Why can't it just be a 3/8" drive drain bolt

[Witsend]

just wanted to drain the manual trans oil on a manual transmission of a 2014 Versa Note before I pull the axles out , and low and behold it has a 8mm square drain bolt. Who the Hell decides that we now have to buy a special 8mm tool instead of the tried and true a 3/8" that worked well for many years. Bet the major tool companies have a hand in creating new special needs. Thank God I found a couple special needs sockets , relatively cheap at Pep Boys instead of bending over in a tool truck for something I will rarely use.
I was almost ready Pimpbrovise here (I can't say I "N" Rigged something any more) and grind end of a harbor freight 3/8 extension down to fit into a 5/16 square hole.

[greasybob]

You don't have a set of square drive sockets ? For pipe fittings and such ? I used to work on air brakes, lots of fittings in those regulators and valves.

[carfixer]

pimpbrovise.........NICE

[Witsend]

Pimpbrovise , or Nissan Rigg something, same thing.

You don't have a set of square drive sockets ? For pipe fittings and such ? I used to work on air brakes, lots of fittings in those regulators and valves.
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I've had female square drive sockets, and triple square bits , but haven't had a need before for a 8mm square drive male one until now with this Nissan Versa . I guess it makes sense as drain plug size is shrunk down in circumference size to reduce weight that it can no longer accommodate a 3/8 drive square recess and have sufficient steel around it to not potentially crack, but the threaded fill/check hole plug is basically a plastic wingnut thingy, so I'm surprised the drain bolt isn't made of plastic with a 1/4 "square drive. LOL.
I find the slide hammer attachments are now threaded metric and no longer thread onto my trusty OTC Silver Slapper , so either have to adapt to new sh@t and buy new tools for stuff otherwise you just turn into an Old Timer Curmudgeon Silver Slapper yourself.
Have a feeling in a few years the wratchets and sockets will all become 7mm, 10mm , and 19mm , drive, but you'll still be able to use your old 3/4" drive sockets on the new 19mm drive ratchets LMAO

[Witsend]

More than one way to skin a cat? Nissan Versa Clutch

Have a 2014 Nissan Versa Note I need to do a clutch job on my back with car on stands. I'm into this job at the point of no return and the set up is where engine and (manual)trans are supposed come out together from bottom. You ideally should have car up on a lift and the engine and trans are supposed to set on a table jack and the car lifted away, I don't have this luxury at home and see I either need to pull the hood off and use an engine crane and long chain and from a raised up position to lower the assemblies onto the floor or the way I would prefer is to remove the lower suspension cross member and leave the steering rack suspended by the outer tie rods and mechanics wire to a firewall bracket.
I am hoping to support the rear of the motor from the water outlet assembly casting that seems to have some thing cast into it with a hole in it that was probably used on the assembly line jig peg to raise the assembly up and move the engine assembly along on the line. I kinda hate to be wrong though. Anyone been able to "Pimpbrovise" keep the motor in place and support it from this casting hole at rear of engine? I figure a little section of small steel pipe with a hole on one side of pipe threaded on one end for a pipe nipple and large washer . Put a bolt with washers through the pipe to attach a chain or cable. Just ordered a 3 point engine support because the engine is way too far forward of the strut towers on this and many others to support engine straight across with a 2 point support

[carfixer]

sounds like way to much work for the house .......im just saying

[Witsend]

Yeah it's a lot of work, but at least I didn't have to take out the engine along with the trans like the repair instructions said.
I took off the intake manifold to remove the starter. (Weird little 4 banger with 8 fuel injectors!) I removed the suspension cross member and steering rack . I decided to support the rear of the engine from beneath with a landscape timber between 2 stands, so I could still get a floor jack or a trans jack in between the stands instead of supporting things from top with a chain,cable or hook from something attached to that water outlet casting.
The flywheel doesn't look too bad to me, but it appears to have a oil leak that might need the rear main seal changed, but the Flywheel bolt heads are some low profile E-20 flat spline special socket (E 20 plus?) bastards. So it appears I again need to buy another hard to source locally, Once In a Blue Moon Special Use socket, I most likely going to have to order the thing.

https://store.snapon.com/Transmission-Service-Tools-Socket-TORX-Plus-reg-External-20EP-P646962.aspx

[Matt]

Congrats on the no-lift work-a-round. I end up using this strategy in my shop a lot due to me only having access to a pit and no lifts. As for special fastener sockets, I'm still flabbergasted about torx versus torx+. Just found out about that a couple years ago, I'm usually a couple decades behind the curve in my little rural shop.

