Has anyone ever done a diy transmission swap, specifically a fwd transmission? 2009 Ford Taurus SEL 120k. Ford-GM 6F50 6-speed automatic. Went over some train tracks at night and got stuck and scraped the transmission casing due to poor visibility. I believe the guts of transmission (gears etc) are good so I can either get a used one or rebuild it. Insurance is totaling the car, but I think I can fix it for less (whether it not I pay someone to do the transmission) and pocket the change (also the body and interior is still in excellent condition).
Has anyone ever done a diy transmission swap, specifically a fwd transmission?
I have. Never again.
But it’s somewhat doable? lol
Definitely leave it to a pro if you don't know what you're doing. Find a factory remanufactured transmission and put that in. My as well also change the water pump as well if it wasn't serviced before. Those are internally driven and the engine needs to come out anyways. The last thing you need is to fix the transmission and then blow the engine because the water pump failed.
Definitely leave it to a pro if you don't know what you're doing.
Agree 100%.
When I did it, a pro that I know advised me that I was crazy to try doing a job like that in my driveway with the car on jackstands. I found out the hard way that he was right! But I'd done enough trans swaps or removals to do clutches on rear-drive cars over the years and figured "how hard could it be?"
Well, I quickly found out, but after getting into it there was really no choice but to see the project through. Although I was successful and the $200 junkyard transmission worked great - as I said I will never attempt doing anything like that ever again. Next time either I'd pay someone or the car is scrap.
Having never swapped transmissions before, my '79 Pontiac would be ideal for a first timer if it ever went out. There's no electronic crap that has to be removed, first. The throttle cable needs to be removed, the drive shaft needs taken away, unbolt it from the flywheel, get a transmission lift, unbolt the tranny mounts and it should be done, lol. There may be a little more to it than that, but I'm sure that's the gist of it. Those FWD transmissions are nightmares. These days, we have CAD to blame because you gotta take half the car apart. Efficiency for engineers doesn't always equal ease of maintenance, lol.
Dropping the trans on a car like that is usually a straightforward unbolting operation. You do need to support the back of the engine with the trans removed. I usually used a floor jack with a piece of plywood under the oil pan for that. Of course you'd want to check the shop manual for specifics.
That's for an open driveline like your Pontiac, if dealing with a torque-tube setup like the bigger Ramblers then things get "interesting".
But it’s somewhat doable? lol
The difficulty level obviously depends on the car but it's a heck of a lot more work than swapping out the trans in an old-school rear-drive vehicle. With an electronically-controlled transmission you may also have the issue of programming to deal with.
Can it even be done without taking the engine out too?
It depends on the design. There have been a lot of different front drive configurations over the years, some even had the transmission living inside the engine sump sharing the engine oil.
However today most cars use a transverse engine layout with the transmission bolted onto the flywheel end of the engine. For those you usually would support the engine from above while the transmission is withdrawn from the bottom or side. Of course the way things tend to be packaged there's a heck of a lot of stuff that needs to be dismantled and moved out of the way. Also the front subframe typically would need to be dropped which involves at least partially taking apart the front suspension. On an older rust-belt vehicle corroded fasteners add to the excitement. Lots of fun!
“On an older rust-belt vehicle corroded fasteners add to the excitement. Lots of fun!“
Luckily I live in California. It’s only been to az for auction which then sold it right back to ca
"There's a hole in the casing." by @bobthehatking
Got me to thinking if there was some way to just repair the hole, of course depending on the size and location. Would something like the repair demonstrated in the following video work?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCee6QH9uFs&t=24s
Interesting… sounds kinda sketchy tho
And of course it’s a BMW 🤣
ouch ... FWD transmission . Sounds like a nightmare.
Can it even be done without taking the engine out too?
Does the car still work? Does the transmission still work? Is it leaking
There’s a hole in the casing
scraped the transmission
If it's just scratches on the case, it might be good.
As far as I'm aware the valve body / pan on these is not on the bottom on these.
Anyhow, if the case is damaged, consider buying a used transmission with a warranty.
It shouldn't be too expensive, make sure that the used transmission functions well before the end of the warranty (low rpm shifts, high rpm shifts, temperatures, etc.)
Has anyone ever done a diy transmission swap, specifically a fwd transmission?
Yea, I've also done it professionally a lot of years ago before collage.
Basically, if you're asking "How hard is..." then consider finding a pro.
I do not know about the states, but we have similar labour costs, and the last few times I needed to get a tranny out and put it back in - it was around $200. You need to talk, negotiate and see how cheaply you can get it done.
It's not hard if you have a good lift, a vertical jack, and all the tools.
The least you want to have is an engine jack (to try and pull out it and the engine together)
Without that, it's going to be physically demanding or require major disassembly.
I can not say anything concrete on the matter since I'm not familiar with Ford D3 platform cars.
I was quoted $1200 for a used transmission. I’ll call a few other shops though.
It's a bit high, I think you can go lower - I agree that it's worth trying other shops.
I also recommend talking with them about price instead of just accepting the quote - it's not a retail product with an MSRP and they're not a store they're a junkyard, they do have lots of leniency in the pricing.
Similarly try to see what kind of warranty they can offer you.
Follow up related question. I just googled 2009 Ford Taurus undercarriage to see what the transmission might look like:
It looks like there are two big components with the exhaust pipe. This might be a dumb question.
What is the left component that is more rectangular? What is the right component?
I was thinking it was the transmission (left) mated to the engine (right) but it just doesn’t look correct to me. As the engine appears to be more forward, because of the exhaust. Mind you I am not a mechanic, just a guy trying to learn.
see the bright white oil filter? that's the engine.
See the shiny CV axle in line with the wheel? It plugs into to the transmission.
It also looks like you'd have to drop the black subframe to get at the transmission. That would mean removing the suspension and exhaust, and suspending the engine from a cherry picker like Chuck said.
Got it. Thank you! I was so confused because of the exhaust looking like it comes further from the front of the car, implying the rear of the engine. Obviously that is not the case.
But now I am thinking the exhaust just comes out the front of the engine in this particular design. It makes total sense now! Thanks again!
this is probably a V6. One exhaust pipe for each bank. One at the front and one at the rear.
Yes. 2009 Taurus had the 3.5 duratec v6. Engine (oil pan) on the left, trans on the right
“see the bright white oil filter? that's the engine.“ I guess if you don’t look closely it just looks like a white void that leads you to the other end of the universe 🤣
Related question: since the casing is cracked, would it be possible to rebuild it by gutting it and putting all the parts into a different casing? Not saying I would do it myself, that’s definitely beyond my knowledge and capabilities but I am wondering.