I got my Envoy off the jackstands last night and the replacement transmission works as it should. It was from the local wrecker who told me it only had 118K kilometers (74K miles) on it.
Here are a few notes that I hope will help others.
JACKING and HEIGHTS:
The vehicle needs to be up really high. My transmission jack adapter is 6" tall and my floor jack is 4" at rest. Add the 18" of bell housing and at least one frame rail needs to be 28" off the ground in order to slide the tranny out on the jack. I bought 12 ton jack stands, the tallest I could find, they extend to 28". The next problem was my floor jack only goes to 21" so I jacked up the car and put it on four jackstands at their lowest height (about 20") then I built some cribbing out of old 4x4s and landscape ties to raise the floor jack 10" and I jacked the car up to 24/25" all the way around because that close to the max height of my transmission jack. I then pulled the transmission and lowered it, and then raised one side of the Envoy to 28" using the floor jack on the cribbing (I have two floor jacks) and I was able to slide the tranny out, swap the new one onto the jack and slide it in.
TRANSFER CASE:
The case isn't heavy to pick up off the floor but it's incredibly heavy trying to lift it with your arms while lying on your back under the car. It sits clocked about 45 degrees when on the jack stand so you need to lift and turn it to get it on the studs. I used two ratchet straps accross the frame rails to suspend it so I could remove the jack and get under it and use one leg/knee to help push it up into place. The next time I'll build a wooden cradle to hold it in the clocked position so it's not so tough. (Note: I'm 56, if you're 35 you can probably remove and replace this without any problem LOL)
No need to remove the exhaust or the starter, they aren't in the way.
The bell housing bolts are EASY IF you have long extensions, I have one 1/2" extension about three feet long that made removing the bell housing bolts easy.
It's easier to remove the nut on the shift linkage and leave the metal lever connected to the cable than it is to try to remove the cable from the lever.
If you have a welder then weld in a drain plug, I tried loosening all the bolts but the gasket didn't release evenly and I got covered in tranny fluid, I was wearing a white shirt and my wife thought I was bleeding. If you're going to weld in a drain plug then just drill a hole where the drain goes before you pull the pan and let the fluid drain that way. If you don't have a welder Dorman makes a deep pan with a drain for less than $50, drill a hole in the pan you're going to toss.
Refilling the tranny later is an exercise in patience, put three quarts in, start the car for ten seconds and stop it, the pan will be empty, add three more and do it again. I did this three times (9 litres) before it stayed full. Don't let your transmission pump run dry!
Here's a question for others... how do you torque drive shaft u-joint bolts? My socket won't fit in then because the shaft interferes so I have to tighten by hand. The torque setting isn't too high so I just pulled as hard as I could by hand. How does the factory do this?
That's it for now, It's back on the road and it drives like it should again. Next round is cooling, I'll change the rad, water pump, fan clutch hoses and install a transmission cooler.
JayArr
Here are a few notes that I hope will help others.
JACKING and HEIGHTS:
The vehicle needs to be up really high. My transmission jack adapter is 6" tall and my floor jack is 4" at rest. Add the 18" of bell housing and at least one frame rail needs to be 28" off the ground in order to slide the tranny out on the jack. I bought 12 ton jack stands, the tallest I could find, they extend to 28". The next problem was my floor jack only goes to 21" so I jacked up the car and put it on four jackstands at their lowest height (about 20") then I built some cribbing out of old 4x4s and landscape ties to raise the floor jack 10" and I jacked the car up to 24/25" all the way around because that close to the max height of my transmission jack. I then pulled the transmission and lowered it, and then raised one side of the Envoy to 28" using the floor jack on the cribbing (I have two floor jacks) and I was able to slide the tranny out, swap the new one onto the jack and slide it in.
TRANSFER CASE:
The case isn't heavy to pick up off the floor but it's incredibly heavy trying to lift it with your arms while lying on your back under the car. It sits clocked about 45 degrees when on the jack stand so you need to lift and turn it to get it on the studs. I used two ratchet straps accross the frame rails to suspend it so I could remove the jack and get under it and use one leg/knee to help push it up into place. The next time I'll build a wooden cradle to hold it in the clocked position so it's not so tough. (Note: I'm 56, if you're 35 you can probably remove and replace this without any problem LOL)
No need to remove the exhaust or the starter, they aren't in the way.
The bell housing bolts are EASY IF you have long extensions, I have one 1/2" extension about three feet long that made removing the bell housing bolts easy.
It's easier to remove the nut on the shift linkage and leave the metal lever connected to the cable than it is to try to remove the cable from the lever.
If you have a welder then weld in a drain plug, I tried loosening all the bolts but the gasket didn't release evenly and I got covered in tranny fluid, I was wearing a white shirt and my wife thought I was bleeding. If you're going to weld in a drain plug then just drill a hole where the drain goes before you pull the pan and let the fluid drain that way. If you don't have a welder Dorman makes a deep pan with a drain for less than $50, drill a hole in the pan you're going to toss.
Refilling the tranny later is an exercise in patience, put three quarts in, start the car for ten seconds and stop it, the pan will be empty, add three more and do it again. I did this three times (9 litres) before it stayed full. Don't let your transmission pump run dry!
Here's a question for others... how do you torque drive shaft u-joint bolts? My socket won't fit in then because the shaft interferes so I have to tighten by hand. The torque setting isn't too high so I just pulled as hard as I could by hand. How does the factory do this?
That's it for now, It's back on the road and it drives like it should again. Next round is cooling, I'll change the rad, water pump, fan clutch hoses and install a transmission cooler.
JayArr
Sage advice, this. Hope I remember it, when the time comes.