Advice:
Almost all the electrical sockets/plugs on the transfer case are the same shape........it is really easy to install them in the wrong location. Clearly label the wires and thier designated location.
There is a section of the wire harness that is "extended" using a female-female connector type of electrical plug. This again, uses the same shaped electrical plugs........so keep that section of the wire harness labled correctly. This plug is located above the transmission.......above the shift range indicator........drivers side of trans.
The transfer case will obviuosly have to be removed. Drain the fluid or it could get messy. The drain plug is on the back of the transfer case (not the bottom).........drain plug size is 18mm. Note: The transfer case does NOT share the same fluid as the transmission.
The 15mm bolts attatching the transfer case to the transmission obviously have to be removed. For the top bolt, (what I did) was cut a 15mm wrench down to a couple inches in length. There is not even enough room to loosen the bolt with a "stubby" wrench in there between the case and floor.
Upon re assembly, pay particular attention to the position of the shift range indicator. I'm talking about the part where it slips onto the transmission shifter shaft. The plastic hole in the middle.......it rotates. It looks circular, but actually has two flat surfaces inside of it.......it indexes in relation to the shaft. Also, the electrical plug on the shift range indicator is VERY difficult to unplug.......Whenever I do these trans jobs, I always leave the plug attached and unbolt the shift range indicator from the transmission and tie it up out of the way. If you cannot remove the electrical plug and choose to unbolt.........you will need to use a thin 13mm wrench to get at the bolt behind the electrical plug.........if you look, you will see what I am talking about.
The exhaust bolts.......the ones up in front on the manifild pipe flange.........yeah, you may break one or more. In the unfortunate event when I break a bolt, I drill out the broken section and use a nut, lock washer and a bolt in place of the original stud/bolt set up.. If you break one of those exhaust studs: DO NOT REMOVE THE EXHAUST MANIFOLD FROM THE CYLINDER HEAD in an attempt to fix it !!!!!!! Do whatever it takes to remove the broken stud while the manifold is still attached to the engine. The bolts that attach the manifold onto the cylinder are.........I don't know.......They just break......for absolutely no reason at all they just break.....usually they break closest to the firewall leaving no option other than removing the cylinder head for removal/repair/replacement. The cylinder heads on these engines are SUPER SIMPLE to replace, but it would add a couple hundred dollars to the final price tag (new head gasket, new head bolt set, etc...). Use six point 14mm half inch drive deep socket on a breaker bar to get these stud bolts loose........3/8 drive ratchet wont allow enough leverage.
Do you have torx bit sockets? You will need to remove the shift rod bracket from the side of the transmission. I forget what size, but I think it is a T-35 size.
Make sure the replacement transmission still has the alignment dowels in place, if not........you'll be hating life.
The starter will have to be removed so that you can rotate the torque converter and get at those bolts.
I guess that's all I can think of at the moment.
