Hello everyone,
First off, sorry for the really long post but I wanted to be as thorough as possible so others can learn from my experience. And, I should have taken pictures - I will the next time I do a job that I want to share with the community.
For those that hate reading and only want the specifics, I made a section listing the required tools at the end of the post.
Now...
I wrote here a few weeks back asking if anyone had experience with this swap. With fairly limited replies, I kind of went into this one blind, so to speak. I ended up having to replace my slipping transmission on my 89 V6 Montero and decided to upgrade to the lock-up transmission found on late 90-91 models if I was going to have to replace a transmission anyways. Well, I'm back here to share my experience with you all and to try to answer any questions that you may have.
So, the swap took me four days. I drove my truck up onto two high ramps and then jacked up the ass-end of the truck and put two jacks under the rear axle).
The first two days, was spent just trying to get the transmission out. I started with the top two bellhousing-engine bolts (17mm's) as well as removing the fan and fan shroud at the front of the engine(my bolts were all 10mm's). Also now is a good time to disconnect your kickdown cable from the throttle body before you forget. From underneath, I drained the transmission fluid and the transfer case. I had to remove all the skid plates, both front and rear drive shaft (12mm and 14mm wrench will get these off), the starter, access plate, flexplate-torque converter bolts (12mm's). After removing the torque converter bolts, I then removed the remaining bellhousing bolts (17mm's) as well as the bolts holding the two engine/transmission braces (14mm and 17mm). To remove the torque converter bolts, you will need to turn the crankshaft bolt (24mm). I used a ratcheting breaker bar and this made it easy.
For the exhaust, I started with just removing the exhaust down pipe from the driver side exhaust manifold (these are 19mm bolts) but quickly realized that one must also remove the Y-pipe connecting the passenger-side exhaust manifold and catalytic converter so that you can get a wrench on the transmission cooler lines (17mm flare nuts) running on the passenger side of the transmission (unless you have baby hands and can bend your wrists like a contortionist, I see no way around this). I took the liberty of removing my hose clamps securing the transmission cooler lines going to the radiator and removed my transmission lines from the truck completely. I'd recommend this as they will get in the way when lowering the transmission and reinstall.
Also, now's a good time to remove the oxygen sensor (requires 22mm wrench, have fun with that, mine was rusted in place).
At this point, remove the mount connected to the transfer case.
From the inside of the truck, you will need to remove the knob on the transfer case shifter (by twisting counter-clockwise) and then from underneath, disconnect the transmission shift linkage from passenger side at rear of transfer case and the on the driver side where the linkage connects to the transmission lever. Once the linkages are disconnected (by pulling cotter pins), you can remove the rear cross member that supports the transmission/transfer case (4 19mm bolts on each side of the crossmember, needed breaker bar for removal). Be careful at this point as there is almost nothing supporting the transmission now. I quickly placed a transmission jack under my transmission and started shaking the engine/transmission lose. Then I was able to lower the old transmission out of the way.
3RD DAY: I ended up re-using my transfer case (as it is still good) on the lock-up transmission. I read from someone else's post that the adapter (or extension housing) was changed for 90-91 model years but I found this to be inaccurate, at least in this case. Initially, I was going to swap the transfer case with the adapter attached but decided against it since I did not have a replacement gasket to go between the transmission and adapter but I did have one that goes between the adapter and transfer case. Once I was able to undo the 5 or 6 bolts holding the transfer case to the adapter, I was able to lift it (it's heavy) over to the lock-up transmission.
4TH DAY: This is the last day of my swap, with limited room underneath my truck (stock lift with 33's), I had to manually slide my fully assembled transmission (torque converter, transmission, and transfer case) under my truck on a creeper and use jacks and ratchet straps to get the assembly high enough to get my transmission jack underneath. What a big pain in the ass this was <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/angry.gif" alt="" />
Required Tools:
3/8inch drive socket wrench with extensions and sockets: 10mm, 12mm, 13mm (13mm only used once to remove battery cable from starter), 14mm, 17mm
1/2 inch drive socket wrench with extensions and sockets: 17mm, 19mm.
1/2inch drive ratcheting breaker bar with sockets: 19mm and 24mm
Boxed-end Wrenches: 12mm, 14mm, 17mm, 22mm
Although boxed-end wrenches will work, I used flex ratcheting wrenches which greatly increased speed and ease of removing bolts with little clearance. This is almost a must-have trying to access the top 2 bellhousing bolts.
Final points: The two transmissions were identical in appearance and parts like the wiring and O/D solenoid are exactly the same. The only differences between these transmissions is internal stuff, like the torque converter and the valve body.
Finally, thank you all for reading. I do hope I am not forgetting anything. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me or simply reply to this post.
Good luck wrenching.
