Tiptronic S Gearbox removal 02+

Hi All, I want to replace the intake seal and bushing in the Pump/TC Side on my 02 Carrera 2 Tiptronic S (722.6) gearbox. Does anybody knows if it's possible to remove the gearbox with the engine still mounted? My thoughts are unbolting the TC bolts through the Starter-hole and disconnect al the cable/hoses. But i'm not sure if there is enough space to unbolt the bell-house? I read different stories for Manual/Automatic and the MK1 and MK2 gearboxes.... Regards Arco

There are some threads here that state it can be done. My Indy who has decades of P-car experience couldn't do it and ended up dropping the engine and transmission all together. It didn't seem to him that there was enough clearance to get the transmission out with the engine in place. Once out it was easy to separate the tranny from the engine. That little experiment cost me 5 hours of labor and then the whole drivetrain came out anyways. Is there enough room on the earlier cars with the ZF transmissions? Who knows, but there didn't seem to be enough room to get the 722.6 out. I'd plan on dropping the engine and tranny as one unit. While the engine is sitting on the floor it is so much easier to replace old vacuum lines, the oil fill tube, and to install the UAOS.

Cannot be done. Certainly cannot be done easier than dropping engine and gearbox together. And frankly, the additional work is not that much more.

Ok, tnx. Then I'll be dropping the whole thing. Which also makes room for a good cleanup on both the engine and the bay.

It actually can be done. I had a very long conversation with my local Porsche dealer and it their standard procedure on 996s to remove the Tip trans to replace IMSBs. They said they have done every one like that. I guess it's what ever way you get use to doing something. Works for some but not all. There is also several post on here and 6Speed where people have done it. Removing the starter was key to getting to the hidden bolts. My .02

My indy dropped only the transmission (tip) when they did my IMS.

I don't know about professional Porsche mechanic but just dropped a 996 engine-tipt gearbox, separate the gearbox, do torque converter seal (and almost did an IMS bearing but did not need it), and put the whole thing back in a weekend. I don't think it is much faster if only the gearbox came out. And if the gearbox came out by itself, you need a pretty big and expensive gearbox lift....

I am not sure I understand why the transmission lift would be any different than what is used to drop an engine/trans. Would not the trans be much lighter than both together? Like I said what works for some, does not for all.

Quotes source post: 17645586

The comment is specific to my garage. I have a four post lift on which I have removed countless engines by hanging the back of the car off the rear of the lift . For just removing the gearbox, I have to work with the car centered on the lift, and remove the gearbox through the space between the two runners. Six speed manual gearbox is smaller lighter and I have found a way to make it work without a large transmission lift. But the Tipt box is much bigger and heavier and I am not sure if it fits through the runners to be honest. I can certainly try to do it in the driveway with jacks but if that is the case, I might as well remove the whole engine-gearbox as a unit on the lift. I would also buy a high transmission lift but I have no more space in the garage to store such unit.