trouble changing the transmission fluid 97 jimmy

Okay so my Haynes manual lied to me ...

I went out to change my tranny fluid and filter (97 SLE Jimmy 4.3L "W" 4WD). Haynes made it seem easy enough - take out the pan bolts, pop in filter and seal, re-install gasket and pan.

Well, I loosened all bolts and then removed about half to allow the fluid to drain out. When I went to remove all bolts, I found that there was one bolt that was unreachable by a socket or wrench. I could not remove the trans pan. This bolt went through a bracket that holds the shift cable? in place and then into the trans pan. It was difficult to see and so I didn't get too upset about not seeing it prior to loosening the previous bolts.

Anyhow, I checked the ole' Haynes on how to remove the shift cable. Haynes was vague and so I'll ask here ... how do you get the cable seperated from the lever? Haynes says to pry it with a screwdriver but mine looks different than the photo and did not budge when prying. It appeared to be locked in place. It seems that if I could separate the cable from the lever, I could slide the whole cable out, giving me access to that last pan bolt.

Any ideas? Anyone out there who has done this before?

I've got a 96 Jimmy and have changed mine several times. On mine you can get the bolt out with an open end wrench (I think 10mm). It's a pain because it's so long. If you have a wratcheting wrench you'll be happy. I never figured out how to remove the cable. To save you the same trouble I'm having I'd suggest getting a different gasket than the cheesy cork one that comes with the kit - they tend to leak.

Good luck!

To remove the cable, simply pop it off with a flat head screwdriver (insert behind cable and pry off, it's a simple wedge ball setup) You can't hurt it... Then use a swivel on the extension...

Sorry to be so ignorant but, what exactly does this cable do? Is it a cable from the shifter to the transmission? If I remove it, do I need to have the truck in a certain gear (neutral?)?? What about the emergency brake? I'm not really a car guy and only have a small floor jack and a backup jack. I don't want this thing rolling or lurching off the jacks.

Any advice?

BTW, also, there is NO WAY to get at the last bolt without removing the whole cable. There is not even room for the socket itself to fit up in there.



To remove the cable, simply pop it off with a flat head screwdriver (insert behind cable and pry off, it's a simple wedge ball setup) You can't hurt it... Then use a swivel on the extension...

as long as it's in park, you're fine, no readjustment of the shifter cable will be needed. If you want to use the e-brake, that's fine too..

Also realize, you are only changing about 40% of the fluid by dropping the pan.

You need to have the transmission flushed to get the 60% out of the torque convertor and internal components.

some of the cables are held in by a tin horse shoe clip,,,simply pry the clip out ,,,,cable will now slide out the back of the retainer ,,,,,,,remove filter,,,let drain for a bit,,,converter will empty some-what,,,removing ALL the fluid is not a big deal,,,,just replace the filter AND CLEAN the magnet.....If there is lots of junk in the pan,,,,you have bigger problems
than not getting ALL the fluid out of the trans!!!! you can tell,,,,,I'm not big on tranny flushes,,,,,,the only thing they are good for ,,,is cleaning YOUR WALLET!!!!! BUT,,,thats just my opinion!!!!

I am not talking about doing a cleaning flush, I am talking about replacing all the tranny fluid in the transmission instead of leaving 60% unchanged which really does dick all.

That is what I am meaning by flush.

Thanks all.

I'll give it another try this weekend. Still alittle worried about prying but I'll give it another shot ...



I am not talking about doing a cleaning flush, I am talking about replacing all the tranny fluid in the transmission instead of leaving 60% unchanged which really does dick all.

That is what I am meaning by flush.

prying what?

... prying the trans cable in order to separate it from the lever ...

... the Haynes book says to pry it with a screwdriver. I was hesitant to do this because it didn't want to budge AND it didn't look like the photo in the book. I thought maybe I had a different kind of mechanism attaching the cable to the lever.

I've figured out the tin horseshoe clip no problem but that wont do any good until I get the cable and lever separated.

a previous post concurred that prying the two apart will do the trick ... I'll give another shot over the weekend ...




prying what?

... prying the trans cable in order to separate it from the lever ...

... the Haynes book says to pry it with a screwdriver. I was hesitant to do this because it didn't want to budge AND it didn't look like the photo in the book. I thought maybe I had a different kind of mechanism attaching the cable to the lever.

I've figured out the tin horseshoe clip no problem but that wont do any good until I get the cable and lever separated.

a previous post concurred that prying the two apart will do the trick ... I'll give another shot over the weekend ...

You won't break it... You have to do it firmly, simply pry outwards, it will eventually pop, it's a simple ball lock system.

I just changed the filter in my 99 Envoy this weekend. My cable did look like the one in my Haynes book and popped off with prying. The only trouble I had was getting the old filter o-ring seal out. Once I finally got that out, the rest went fine. I did have to go through a couple more iterations of topping off the tranny fluid then the book indicated. I ended up putting about 4 quarts in, so a decent amount of the fluid drained out. I think my tranny holds 5.5 quarts. There was a thin layer of gunk stuck to the magnet, but the fluid looked like new. Hope yours went well.

I just changed the filter in my 99 Envoy this weekend. My cable did look like the one in my Haynes book and popped off with prying. The only trouble I had was getting the old filter o-ring seal out. Once I finally got that out, the rest went fine. I did have to go through a couple more iterations of topping off the tranny fluid then the book indicated. I ended up putting about 4 quarts in, so a decent amount of the fluid drained out. I think my tranny holds 5.5 quarts. There was a thin layer of gunk stuck to the magnet, but the fluid looked like new. Hope yours went well.

Actually your tranny hold about 11 quarts, you have a 4.5 quart pan though..

I just did mine last month, and the pan bolt that doubled as the linkage bolt was accessible with a box/open end 10mm. It did take quite a few turns, and getting it started back was tricky. You just have to work it over the torsion bar, if I remember correctly. The old filter seal stayed in the orifice, so rather than risk damage, I just took the seal off of the new filter. I did it that way on an '02 Chevy 1-ton (195K miles) 18 times, no problems...