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Header Definitions


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Bell Type


This lists the type of bell housing bolt pattern to motor, generally a generic name for the application that it fits. Normally this is the bell configuration and/or motor size that the bell bolts to. When the motor size is listed, it is for reference purposes ONLY. Just because a certain motor size is listed does NOT mean that this part was mated to that motor at the factory NOR does it mean that it will not fit other motor sizes, which may or may not have been used at the factory. For example, some bells listed as "Small Block V8s" will also fit V6s, and in some instances NEVER came mated to a V8. Likewise, "V6-33" bells also may fit V6-38s and may never have been used with V6-33s.


Casting Number


This is a number cast into the part at the foundry BEFORE any machining or drilling is done. Most manufacturers use only numerals. A few, most notably FORD, always use a combination of letters and numbers. Normally these are RAISED letters/numbers. Occasionally they are DEPRESSED letters/numbers, especially in the 1960's and earlier. MOST depressed letters/numbers are STAMPED or LASER-ENGRAVED into the part DURING assembly. These types of letters/numbers are NOT casting numbers.


Case Type


This column lists the kind of case refered to. For cases with bell housings attached, this is generally the bell configuration and/or motor size that the case fits. When the motor size is listed, it is for reference purposes ONLY. Just because a certain motor size is listed does NOT mean that this case was mated to that motor at the factory NOR does it mean that it will not fit other motor sizes, which may or may not have been used at the factory. For example, some cases listed as "Small Block V8s" will also fit V6s, and in some instances NEVER came mated to a V8. Likewise, "V6-30" bells also may fit V6-25s and may never have been used with V6-30s.

Some transmissions, most notably Mazda built ones, have various combinations of bolts between the case and the bell. Because of this, even if the bell is correct for the engine application, it may NOT be correct for the case. Therefore, for those transmissions that juggle the bolt combinations amongst the bells and cases, we list the bolt counts between the bells and cases.

C4/C5 transmissions are listed as "case fill" or "pan fill." Case fill transmissions have the dipstick in the side of the case, while the pan fill had the dipstick in the pan. The case fill transmissions use the pump bolts to attach the bell to the case, while the pan fill do not use the pump bolts but instead use five extra bolts around the pump. When known, the this column also notes whether the C4/C5 valve body attaches to the case with 8 or 9 bolts.


Top Bolt to Top Bolt


The bolt and hole pattern between the engine and bell varies by application. Many times this is the only difference between different bells.

Dowel Pin to Starter Bolt


Consisting of two parts, this information locates the starter relative to the closest dowel pin. If the dowel pin and a starter bolt SHARE the SAME hole, all that is shown is which starter bolt it is, like Top or Bottom. Otherwise, we show center to center distance between CLOSEST dowel pin and NEAREST starter bolt hole. In addition, the direction from DOWEL PIN to STARTER BOLT is shown, Up for starters ABOVE the dowel pin, and Down for starters UNDER the dowel pin.


Casting number location


This is the location on the part where the casting number can be found. Be careful. Some cases, most notably Chrysler front wheel drive (404/413/415/470/620/621/670 series & 604 series), have the casting number in numerous places on the case. MANY of these numbers are UNRELIABLE for identifying purposes - use ONLY the locations listed for RELIABLE information.


Differential Mount


Shows type of mount provision, if any, on differential part of transaxle.


Engine Dowel Pin to Dowel Pin
Line-up Pin
Alignment Pin


Shows center to center distances between line-up pins which line up the bell to the engine.

In addition, when known, we show the number and type of DRILLED holes and TAPPED holes on MACHINED surface on engine side of bell. For example, when we list "13H + 3T", we mean that there are 13 drilled holes plus 3 tapped holes for a total of 16 holes. Most of these are bolt holes used to attach the bell to the engine or dowel pin holes to line the bell up to the engine. However, there are typically two or more used for some other purpose, usually to attach a dust cover or a starter.


Case Dowel Pin to Dowel Pin
Line-up Pin
Alignment Pin


Shows center to center distances between line-up pins which line up the bell to the case.

