transmission

I have recently had to purchase a new engine for my 96 Monte Carlo. I am having trouble seperating the transmission from the engine. Any suggestions?

I have recently had to purchase a new engine for my 96 Monte Carlo. I am having trouble seperating the transmission from the engine. Any suggestions?

You didn't say which motor you had, but I just did this on my sons 95 with the 3.1. You may have missed some bolts
-there's three bolts holding the flywheel to the torque converter (sorry if that's insultingly obvious, but the first time I pulled an engine with an automatic trans, I didn't know that the torque converter was actually bolted to the flywheel).
- theres three 18mm bolts across the top that bolt from the transmission side into the engine and then, moving back towards the firewall, one more, but this one is from the engine side into the tranny. It's almost impossible to see or reach, the best way to get at it is to remove the passenger wheel and go in through the wheel well with a long socket extension (believe this is an 18mm bolt as well)
- finally, there's an engine/transmission brace near the oil pan. There are two bolts holding the brace to the trans, one easily accessible from underneath, and the other annoyingly hard to reach from above. Again best to go in from the passenger wheel well.

Where did you get your motor and how much did you pay? I got one from the u-pull it junkyard for $135, but after putting it in, found that it was leaking antifreeze into the oil. Argghhh...

Let me know how it goes. If you have any tips or tricks for reconnecting the exhaust header pipe to the manifold, let me know. I had to take it to a shop to do it, that was the only part of the motor swap that I couldn't handle myself.

Good luck!

Hi, I was the one doing the work on Klyph81's car as I am the one who wrecked it. Anyway, we figured it out after getting your reply but your third point was the right one. I got my engine for $550 from a salvage yard in Elkton, KY (near Bowling Green) called Clifton's. They guarantee it to run for 30 days. They have it pulled already and they even delivered about 15 minutes away for free. It seems to be a relly good engine.

As far as the exhaust spring bolts, the way I got them out and the way I will try to put them back in is to raise the front of the car rnough to get all the way under. On the Monte Carlo, my face was under the muffler and I was looking over the drive shaft and some power steering lines directly at the connection from the rear. I put together extensions about 1 1/2 feet long and had someone reach from above to line it up so I could turn a ratchet.

Another question for you: the motor I got was from a 94 olds cutlass, so there are a few differences. The worst of which is the wiring harness is different so that the crank and cam sensors won't plug in. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Ben

Hi, I was the one doing the work on Klyph81's car as I am the one who wrecked it. Anyway, we figured it out after getting your reply but your third point was the right one. I got my engine for $550 from a salvage yard in Elkton, KY (near Bowling Green) called Clifton's. They guarantee it to run for 30 days. They have it pulled already and they even delivered about 15 minutes away for free. It seems to be a relly good engine.

As far as the exhaust spring bolts, the way I got them out and the way I will try to put them back in is to raise the front of the car rnough to get all the way under. On the Monte Carlo, my face was under the muffler and I was looking over the drive shaft and some power steering lines directly at the connection from the rear. I put together extensions about 1 1/2 feet long and had someone reach from above to line it up so I could turn a ratchet.

Another question for you: the motor I got was from a 94 olds cutlass, so there are a few differences. The worst of which is the wiring harness is different so that the crank and cam sensors won't plug in. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Ben

That sounds like a pretty good deal. Good luck with it (and watch for water in the oil!)

I was able to get the exhaust spring bolts out similarly to you without too much difficulty. Putting them back was another story. There was no way that I could get everything to line up by myself. My helper couldn't reach the header pipe to assist if the engine was in position. And if I rocked the engine forward, then the pieces wouldn't line up. Well I'll be doing it again in a couple of weeks as soon as I get done putting doing a head gasket on the original engine (and possibly rod and main bearings). Woo-hoo!

As far as the sensors go, I had the same problem swapping a 96 lumina motor into a 95 monte carlo. In some cases I ended up switching some sensors around and in some cases bits of the wiring harness. (In the end the dash temperature gauge didn't work and I got a check engine light, but the motor ran fine.) Other than that, I don't know what to tell you, but this link (http://www.3400swap.com/) may be some help. It's actually talking about swapping a 3.4 for a 3.1 but does address sensors.

Good luck!

The best way I found to reach the manifold connection from the top for your helper was to lie down on the intake with your feet hanging over the passenger side fender.

There's a hidden bell housing bolt if you haven't found it already. You need 3 foot transmission extension(or a whole mess of shorter extentions). from the passenger side wheel well, it's located in between the engine and transmission. It can only be acessed after the engine trans. differential bracket has been removed.

I know this is an old thread, but I managed to sucessfully replace the exhaust spring bolts and thought I'd share the "one man" procedure in case someone else needs assistance later:

This applies to a 95 Monte Carlo with the 3.1 engine

Rock the engine forward.
You will have enough room from the top to insert the right hand side bolt without the spring. Tighten it about halfway.
This will hold the pieces in place so you can insert the left hand side bolt without the spring. Tighten it all the way.
Rock the engine back again. (With the engine rocked forward, the manifold and header pipe are too far apart and there is no way that you will be able to pull them together)
Working under the car, remove the r/s bolt and stack it with about an inch of washers or oversized bolts. Reinsert it and tighten it all the way.
Remove the leftside bolt. With the right side bolt inserted with the washers and with the engine rocked back, the header pipe should now be pulled close enough to the manifold to be able to re-insert the l/s bolt WITH the spring. You kinda of have to guide it with your left hand through the wheel well and through power steering lines and then push hard upwards with your extension bar while turning the ratchet. Eventually the threads will catch. Tighten it all the way.
The r/s bolt should now also go in with the spring in place.

Notes: when tightening bolts, you might want to tap the head pipe occasionally to make sure that it is free to move. Also when rocking the engine forward, I didn’t have the ratcheting strap that Haynes recommends. Instead I removed the r/s “dog bone” from the engine side, put the bolt back through and attached a small lifting hook with chain to it. I removed one of the hold down bolts from the dog bone bracket in front of the radiator and pulled the engine forward with a pry bar and then stuck a Phillips screwdriver through the chain link and open bolt hole to hold the engine forward. Be careful that you don’t knock the screwdriver out while working behind the engine!