Is there anyway of changing the gearbox on a 300 tdi Disco without taking the engine out? As in how do you get to the top bolts of the bell housing?
On top:
1) Remove the center console stuff (cubby-box; rear-aircon pipes; etc)
2) Remove the rubber seal around the leavers, and the handbrake cable
3) Sling a rope around the box, with the support strand running up between the high/low/difflock lever and the front-prop drive-flange
4) support (lightly) from an engine crane or similar
Underneath
5) remove the gearbox crossmember
6) Remove clutch slave cylider
7) remove the bolts around the bottom half of the gearbox
![Cool 8)](http://www.slroc.co.uk/forum/Smileys/default/cool.gif)
lower the gearbox using the engine-crane/string/whatever (the whole engine/gearbox mass will tilt back on the engine mounts, until the back of the head is resting on the bulkhead)
9) remove all electrics & free handbrake cable from the body
10) undo the bolts round the top half (and as piper5 says - you need 16"+ of extension bar to get the very top bolts)
11) pull back to release from the engine
"Assembly is the reverse of disassembly"
I confess I tend to leave out the top three bolts when I'm refitting 'boxes