Okay, you guys have helped me out tons with stuff. Maybe this will help newbies.
As others have said before, removing a transmission is just LOT of work. None of it is particularly hard. This comes with a couple of caveats though:
1) Get a good low profile transmission jack and test it out fully before using:
-Make sure it is properly filled with hydraulic fluid.
-Check to see how much tilt slack it has. Will the deck of the jack suddenly tip forwards once you pull the transmission off the back of the engine? Remember that the transmission is front heavy.
-Make sure any lock nuts on the ends of the bolts are secure. If necessary, remove and apply some threadlock.
2) Check out some youtube videos. Tahoe Steve has a good series:
3) Have a service manual, preferably a FSM. They're not that expensive if you are willing to wait.
4) Although I have written many torque specs and sizes, check those for yourself in case I made a mistake.
5) If you are doing this for the first time, get the right tools. Some extra tools that I found useful:
-high torque cordless impact
-long 3/8 extension (24 inches at least)
-torque wrench (remember that for accurate torques, you make sure the torques are not near the ends of ranges on the torque wrench. For example, do not use a 15-150 ft-lb torque wrench to torque a 20 ft-lb bolt. 20 ft-lbs is an awkward torque, but I found a torque wrench with a range of 10-100.)
-A decent creeper.
6) One of the reasons this job took me 3x as long as anyone else is that I wrote everything down that I took apart. This was very helpful as I didn't forget to do anything when putting it back together. This guide is just that, a guide. You may find you prefer to do a few things differently.
As others have said before, removing a transmission is just LOT of work. None of it is particularly hard. This comes with a couple of caveats though:
1) Get a good low profile transmission jack and test it out fully before using:
-Make sure it is properly filled with hydraulic fluid.
-Check to see how much tilt slack it has. Will the deck of the jack suddenly tip forwards once you pull the transmission off the back of the engine? Remember that the transmission is front heavy.
-Make sure any lock nuts on the ends of the bolts are secure. If necessary, remove and apply some threadlock.
2) Check out some youtube videos. Tahoe Steve has a good series:
3) Have a service manual, preferably a FSM. They're not that expensive if you are willing to wait.
4) Although I have written many torque specs and sizes, check those for yourself in case I made a mistake.
5) If you are doing this for the first time, get the right tools. Some extra tools that I found useful:
-high torque cordless impact
-long 3/8 extension (24 inches at least)
-torque wrench (remember that for accurate torques, you make sure the torques are not near the ends of ranges on the torque wrench. For example, do not use a 15-150 ft-lb torque wrench to torque a 20 ft-lb bolt. 20 ft-lbs is an awkward torque, but I found a torque wrench with a range of 10-100.)
-A decent creeper.
6) One of the reasons this job took me 3x as long as anyone else is that I wrote everything down that I took apart. This was very helpful as I didn't forget to do anything when putting it back together. This guide is just that, a guide. You may find you prefer to do a few things differently.
