Okay, I'm stuck and a bit confused as to why the transmission and transaxle in my Santa Fe won't come off.. on the transaxle, I have removed the three bolts on top and the three below.. to my knowledge there are only 6 bolts holding this to the transmission. I don't understand what is holding it on at this point, but it won't disengage from the transmission and so I cannot remove this part.

To further confuse me, I have removed the bolts around the transmission bell housing and the 6 bolts from the torque converter inside the bell.. again, it would seem only magic holds the transmission in place... Or is there a bolt behind the transaxle that I can't get to without first removing it.. then again, refer to above issue of magic stuck-transaxle.

Can someone please help me here? What am I missing? Is there some sort of spring or order to disassemble ? Any help would be greatly appreciated.. I'm attempting a trans swap as I had lost 3/4 and intend to rebuild the one I have at a later time.

 

You didn't mention anything about the trans mounts to frame/subframe.. Did you overlook them?

 

No, the mounts have been removed. Engine, transmission, and transaxle are all suspended and free. There are six bolts around the housing of the transaxle which bolt it to the transmission. The six bolts have been removed, however the transaxle will not release. One bolt remains on the housing to hold the transmission to the engine.. but the transaxle is blocking it's removal. No tool I've tried can seat on the head of the last bolt.. so I'm torching wrenches until I can make the miracle wrench.

If someone can tell me how to remove the transaxle or why the F it is sticking, please let me know.

everything is suspended by an engine hoist.