need a new shifter cable?



does this look right?

What the hell did you do to that thing?

Did a shop do this to the car? Swapping a bell housing will only take about an hour or so to do your first time. It's just the 4 hours of work to get there that is the problem.

just drove it... its a neon man lol.

the bottom picture tho.. what is that?

flhmfd wrote:thanks.
need a new shifter cable?

Booger Bushings will fix that.

Bottom pic is the slave cylinder.

flhmfd wrote:thanks.

missing this bolt as well, its right beside the crack.

So there's a bolt missing ?
That would explain the crack in the bellhousing.

These cases are not supposed to be easy to weld successfully.
Just be sure to replace the missing bolt when all is done.


- Nick

Welding aluminum is a bit over my head, never used a TIG before. So someone tell me, is welding cast aluminum similar to welding cast iron (i.e. not a good idea)?

Short answer is yes you have all the problems welding cast and all the problems welding alumuinum. Good welders can do it but you pay good welder prices for their services.

While I haven't TIG welded, the guys at work have never had an issue welding cast aluminum. I wouldn't exactly call them certified experts, but anyone with some TIG skills should be able to weld it.

Cleaning it, and beveling the edges are key to success. Degrease/clean it before beveling, you don't want to drag contaminants into the freshly exposed metal.

If nothing else, have it welded, and then weld some sheet aluminum over it for a little more strength.

According to what I was told by a former Chrysler Engineer, (some guy named Ed), the aluminum they used, had a 'high-silicon' content, and does not weld easily, if at all.

Knowing this ^ in advance, you may want to talk to a professional welder, and find out what it takes to do this successfully, if it can be done at all.


- Nick

thanks for the info guys.