[Witsend]

Couldn't track down any Snap on Dealers locally so I ordered the cheapest E20 plus socket listed for low profile Nissan E20 flat spline bolts that I could find online $6.99 but the damn shipping is more than $11 ,so it comes to about the same price as listed Snap On price in catalog and probably take until next week to get
No mechanic friends had the special socket , so i had to "Pimpbrovise" again and butcher my nice normal Snap On 1/2" drive E20 socket into a "Nissan Rigged" low chamfer socket and held a lot of inward force to it with my impact gun and got all the bolts out. Marked and Took the flywheel off and will change out the leaking rear main seal on it tomorrow.

[Witsend]

Screw This!

Well, punched a couple holes 180 degrees apart with a sharp awl or narrow punch Screwed the rear main seal and pried it out! No special seal installer , all my FWD bearing and ball joint adapters are too small. Measured seal OD 4 and 5/8", went to Menards and bought a PCV cap for 4"PCV pipe. I got a steel electrical box plate that I was going to find center and drill holes to use the flywheel as a template to make a seal installer , but the flywheel bolts are a little too short and the ultra fine pitch 1.00 threads meant =I don't have any like this laying around and not going to chase anymore , so put the biggest steel bearing driver adapter I had over the 4" pvc pipe cap and knocked it in with mallet and it seems straight enough as far as I can tell.

[Witsend]

I naturally replaced the slave cylinder release bearing assembly with the clutch job.I also had to replace the clutch master cylinder assembly on this hi mileage 2014 Versa Note because the push rod of it is made out of plastic and the hole on the end of (non serviced separately) push rod got severely egged out . I'm not sure, but at least applied some dielectric tuneup grease to the pivot point balls of where the shift cables and clutch master push rod snap on to.
I received new 3 point engine support and just test fitted it to see it could work albeit a very tight fit. I think the radiator supports on these cars are structurally a joke, so support from under the back of engine the with the 4x6 landscape timber and stands spread wide apart would be preferable until the weight of the transmission is taken away and then I feel more confident with the 3 point engine support.It's good to have one up there as a extra safety measure as you bench press and wiggling a manual trans into position when you are laying on a creeper between two stands with a landscape timber above your waist.
Also I noticed the original diff axle seals were countersunk about 1/8" deeper than flush with case, so I checked with seal lip marks on axles and it looks right, so I had to grind the old seal circumference a little and then used the old seal to dto countersink the new ones in a little deeper

[David Green]

Welcome to the world of metric

Wearing rings while working is a risk LOL

[Matt]

What brand of engine support? Been looking for one myself.

[Witsend]

Definitely was Bottom Feeder Bait for Noodling this Cat

https://www.carid.com/oem/engine-tra...zReBoCHDXw_wcB

Wearing rings while working is a risk LOL

So is getting married :-)

Recap As far as this clutch job at home on stands went on this 2014 Nissan Versa Note. Mostly used hand tools , disorganized, and beer breaks takes way freaking longer than book time. If I had to do it again to save some time , I would not have bothered taking off the intake manifold and wiper cowl trim and the cowl extension piece to gain access to disconnecting starter connections and accessing removal of the shift cables and bracket at top of trans close to firewall. I would first broken loose all the fasteners holding trans to block ,removed the trans bolts at back of oil pan area then removed the suspension suspension cross member with steering rack sway bar and control arms.With the axles and cross member out of way, I think I could have got at the shift cables and bracket easier. The landscape timber and the 2 stands far apart works well, think the 3 bar support method on this vehicle at least is more time consuming and the casting is questionable for dealing with supporting the weight of rear of engine and the trans hanging on it .