I have to remove and replace the 97 Escorts auto tranny...:frown:
I have never pulled a FWD tranny.... I have pulled and replaced many many engines and inline trannys.

Aside from the cooling lines and plugs and cables...
what can I expect .
What is the procedure to remove the tranny?
will I definatly need a tranny jack? I have an engine hoist.

Here is what you could expect:

You've got to remove the starter, front wheel drive shafts, battery and tray,
front engine crossmember, front part of the exhaust system (catalytic converter) and the lines, clips, electrical connectors etc.

The engine has to be supported from above because all of the mounts except the top engine mount are on the transmission. The drive shafts take a considerable amount of force on them prying them out of the tranny.
There is an access hole to move the flywheel to bring the torque converter to drive plate nuts withing reach.

After pulling the drive shafts insert a small length of broom handle into the tranny to keep the side gears from falling out. Or, you can use Ford's transmission plugs.

You will need a transmission jack. If the tranny won't slide out far enough to release it from the engine you need to raise the car some more. With your experience you should have no problems pulling the tranny. Later, Dave

I did one this past summer. I'm trying to forget it!

As the first poster said... However, with our 92 Escort I took the engine out first. The car had 190,000 miles on it when the tranny quit, and I figured I needed to refresh the piston rings at least and get the valves looked at. I rebuilt the engine, which was pretty easy. Then I removed the tranny, and rebuilt that. Also not a big deal, though I didnt change the shims for the final drive - it was still fairly snug with preloading. I had the Ford service manual, which had all the info for rebuilding the engine and the tranny. The whole process took me over 3 weeks though - since I wasnt hurrying.

denisond3,
Was that a manual tranny? Pretty much an accomplishment either way.

I've swapped (manual) tranny's in my old '83. Plenty of room. But the automatic in the '97 was shoe-horned in. Lots of knuckle buises.