Transmission Swap.

Oh boy. What a drag. Last week my transmission lost 3 of it's 5 gears and since it had been slipping out of OD for about 2 years I figured it was due for a change. Since a new one was out of the picture at about +$1500 (cheap) and a rebuilt one was to be had at about +$700 I had to go used. I found a heck of deal on Craigslist for a used tranny for $125 with "just over" 100k miles on it. Now that is a deal. This model, 4L60E is used by GM for just about everything, but I had to match up the bell housing and make sure the drive shaft length would stay the same so I had to be picky and only buy one that fit my model year and engine. That was a but hard because it seems that most 4cyl S-10's had manual trannys. Well the lord provided and I had it delivered to my door no less. What a deal.

My father came into town to help me change one since I have never had the honor....o lucky me... and we started when it was a high at about 70ºF on Saturday and started again on Sunday35º F.

Saturday was spent getting the dang thing out and picking up all the parts we needed for the swap. Argh. And not the pirate 'argh" either unless pirates said that because they swapped trannys in their pirate ships a lot. Ironic that we had Lufti's for dinner...

Sunday was spent putting the "new" one in...and re-getting all the supplies...again.

We had compared the 2 but wasn't sure about tearing into the new one until we were sure they matched. Dad said something about hoping it's a good one and I said that the Lord led me to this one, it was cheap, and He has prepared me a lovely tranny for my truck...

...And here she is with the new filter and gasket. What a beauty. You might not be able to tell but it was very, very clean inside; even my Dad was impressed. Well, God did it, I don't know that I should be surprised. There were a few very small particles in the bottom but that is expected on any tranny and especially one that is over 100k, which is less than my truck, go figure. The outside was a bit dirty, but I thought it was a good picture of what Christ does in us.

Ok, I did wipe the pan out first, but everything else is "as is".

"Crappy" jack from the 1930's rented from Borgmeyer's on Blue Ridge.
It worked well though, just not much to look at.

After many laboriuous hours we had everything back in and all the parts and pieces reattached. All that was left was filling it properly and the test drive. I am here to report that is was unevent ful and I am very pleased to report that there are no known issues. Amen, glory to God.


Notes of interest:

My starter is my bane. And pia.

We had to use a lot of extensions for the top 4 tranny bolts; it equaled about 4' in length.

My neck is aching after holding up my big head for the last 2 days.

My dad was a lifesaver, I could not have done this in a weekend and maybe not at all without him. Dad's rule.

Always buy more fluid than you SHOULD need.

Gloves really do help keep your fingers warm when tools are cold.

Drain the tranny when you take it out or your driveway will look like mine overnight.

Make sure your o-rings match perfectly.

Don't hesitate to pray...a lot when dealing with vehicles. God knows what a pain they are.

Johnny Cash helps too.






I'm out of here, I'm tired.