[ddruker]

I just returned from Spring break, and yesterday I started putting the Boxster back together. With one exception, it's been a very smooth process.

He is the one wrinkle I hit that I will try to attack today.

When you remove the transmission, you lock the engine and the transmission in place using steel posts. There are three holes in the crankshaft pulley separated by 120 degrees you use to do this, plus a single hole in the top of the torque converter housing.

When you replace the IMS bearing, you remove the locking pin from the crankshaft pulley, rotate the crankshaft to TDC and then re-lock the engine at TDC using the teardrop shaped hole in the crankshaft pulley instead of one of the three symmetrical 120 degree holes.

This of course puts the crankshaft in a different position than it was in when you locked it in place with the three holes you used to remove the transmission, so the bolt holes in the flex plate are no longer aligned with the bolt holes in the torque converter.

There isn't an explicit instruction in the service manual to return the engine to the correct "3 hole" installation position once you are done replacing the IMS bearing.

I had actually thought about this, but I had assumed that since this wasn't specified in the manual, once I re-attached the transmission, I would be able to rotate the engine independently from the transmission, to get the flex plate back into the installation position and the holes perfectly lined up, since the flex plate would not be bolted onto the torque converter. WRONG! The friction fit between the torque converter and the flex plate is really strong. With the torque converter locked, the crankshaft won't budge, even with a lot of pressure on the crank pulley bolt.

This morning, I will remove enough components to be able to re-separate the transmission from the motor by an eight of an inch or so, which should allow me to get the engine back into the re-installation position and get the flex plate to torque converter bolt holes lined up again.

Question to those who have done this before - when you locked the crankshaft in place using the 120 degree holes, were the bolt holes in the torque converter and flex plate perfectly lined up for you when you reattached your transmission? It seems to me there is a little bit of wiggle room in the setup - how did you get the bolt holes to line up if they were not perfect?