can't get my transmission to mount to my engine, help....

[ryan roopnarine]

the car in question is a 1992 525i auto, us market, made 7/91.

after performing some transmission repairs, a friend and I attempted to put my 4l30e auto trans back onto my car. we were using a regular 3 ton jack, and not a transmission jack to put the unit back on. no matter what we did, we could not get the 1-1/2 inch gap to close. after much shaking and shimmying, we were able to close up the bottom distance to the point that the bolts on the bottom of the transmission could pull the two units together. quite smug, we set to work on the others, but found that the gap still persisted for the other bolts. more disturbing, however, was the fact that the engine now will not rotate with the 22mm wrench, which, to me, would indicate flywheel/torque converter mating issues. i am going to buy a transmission jack tomorrow, but could anyone tell us what we are doing wrong (or how to do things right?) thanks.

[shogun]

I assume the torque converter is not correctly installed. See last pic, there is a step again, it must 'click' twice. Typical beginners fault, happens often.
http://www.bimmer.info/~rickm/trannyrepairs.htm#TeflonSeals

[Ken35i]

The transmission must be put on evenly. Avoid closing the gap by doing up the bolts you can damage the threads. Me and my mate have installed a gearbox on his nissan many time and we tilted the engine backwards using a jack to push the front of the engine up. But not too much you might tear your engine mounts (I did once to mine :P)

[Tiger]

Yeah... sound like the torque converter is not on correctly. Torque converter must be installed properly or tranny is toast.

[Ross]

X2. Check how far the flywheel is away from the back of the block and compare that to where the TC is in the bellhousing. Turn the TC until it goes fully in.
If you have tried forcing it by drawing the bolts tight you may have big trouble. I learned that lesson the hard expensive way long ago.

[ryan roopnarine]

ok, dumb question then. every time we make another attempt to put the transmission in, i push the torque converter in and make sure that it spins freely. i also put the transmission into drive or reverse and spin the output shaft a turn or two. the torque converter does not move when i do this. could someone describe how i need to push the torque converter on to get it to engage? do i push down as i spin it? thanks.

[Ross]

Yes, keep turning and pushing it towards the trans. It needs to engage the front pump. With it fully seated the front of the converter will be an inch or so rearward of the bellhousing edge. Remember, with the trans installed the converter is able to be pushed back a little bit still. So when installing if it's fully seated you will need to bring it out a hair to meet the flywheel.
If you have a couple of extra bellhousing bolts cut the heads off and use them as alignment pins if you are doing this alone on your back like me. Cut a slot in the end of the pins or be sure they are loose enough and accessible enough to remove later.