thinking about doing tansaxle installation myself

[fmw2525]

hi my name is franklin in ga.

im getting ready to swap my transmission, ( 1996 buick regal grand sport 3800 )is there any tips or simple problems i should be aware of. im not really sure about doing this because of the front wheel drive .(never worked on one before ) but i do have some exp. with cars and i also have a haynes repair manual. does this book give me the information i need to do this job ? do you think this is more than a backyard machanic can handle?

thanks

im also wondering about the trac light, what exactly is this, i thought it had something to do with the braking system

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by fmw2525

? do you think this is more than a backyard machanic can handle?

I would say.... yes it is too much simply because the job is really tough if you do not have the proper lifting equipment, such as a hoist. You can do it using some really tall jack stands, a big hydraulic jack and two friends, though, But its still difficult.

The easiest way is to remove the hood, cut a 4x4 piece of wood and place it above the engine, so it rests on the two strut towers. Then you chain the engine to this.
Then you unbolt the transmission from the engine, remove all trans lines, cables and wiring harnesses, then unbolt the front struts from the steering knuckles, remove the half shafts...... and then remove the six big bolts that hold the front sub frame to the body, and lower the sub frame to the ground.
The car must be raised quite high to get the sub frame out from underneath the car to change the transmission and install the new one in the sub frame.

As you may see, this is MUCH easier if the car is on a hoist so the car can be lifted up while the sub frame is left on the ground.

The alternative is to use an engine hoist to remove the entire engine and trans assembly upwards and out of the engine compartment. While this means you do not have to remove the sub frame, all the work required to disconnect the engine is actually more work than the 'easy' method.

Personally, a decent mechanics shop around here can re and re a transmission in your car for about $350-400, which IMO is pretty cheap compared with struggling to do it on your own.