Another shot with the front coolant drain plug visible on the right.

 

This is where the drive plate/flywheel would go. Actually a spacer goes here first (we will see it next) and then the drive plate/flywheel and then another space. All three of those items are coming down this week. You can see the rear main seal in this photo.

 

The spacer between the torque converter and the flywheel was in good shape, but the one between the flywheel and the area above was not.

 

This is the flywheel again. There is a raised area at the bottom (slightly upturned) that must have been rubbing and grinding.

 

Engine tilted slightly to remove transmission easily.

 

Another shot.

 

The starter. The gear on the end meets the flywheel.

 

Passenger side front axle and note the clamps, these were the ones I bought at Home Depot after we had to fix a torn boot.

 

Not a pretty sight, but once we get the parts down here, we should have her up and running.

 

I went to the tranny shop this morning with my uncle. These are some photos I took. I also have a special treat which I will show shortly.

 

More photos.

 

More photos

 

Now the treat, the remaining pictures are not of my transmission, but rather of a U140F off a Rav4. This particular transmission (shown here below), we found 2 years ago in a part of town called Los Doctores (I won't go into the history of this area), but suffice it to say that if you need a part you might find it here, even imported vehicles. We do have RAV4s around here that came before their official introduction into Mexico, including those of diplomats. The transmission was damaged but we picked it up at a measly $1000 pesos or about $100 USD.

We could not salvage any pieces from this transmission, not even the pump, for use in my own. Chinito, the transmission guy, noted that this particular transmission was damaged due to fluid contamination (old or bad fluid) and had warped in areas (not evident by upcoming photos) and had some bits in the pan (also not evident as this occurred before these pictures were taken afterward).

 

More photos.

 

More photos