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Need to get the 700R4 out of my car... but all my previous cars were manuals... Not too bad once you get the transmission unbolted.. pretty easy (relatively) to get to the bell housing bolts...
but...holy cow... this looks a lot harder on an automatic car... looking for tricks and tips...
I looked around... some say raise the tail shaft to get better access on the engine side.. others say lower the tailshaft to get better underside access.
I can get the car a good 2 feet up in the air, but how do i get those bolts out... especially the top ones.
Get the driveshaft and the torque arm out of the way, disconnect the exhaust hanger and speedometer connection, remove the crossmember, and slowly lower the tail end down until you can see the bellhousing bolts. Then use about 3ft of extensions and spin them out. Getting the trans out is the easy part. Getting it back up in the car, and getting the torque converter keyed into the pump correctly is the part that requires some finesse.
Get the driveshaft and the torque arm out of the way, disconnect the exhaust hanger and speedometer connection, remove the crossmember, and slowly lower the tail end down until you can see the bellhousing bolts. Then use about 3ft of extensions and spin them out. Getting the trans out is the easy part. Getting it back up in the car, and getting the torque converter keyed into the pump correctly is the part that requires some finesse.
The one small addition I'll make to Drew's instructions is to remove the distributor cap , or depending on how far your tilting the engine back , perhaps even the distributor itself .
If you do leave the distributor in place have an assistant watch it closely so it doesn't get pushed into the firewall and be damaged (bent , cracked , etc) ....
Idk, I did the 700R4 swap hokey-pokey half a dozen times, most of them in my 86 T/A with the big cap distributor. There's plenty of room. You're not tilting it far, just far enough. But yeah, might want to pop the cap.
thx... i'll plan on popping the cap... I have a number of extensions... 3/8 and 1/2 drive ones...
I have played the game of lining up the trans with the engine a few times with my 69.. i know it can be a pain... but so can manuals and trying to get the input shaft into the pilot bearing....
I figure this is a good quarantine project... i mean i got nowhere else to go... and working from home....
I have already set myself up for this to be frustrating... but doable...
If you pull the distributor - mark the rotor location and do the torque converter bolts first so you don't have to turn the engine over and lose it's position. Then make sure you put it back before you bolt the TC back up to the flex plate.
Ok....just 2 loose bolts holding the two together....but those trans cooler lines.... Not enough room to get a wrench on...and they haven't turned in 30 years....unclipped them from the oil pan...is it better to release at the radiator??? And get the trans down so I can get a real wrench on???
No joke. It was 3 feet of extensions to get those top bolts....not sure if I can get them back in???
Everything went great the first hour...but that trans dipstick, cooler lines...a real prob...got converter in bolted without toouch pain.....
Leave the lines connected to the radiator unless you're dropping the engine crossmember.
Use line wrenches on the lines, and an open end wrench on the fittings in the trans. It's a pain but they'll usually come out. Like all lines, it works best to give the wrench a whack to crack loose the tube nut, or the tube likes to twist with the nut.
Worst comes to worst, I may have cut the cooler lines once and used a compression fitting to get back to work on Monday, but I wouldn't settle for that unless there's no other option.
The top bolts are EXTREMELY EEEEEEZY to get to with a SHORT 9/16" combo wrench, FROM ABOVE. You can just reach down in there and work them. Take them out FIRST, before lowering the transmission.
I got a wrench line on the trans fittings but they would not move...started to round off...now it's worse I think....they are really on there. Very little space to work with...
I could not even see the too bolts from above...that stock too wiring harness, the air injection cross over tube, the spark plugs wires, the cat converter air injection tube...etc....so much crap back there I can't even see the grounding lugs...
There is definitely a lot of crap back there is stock form. Just have to dive in and do it. I'm 6' 2" and 250 lbs with baseball mits for hands so if I can do it with the proper application of red hot obscenities..... so can you.
I got those bolts out with 3 feet of extensions... Not too much of a problem....I just can't get the trans cooler lines off and I can't get the trans low enough to get a decent wrench on them....they are literally all that is left.... Sprayed some kroil...left overnight....we will see today...may have to disconnect at the radiator so I can drop the trans farther to get a real wrench on them...
OK, for future reference if anyone searches for this....
By unclipping the trans cooler lines at the oil pan, i was able to disengage the transmission and drop it almost to the floor before removing the transcooler lines. They have decent play in them. With it down, I was able to get a normal tubing wrench on them and remove them.
For an 89 IROC with the TPI engine... i don't see anyway to reach the bolts from above. The main engine wiring harness runs right across the back and is held in place by clips fastened by the very bolts you need to remove...
I took a couple pics with the engine and trans in the normal installed position... tell me again how easy it is to get these out... i still could not even touch the bolts....
passenger side drivers side
after tilting the engine/tranny down... and getting the tranny out... here is what i see... that wiring harness is not moving... and blocks access from above...
the space looks larger here because the engine is tilted down... imagine that space about half as big...
Not sure I can get the tranny in and get the bolt through those clips... including the dipstick clip also!
i want to try to clean up the ground connections on the back of the engine but don't know if i can even get a wrench on them... even with the trans out!.. there is so much stuff running down the passenger side of the engine.....
At least its out and i can clean and replace seals... and fix those oil leaks...
It can all be done. We would not all make suggestions to you if we knew it were not possible. Most of us have done the transmission removal dance several times or dozens of times. We all agree it’s a tight space to work in, but it’s the way to do it. Time and time again since these cars were built, it has been possible. Nobody crammed masses of extra wires or extra obstacles into your car to make it impossible. It takes creativity and determination. Now that you have got it out, you can manipulate some of the wires and wire loom to give you slightly more space. Don’t say it can’t be done. We are all here telling you that it can. Glad that you got the trans out though.
I am sure its different on different cars.... the first advice to use 3 feet of socket extensions worked best for me. That main wiring harness takes up all the room between the engine and the firewall... with it bolted to the trans flange, it was not moving. At least not without taking half the engine apart on top to try to go around it. Not criticizing others suggestions, just saying for my setup, i really tried and it was not possible, at least not without disassembly. Glad it works for others.
These are two options for anyone trying in the future.
Highly recommend pulling the engine to reseal that oil pan, and the intake manifold. And if you can, remove all the smog pump components, air injection tubing, etc and clean up the wiring. It makes a world of difference in accessibility.
I am sure its different on different cars.... the first advice to use 3 feet of socket extensions worked best for me. That main wiring harness takes up all the room between the engine and the firewall... with it bolted to the trans flange, it was not moving. At least not without taking half the engine apart on top to try to go around it. Not criticizing others suggestions, just saying for my setup, i really tried and it was not possible, at least not without disassembly. Glad it works for others.
These are two options for anyone trying in the future.
right, this is exactly what I said in my Post #4 on April 13th.. sockets and extensions.
There's a lot of difference between early and later cars with regards to how much stuff is crammed in that area behind the engine. On cars with the hard crossover pipe for the AIR injection system, you can't get at anything from the top. On cars with the rubber crossover, it's easier to push out of the way. Likewise if a car has had a bunch of that stuff deleted it's easier to get at from the top. Pretty much all of them you can get at from underneath. Gotta remember GM stuck the engine and trans and all that stuff in from the bottom already assembled. While you can get it from the top, GM didn't assemble it from the top. Depending on the configuration it can be nearly impossible to get from the top, what with the external coil, wiring harness/clips, trans dipstick, wiring grounds, AIR injection hoses, etc etc etc.
04-13-2020, 05:48 PM
