I'm helping my brother in law with a motor swap in his 99 4x4 Dakota. Its a 3.9, automatic and I can't get access to the torque convertor bolts. I pulled the front diff, but the brackets that help hold it in and the starter stud is all in the way of holding that inspection cover in place. And those are bolted to the motor, which I can't pull put because of the tc bolts. I cant go thru the starter hole because I can't see the bolts. Any help would be appreciated.

 

You should be able to undo all the bolts on the inspection plate and slide/jimmy it downward.

The 2 bolts which fasten the differential bracket to the tranny bellhousing were easy to to come out IIRC. However, the 2 that connect the differential bracket to the top of the differential were a PAIN. You shouldn't need to remove these tho.

 

I have all the bolts out, but there's a stud for the starter that goes thru the inspection plate and that's holding it up. Is that stud supposed to be a bolt?? Even with the bolts out, its still a major pain in the *** to even move. I'm gonna triple check when I go out there tomorrow.

 

Yes that stud screws out. The fatty center of that stud kinda pins the plate down a little too.

 

Thanks for your help guys. I'll try to get that stud out tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

 

Just had kinda the same issue with an 07 pt cruiser I pulled the starter and busted out my good buddy (DieGrinder) and cut me a hole to get to the bolts through the top cover-That's not cheating is it? 0-o