In addition, when known, we show the BOLT configurations between the case and bell. For example, when we list "13H + 3T", we mean that there are 13 drilled holes plus 3 tapped holes for a total of 16 bolts. Many times there are other holes in the same area used for other purposes, like lining up the case to the bell, but these are NOT counted. ONLY bolts attaching the two pieces together are counted.


Reference Number


This is an arbitrary number assigned by us for reference purposes. If this is a link, you may click on it for further information.


Starter


In general, there are only FOUR ways of mounting starters in vehicles. MOST starters mount to the transmission in one of THREE ways, and the balance (mostly in-line-mounted General Motors transmissions) do not attach to the transmission at all.

The three ways starters are mounted to bell housings are:
  1.   Bolted into the FRONT of the transmission bell housing with the starter next to the motor and with starter bolts PARALLEL to the starter - The starter bolts into a POCKET and is POCKET-mounted
  2.   Bolted THRU a hole in the REAR of the transmission bell housing with the starter next to the transmission and with starter bolts PARALLEL to the starter - The starter bolts thru a HOLE and is HOLE-mounted - This hole is normally round
  3.   Bolted to the SIDE of the transmission bell housing with starter bolts PERPENDICULAR to the starter - The starter bolts to the SIDE and is SIDE-mounted - This is normally a squarish hole, although sometimes is only a cutout
Most starters bolt into pockets in the bell. Some, most notably Subaru and Mazda Rotary, bolt into holes. And a few, like Maxima RE4FO2A transaxles and some late Ford & Mazda transaxles, bolt to the side of the bell. So, we catagorize all transmission/transaxle starter mounts into three catagories, POCKET, HOLE, & SIDE. Or P, H, & S for short.

In addition to this, starters also may mount in various locations around the bell. When the open part of the bell is FACING you, the starter may be in many different places, just like the hands on a clock may be in different places. With the bell FACING you with the transmission in its NORMAL working position, you may locate the starter position using clock analogy, as in 3 o'clock, or 10:30, or 4:00, or whatever. If the normal working position is not positively known, align the transmission with the bell housing drain hole/slot so that it is at the lowest point. This will be close to the normal working position. We then can say that the starter is at 3:00, or 10:30, or 4:00, or whatever. Or for short at 300, 1030, 400, etc.

Another variable with starters is how many bolts attach it to the bell. Most attach with two and some with three bolts. There are even some bells which have a starter pocket, but there is no way for the starter to attach to the bell. These are refered to as 0-Bolt starters.

Now we are ready to take all of this information and massage it into a standard useable form. If there is NO starter provision in the bell at all, the starter position is listed as 'none.' A starter that fits into a pocket in the bell with 0 bolts to the transmission at 1:30 can be refered as a 130 Pocket 0-Bolt starter. Or listed as 130P0 for short. Likewise 200 Hole 2-Bolt, or 200H2 for short. And 1000 Side 2-Bolt would be 1000S2.


Valve Body Hole Diameter


Transmissions in the TF 6PX group (604 & 41TE) & TF 6RL group (606 & 42LE) have several types of valve bodies.

For the TF 6PX group, up until about 1995, the valve body did not protrude thru the case. About 1995, the external neutral safety switches were mounted internally on the valve body. This made it necessary to add a wire connector to the valve body and to put a hole in the case for this connector. This hole is about 1-5/16" in diameter and valve body connector pins are round. Sometime before 2000 Chrysler changed to spade type flat pins in the connector necessitating an enlargement of this hole to about 1-3/8." Needless to say, as of 2001, we have three different types of valve bodies, those without a connector, those with a 1-5/16" connector (round pin), and those with a 1-3/8" connector (flat pin). The cases also changed to accomodate the various valve bodies.

All valve bodies in the TF 6RL group protrude thru the case. Except for this, the cases changed like the TF 6PX did.

The cases using the first valve body design used an external neutral safety switch for a total of 4 switches/sensors on side of case. Later cases had an internal neutral switch on the valve bodies leaving only 2 switches/sensors on the side of the case.

We do not yet know exactly what the year breaks for the various cases are. Apparently there was some overlap of years depending upon application, so be careful when ordering these Chrysler cases.

We list the cases based on valve body configurations as follows:

Model Year


These are model years that are derived from the VIN Codes found on the transmission. They do NOT necessarily include all years that this part was produced NOR all years that it was used in the transmission.


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