w-body 4t60e replacement

[Bryan1970]

okay as some of you may have expected here comes the post where i ask if any one has any tips on pulling and replacing a 4t60e in a w-body. I have replaced transmissions in fwd cars many times befoer i just would like to know of any tips that anyone may have to make the process a little easier. all of my experience on fwd transmission replacements are on minis. and i figure a mini and a 94 olds cutlass are probablly not exactly alike. Oh yeah i'll be doing it w/o a car lift. any help would be greatly appreciated thanks

[grandprixgtp_91]

your best bet it to drop out the whole engine and subframe and tranny all in one piece. unbolt the struts from the tower and unhook the stering wheel from the rack. it will save tons of time and you can change your timing belt and do an amazing timing job on it at the same time, or any other hard labour.

Jake

[bud36light]

get ready cause its a big job any way you look at it. I just did my 4t60e in My Monte Carlo without a lift. The biggest tip I can offer is from somebody elses post cant remember who and wont take the credit for it. Support the vehicle behind the sub frame. Remove tires, both axleshafts/hubs,unbolt the tie rods,completely un bolt the sway bar so you can get to the heat sheild bolts and easier to unbolt the rack,secure the rack out of the way with some wire no need to remove the rack from the vehicle unless you really want to. disconnect the plug on the front along with the the harness on top of the tranny. It helps from square one to unbolt the master cylinder , disconnect the modulator hose,the exhaust crossover has to be removedpretty early to it gives you a lot of xtra room to work, dont forget the speed sensor plug on the passenger side. You have mounts on each side to unbolt. I think my car has 6 bell housing bolts. That one on the lower firewall side is buried down their. You can get to it from the top or even from the pass side using a universal and a liftime supply of extensions.Oh dont forget the torque converter bolts, remove the starter, dipstick tube 10mm bolt is waaaayyyy down there to.Any way I prob forgot a lot of stuff but it shouldnt be to hard to figure out what else needs to be unbolted unhooked etc. Now for the tip. only pop the drivers side ball joint . Leave the pass side alone. Use it as a pivot point when you remove the 4 cradle bolts and let the tranny swing down (using your floor jack). Oh yeah you will want to support the motor with somthing to. This step allows you to slide the tranny right off the cradle and into the floor. Make getting it back in LOT easier also. Let me know if you need any more info while its still semi fresh in my mind Kevin

[TheDirtyBen]

wow, that sounds like a big headache compared to the way i do it. but, i do it all day long. and i have it up in the air. if you can get ahold of an engine support brace, do it. this supports the whole tamale from up top.
Since you are in INDY and i'm in FORT WAYNE, the best way to do it is to call me and i'll help you do it. I may work cheap,but i don't work free!!!
oh yeah, you'll still need that engine support brace.
just to give you an idea, I R&I these things at work in 3hrs....tops!

[Cruiser]

Does your sub frame split in two pieces? If it does you can take out all the bolts except one of the front ones and swing the portion of the cradle out of the way. Even if you don't jack the car up it should still be fairly easy to pull the tranny out. Also don't forget to support the engine with a engine hoist. If the sub frame is one piece you have your work cut out for you.

[Bryan1970]

thanks for the help offer but i'm sure i can handle it. i've done transmissions in minis ( the new ones) before and should be able to figure it out. i'm not quit sure what is meant if the subframe splits if you mean there is two fork like pieces that go under the car to bolt on then yes i does split. with out having a good look under the car in a while because i'm waiting on a lift to open up, my plan for the moment is to drop the whole engin and tranny together all intact on the subframe. mainly because i dont have an engine support although it wouldnt be harad to make one so i don't know. i'll figure it out.

[Bryan1970]

UPDATE!!!!
just incase anyone cares i sucessfully replaced the tranny in the cuttlass with the help of two of my friends and my auto shop teacher. The subframe didn't come apart as two pieces so we had to drop the hole thing. and we used a tranny jack to lower it out of the car and had the engine held up with the engine brace made for that job. And once we got the old one out i could actually see the hole left behind by one of the pinion gears. it totally destroyed the end case that houses the diff. you could almost fit your hand through it!!
thanks for all the advice

[bud36light]

Cool

[bud36light]

I mean not that there was a hole but that you got it done.