Replacing Transmission

[krashking82]

Go figure that once I got my wiring problem on my Grand Am fixed, Something would go wrong with my cutlass. On the way back from an out of town trip the transmission went out in my 94 cutlass supreme convertible. It has the 3.4l engine. Now my main question is, to do the transmission myself, I'm going to have to raise the car off the ground, but can I drop the transmission out from under it or do I have to unbolt and remove the whole engine and lift it up out? I've never done a transmission before so I have no clue about how to go about it.

[xeroinfinity]

Your cutlass has the 3.1, unless its been modified.

To remove the trans its best to drop the enigne and trans at the same time.

Thier are several engine to trans mount brackets thats nearly impossible to get to with them in the car.

You will want to find some sort of manual too.
Thiers alot of work involved doing this.

Good Luck

[krashking82]

I just realy dont want to pay $1,000 to have a shop do the work when I have a garage of my own. By any chance do you think the Chilton's would be a good book to use to do this kind of work? I'm assuming I'm going to need a lift then too wont I. Would you recomend any other tools for the job? I have all kinds of tools but if it's going to take any special tools I might be better off having them ahead of time. I rechecked and it has the 3.4l.

[xeroinfinity]

A chilton would work much better then something like a haynes. Not that the later is a bad manual to have, just not as detailed, better pics in a Chilton too.

A lift would be best, but I've heard of people using a chain hoist in thier garage.
The rafters would need to be large enough to support the wieght of the front end of the car, which most garages are not made for that.

You would just lift the front of the car off the trans & engine.
If you've never done this before it will be challenging to your patients.

Good Luck

[krashking82]

I learned patience after the wiring problem with the grand am. I'm kinda wondering if my garage is big enough to get into a project like this now that I got the car in there. I guess I'll try to get the window motor out while I decide on what to do with it. I'm kinda leaning more toward taking it to a shop. If I need help with anything else, i'll be back. Thank you. Brad

[xeroinfinity]

No prob!
I didnt mean to discourage you , but it is a big job.

$1000 isnt bad if that includes another trans.
It takes me about 12-15hrs when I drop an engine/trans in a fwd car and I have a lift.

Good Luck and keep me posted on what you get worked out

[krashking82]

It's alright bro, you didnt discourage me. i've never done a transmission before and I didnt know what I was going to get myself into. I figured I better call a few buddies and see if they wanted to give me a hand but nobody knows anything about front wheel drives. I hate to be a one man team with someone this big so I guess my best bet would to let the shop drop another one and see how that goes. Thank you though