I am replacing the auto trans on our 2002 protege5. Despite everything frozen together as expected i can not get the torque converter loose. Im going in through the hole where the starter goes. Those nuts are tight and i cant get any leverage to loosen them. I tried a swivel attached to my impact but it doesnt budge. I am contemplating unbolting the trans and moving it out enough to get a long wrench on. Im getting rid of the old one so i dont care what happens to it. Will this work and allow me to get those nuts off. The book is funny because it says just remove nuts. Yeah right. This is my first auto trans I've done. What a pita

 

 

I purchased a used trans from a used parts place. I noticed it had a notch cut out in it. I later realized what it was for. Its an access to get a wrench on the torque converter nuts from down below. So i cut one in mine. It wasn't as nice of a hole but it worked. Who cares if your getting rid of the trans. I put a wrench on it while holding a ratchet on the crank pully bolt. With a pipe on the wrench i was able to break it free. This saved me because those nuts were not coming off. Hope this helps someone else since there is no documentation on the subject anywhere