2007Acces cab 4.0L stuck bellhousing bolts

Have any of you had an issue removing the bolts around the bellhousing be super tight? Specifically the two on the starter and the 17 above it. I attempted to do my clutch yesterday afternoon along with a URD throw out bearing but found I had a bunch of difficulty even getting to the bolts on the bellhousing, let alone nearly completely rounding the head off of the lower starter bolt before it came loose. Its not rusty, it has been pretty dirty, but light mud on surfaces, only rust was on the exhaust bolts. I've watched several videos on removal, and have tried everything I can do to get these out. I took the cover off of the clutch fork access hole and found that by depressing the fork, I could wiggle the bearing around with a screwdriver. I can hear the thing squealing always, and I need to get it replaced. I'm going to try to pb blaster the bolts from above if I can get to the threads, las time the clutch was done was dealership service. First off, any tricks or tips I could use. Secondly, does the exhaust being removed make enough of a difference to do?

 

What are you using to get the bolts off?
If possible, don’t use any swivels.
I’d use a 6-Point Socket in 1/2” drive size.

Other than that, I got nothing.
I haven’t worked on a a manual in these trucks yet.

 

This ^ and make sure you are using good tools,not HF junk.

 

Yes you will need a 3-4' extension to get the top two bolts off. I lower mine down with the trans jack a little and it makes the top two a little easier to access

 

Don't need to remove the catback/exhaust, just get a block to support the front of it so the hangars aren't in a bind

 

Okay, I use old craftsman USA made and snap on. I slapped all of my extensions together but would have to mix in some 3/8 to pass the 4' mark. I have 150 PSI compressor, 1/2" and 3/8" drive Impacts, 3/8" air ratchets. I run all hydraulics for a Trailer building outfit, and have everything a major welding and fabrication shop has at my disposal (except a tube bender or CNC anything....). I had to use a stripped bolt remover to pull the lower starter bolt because I couldn't get a decent angle on the lower. It will go on and off now without an issue, maybe a lock compound or some electrolysis? The pressure plate looked pretty clean, couldn't really see the fingers well enough to be sure how the look. I checked with Toyota.com and got my service records, clutch was not done previously.

 

my exhaust is beat up, junk glass pack, bad welds, and one hanger from the y back. something inside the glass pack rattles like crazy too, it just getting put slightly lower on the priority list. I doubt I would hate it less without that clapped out rear section though.....

 

You are going to have to over come all that slack in the extensions plus the torsion within the extension.
You’d be better off using as few as possible and larger diameter if you can.
I’m not saying your setup won’t work. But you are loosing a lot of torque.

You gotta a buddy about the size of a 200 lb gorilla?
You’re going to have to muscle that baby out.

 

Just out of curiosity, were you using an impact with all of your extensions slapped together? The reason I ask is that if you did, you would have been using the world's largest torque stick and the extensions would have absorbed all of the impact force from your impact gun. That would have made it difficult to remove any fastener.

 

I was trying with a breaker bar, but I did manage to get everything apart this weekend and install a URD throw out bearing and a new LCE clutch. Everything went fairly well, only damage ended up being an exhaust stud on the drivers side down pipe. Removing the y pipe made a world of difference in getting this thing out. I managed to finish up around 10pm this evening, but now I can barely move my shifter into gears. Reverse and first are the worst, reverse will grind, and first is real hard to get in. it feels like I don't have enough throw to fully move the pressure plate fingers. I really need help now. I've done a couple dozen clutches and never had this issue. The LCE clutch disc had an idiot decal for which side went to the flywheel, flywheel was cleaned and scrubbed to remove dust, cleaned disc side of pressure plate to remove oil, used alignment tool to set the disc and pressure plate, loosened and reset the disc to re-center. I even watched my alignment through the inspection hole.

 

The easiest to check but probably not the problem would be bleeding the clutch line. The most likely problem would be loose pressure plate bolts if torqued to factory spec's. You can check them by having someone depress the clutch as you check torque on one bolt at a time next to the fork then rotate to the next one and repeat.

 

That's not a bad idea, I will likely do that tomorrow....

 

Also, I didn't remove any clutch lines, but I did disconnect the slave and associated lines from the side of the transmission and tie it off to the side. the supply line running down the top of the transmission tunnel to the slave was attached briefly while separating the trans and engine before I remembered to remove it. I took the fork and cleaned the hell out of it in my wash tank, scrubbed out all of the old dry grease and re greased everything upon install. It slid very smooth over the stainless sleeve on the transmission quill shaft, and lubed with their provided grease.

 

So, I verified that the line down to the slave is undamaged, also I took off the inspection plate to check the hydraulics. Both checked out great, now on to removing my front driveline and trying to re torque the pressure plate through the inspection hole. I'll be picking this back up after work tomorrow. I'm also charging my bore scope to take a close look at the pressure plate from the inside.

 

You won't have to remove your front driveline to check the bolts just remove the cover for the slave cylinder. Remember to have someone depress the clutch pedal while checking the torque on each bolt.

 

The head on my torque wrench was too large to fit with the driveline in place, I ended up taking off just the front differential connection, had plenty of space. Also I removed the slave cylinder to take pressure of the fingers of the pressure plate. It did the trick, shifts in and out of all gears without any issue, smooth as silk now. Good call on the pressure plate bolt torque, looks like I owe you beers Jason.