So my f23a1 transmission needed to be resealed and i took off the back up light, the bolts holding the two casings together, the shifting box and everything in there, used a c-clamp spreader to spread the clamp off the countershaft and out of the groove, and the transmission is out of the car.....

but i can get the far side (away from the shift box) apart but up until i get a little over halfway around the diff. and the tab you use to seperate the two casings on where the starter goes almost. that side will just not want to budge......

any ideas? greatly appreciated asap! thanks!

 

I have had this problem on two transmissions I have taken apart. It is usually the bearing that is on top of the differential that is holding the casing down. I hit the side of my housing really hard since I was getting mad which I don't suggest doing but when I was lightly tapping it didn't help that much.

If you have someone to help you, have them get a rod to place on top of the diff right where the axle would go in.

 

that makes sense, but would i use this rod as almost something to pry the casing off?

also i can see it move over the differential so i think its not the bearing but ill try that anyway just in case, i appreciate the help!

when you take the c-clamp off of the countershaft groove is it supposed to almost come out of the top of the casing or does it still sit in there on top of the shaft?

 

I always remove the 14mm interlock bolt. Its on the side of the trans housing. It locks in the reverse shaft.

 

Hey man! Didn't know you posted this on H-T. lol

It's lifting about 3/8" right? Most likely cause is that snap ring on the bearing. You have to spread it really far to get it completely off. The ring stays in the housing, but when it's spread open far enough, the bearing should easily drop out of it, and the case will come off effortlessly. Spread it as far as you can and give the housing a shake at the same time. It can be a REAL bitch, but once it's spread correctly, it's cake, no prying required. I invested in a good set of snap ring pliers just for this after my extra long needle-nose pliers wouldn't cut it.

From memory, the things you have to remove are:

-Reverse switch
-Gear selector assembly
-Reverse interlock bolt (that goes into the reverse gear shaft)
-Two Spring-ball bolts (ones that provide the 'notch' feel to selecting gears)

If it's lifing up at all, then you've already got all of the mounting bolts free, so no problem there. It's gotta just be that snap ring getting hung up...

 

okay yeah that's exactly what i was wondering about i meant snap ring the whole time haha, not c-clip,

thanks AF your a life saver, that's exactly the problem then,

one other question then, when i reassemble the shift gear assembly, and put it back on the transmission, how do i tell which one is reverse out of the six positions that it slides into, because it moved around when i was pulling it off but now i don't remember how it was when i pulled it off....?

 

You can just put it back together in neutral with all the syncros in the middle positions and the reverse idler gear in neutral. Here is a good thread for reference

https://honda-tech.com/forums/transmission-drivetrain-127/b-series-transmission-teardown-rebuild-tutorial-2443459/

 

okay exactly what i needed to know! you are a life saver! but one question i have the transmission casings seperated a little do i need to bring the two closer together before the snap ring is going to budge because it doesn't want to move at all, and i bent it a little getting pissed off.... here's some pics of the snap ring and the gear box

tranny seperated

snap ring:


and the shift gear box area:


that ring won't budge whatsoever! any hints?

 

so i got the transmission apart, resealed perfectly and put it back together to find out i believe my snap ring is too bent to be able to go on the countershaft correctly and i am going to have to buy another snap ring to be able to reassemble the transmission....

damn, so hopefully i can find one tomorrow and get it back together i really appreciate your guys's help a ton!

one last thing, the oil seal on the axle has a lip around it but when i bought the new one from honda it didn't have a lip on it, it just sat in between the walls of the transmission housing and the differential is that normal?