Glad to hear a 2nd on this. I still don't think it's the starter and it's not on a battery tender. I think the "something shorted" is the likely culprit or the struggling window motor. We'll have to put a pin in this and get back to it later.

First thing is what was in progress - replace the rear main seal (and do a clutch kit while it's open). I got a lot prepped a few weeks ago, Sunday I got the subframe out. Monday the transmission came out.



I noticed the bolts that would only be removed for this type of job had obviously been removed before (rust on the corners of the bolt heads). That surprised me, at almost 89k miles, I wouldn't have thought someone already replaced something. Plus the rear main seal is almost obviously leaking so it must be the original.

I still had to take a TON of things apart to get this thing out, so I'm a little nervous about getting it all back together again just right. So many others have been able to, so I should too (boosting my own confidence). I kept looking for that troubling bracket ModMINI had to remove at the last minute, but couldn't find it. In the end, it came out without finding or removing that bracket. Maybe the person before me removed it and didn't put it back?

Well, it's a very good thing I decided to do this job now rather than any later. I thought the bellhousing would be gunkier with the leaking rear main seal, but it wasn't too bad (based on absolutely no prior experience). I still think it's leaking, but maybe it started more recently than I thought. Anyway, the real issue is the loose metal in the bellhousing. Recall when I dropped the oil pan last year, I extracted a piece of aluminum nugget from the bellhousing that was exposed and could see some nicks from it kicking around. Well I found even more little alum nuggets and 2 ball bearings. Yikes. The bellhousing is definitely all nicked up, but not really damaged. And there is definitely some damage to the pressure plate bolts and tabs. I imagine once I get it all disassembled I'll see where this all came from. But my guess is that previous person did a bad job replacing the clutch. Hopefully no real damage is done and I can put it all back together properly. It is a satisfying feeling being able to clean things up and get a car properly sorted. Hopefully this next weekend I can find the time to get into the parts replacement process. Then the struggle to get the transmission back in to the car - probably by myself and probably only with a floor jack and a ratchet strap. We'll see - this thing is heavy and awkward.