Replace the tranny solenoid myself?

[tkswan]

02 LS V8. 139k miles.

Wondering if I can replace the tranny solenoid valve assembly myself. I know where I can use a lift. If so does anyone have the process for replacing it (shop manual pages)? The car is ok now but every now and then the reverse gear hits pretty hard, and I am getting a phantom warning tone. When I look at the readouts, there is nothing. So i'm thinking the tranny is flashing a 'E' error code too fast for me to see it. Is there any logging in there that can be extracted and read?

Also, I had a couple of incidents where the shifter got stuck in park. The shift release button acts as if my foot is not on the brake. (...yes my foot was on the brake). Once I had to get out and rock the car back and forth. I heard that click; the one you sometimes hear when you park on level ground and hold the brake, then turn off the engine. Once you let the brake go the car moves about an inch and clicks into park. Another time I had to turn off the engine and restart the car.

Thanks in advance

[shorod]

I've sent the file I have to both of the e-mail addresses I have for you.

-Rod

[tkswan]

Thanks. if i cant get the lift, how much room is comfortable to tackle this? I have decent jack stands and a 2 ton floor jack. should i lift the car level or can i just jack up the front? how long should it take? is this causing my shift lock problem?

[shorod]

Originally Posted by tkswan

Thanks. if i cant get the lift, how much room is comfortable to tackle this? I have decent jack stands and a 2 ton floor jack. should i lift the car level or can i just jack up the front? how long should it take?

I can't answer that having never done this job, but I suspect you'd be fine if you got your car as far up as you can and have it properly supported. Be sure to take advantage of the drain plug though to reduce the mess.

Originally Posted by tkswan

is this causing my shift lock problem?

I doubt it. The car moving after shifting to park is pretty normal for an automatic and would suggest that you're parking on an incline. If the incline is steep enough, that may also be what's causing the bind when shifting from park. You might try setting your parking brake before shifting to park to see if that minimizes the issue. If your parking brake works and that doesn't minimize the issue, I'd suspect something more like a brake pedal switch issue for the difficulty shifting from park.

-Rod