Atx R&r

[Hank F.]

I am no rookie at mechanical tasks. That said, I am more than a little intimidated by the whole FWD everything- in- one- bag- set-up.Are there pics to help a novice on FAQ's? I was trained on 55-57 Chevy's, of which there is NO task I couldn't do. But those vehicles had no electronic anything beyond a voltage regulator and a battery. I recently had a 97 Chrysler Sebring V6 that I trouble shot (shooted?) by plug and play until it no longer showed negative codes. This long-winded treatise is here because I have the pleasure of owning a 93 SHO Auto that has had good care for a car with 170k. The trans. was rebuilt by a local Ford dealer (Gresham) 6 years but only 37k miles ago. It now is leaking to such an extent that it is spraying on the exhaust pipe and smoking. It also judders and slips until I get it into lockup at hiway speed, after which it behaves as it should. The 3 part question is: A. is a complete rebuild likely to be needed? B. I have an available rebuilt trans. w/3k miles and a new tq. converter for $300(!)- should I just buy it and be done with it? C. If I do, can a marginally competent wrencher expect to be able to swap these out and expect it to work? Am I fooling myself thinking I have a prayer of accomplishing this job with NO previous FWD experience. I've done a couple of jobs that I got as a result of the previous owners' inability to put them back together correctly, and found them to be worse than blind-folded jigsaw puzzles. I want to drive this car-- Please help me go about it correctly.

 

[yamapowered]

if you have a lift, it helps, still tough to do,
I hear some do it on the floor and that has its
advantages also, I havent had the oppertunity
to do a crawling on the floor with a SHO hope
I dont have to,
Its not too tough just alot of bolts, you better have
alot of tools to get all those hard to reach bolts,
I did 3 so far on the lift and I hold the engine up
with a craddle and support the bottom of engine/trans,
then drop the subframe complete, engine/trans still in
chassis, seperate trans.
lots of bolts eat your wheaties in the morning

 

[38SHO]

as an R&R mechanic, nothing is impossible if you have the right tools, know how to use them, and know how to take apart cars. That being said a taurus is a hard FWD car to R&R I think... but it most certainly can be done, ESPECIALLY if you have time on your side.

it will be hard but if you can stick with it and know how to work on cars you will get it done...

 

[projectSHO89]

A. Depends on where the external leak is. Depends on why it's slipping getting up to speed.

B. No brainer. Yes, IMHO, unless you want to figure out why it's slipping and leaking and just buy a banner or master kit for your own.

C. Yes. Just did the R & R by myself this winter. Rebuilt it, too. First time on an automatic for me. Only had to drop the lower pan four times and the side pan once after reinstalling the tranny, works great now.

It's heavy, dirty work doing it by yourself only on jackstands. Trust me, I found this out..... but completely doable by anyone with reasonable skill, perserverence, and tools.

If your existing 93 ATX was not upgraded and the availble rebuilt is a 94/95 or is a 93 with upgrades, I'd go for the rebuilt at that price.

Steve

 

[Hank F.]

I have heard that success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan. I love to hear of you all's success's, as I have pretty much made up my mind to do it myself. My only problem is a lack of provenance on the used trans. If I had documents to verify the work I wouldn't worry. So, maybe into the belly of the beast I go, as I believe in the best work is done for yourself, Yes?

 

[AREA 91]

There's little out there more satisfying than taking on a major mechanical task yourself, and being rewarded with sucess!

 

[Mr Anonymous]

I recommend springing for Josh's clutch video. It covers tranny R&R and except for a few additional nuts and bolts the ATX will basically come out and go in the same way. Obviously the clutch parts won't be applicable!

There are only 4 electrical connections to an ATX tranny, so the electronic part of it isn't really overwhelming. If you don't have access to a lift I'd recommend spending the money to rent a real tranny jack to make removal and reinstallation easier and more importantly safer.

 

[projectSHO89]

With all due respect for Josh's video, it really isn't needed if you have the service CD and this site.

The tranny jack is a great thing to have.... I did mine without one (by myself), but it would have made it a little easier. I just used a large floor jack with a plate I fabbed out of a 2 X 12 and a stud to install mine.

Steve