OT Pontiac TranSport Engine

BIL has a '97 TranSport and the pistons hit the valves. Since he dosen't have much money, I told him I would help swap engines. Never again!!!!!

Everything is connected to something else and you have to pull three things just to see the one bolt you must take out, much less get a wrench on it.

Dropped the engine/transaxle out the bottom. It worked fairly well, using my pallet jack to support the assembly and then jack the front up to allow it to roll out the front.

Did I say never again?

Now the joy of going back together.

I have a stated policy, I do NOT work under the hood of a minivan. Same drive train in a car, I'll work on it. In a minivan, forget it.

We had a '97 TransSport once. I finally got tired of trying to keep ahead of all the coolant leaks on that no-account 3.4 engine. I bought a Chrysler T&C and sold the Pontiac on a consignment auction.

Truth be told, I liked the way that Pontiac drove a whole lot better then this Chrysler, mainly 'cause I'm tall and the Pontiac had more leg room. But, my wife drives the Chrysler 99% of the time anyway, so as long as it suits her it's OK.

(quoted from post at 00:15:12 12/28/10) BIL has a '97 TranSport and the pistons hit the valves. Since he dosen't have much money, I told him I would help swap engines. Never again!!!!!

Everything is connected to something else and you have to pull three things just to see the one bolt you must take out, much less get a wrench on it.

Dropped the engine/transaxle out the bottom. It worked fairly well, using my pallet jack to support the assembly and then jack the front up to allow it to roll out the front.

Did I say never again?

Now the joy of going back together.

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Nuttin to it EZ money,,, (That is if you have a lift) I will take a engine that comes out the bottom anytime over one that comes out the top... I made this stand zackly for this type of work...

Toyota

Dropped the engine cradle out of an STS I bought needing head gaskets. No lift. wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. Sure easy to work on the engine once it's out.

That's pretty slick Hobo. Do I see casters on all corners?

(quoted from post at 00:35:01 12/28/10) I have a stated policy, I do NOT work under the hood of a minivan. Same drive train in a car, I'll work on it. In a minivan, forget it.

We had a '97 TransSport once. I finally got tired of trying to keep ahead of all the coolant leaks on that no-account 3.4 engine. I bought a Chrysler T&C and sold the Pontiac on a consignment auction.

Truth be told, I liked the way that Pontiac drove a whole lot better then this Chrysler, mainly 'cause I'm tall and the Pontiac had more leg room. But, my wife drives the Chrysler 99% of the time anyway, so as long as it suits her it's OK.

Click to expand...

Chrysler is the way to go mini van wise ,, NO other manufacture can compete with them... I work on'em all,,, I prefer a Chrysler van,,, have owned 2,,, wife now wants a car,,, no need for the van anymore,,, a Honda Accord is what it will B with a 5 speed if I can find one...

I got some better pix with a Cat north-star engine on the cart but can not lay my hands on them... I will admit I found a similar deal advertised in a mag and copied it....

Its adjustable up/down and length wise ,,, once you chain all four corners down the cradle taint going no were,,, you can roll it anywhere needed,,, put a jack on top of the cross brace and remove just the engine are trans...

I called the guy that was sell'n them and told him how good my copy worked,,, he said he got $700 for his,,, that's not a bad price...

I have accumulated better casters and some acme rod to make a better one but have not got around to it... I used 2" square tubing, a couple trailer hitch receivers, some treaded rod, chain and turn buckles,, and a good Sundays work... I had removed the engine/trans from a cat/deville and it was set'n on jack stands (like in the pix) ,,, I had to replace the engine,,, no way I was gonna lay under it set'n on jack stands so I got the add out and rolled my own...

The toy in the pix I had to replace the trans,,, jacked the trans up the engine stayed in the cradle,,, made the swap in less than 8 hr.,,, paid 14,,, the cat engine swap paid 20 hr. (insurance job) did it in less than 13 hr.

Its rare to beat the book the first go round,, that stand is the hot tip and worth the price... The stand was originally made to do the engine/trans on camaro's but looked like the real deal for FWD stuff to me... That's why I called him to tell'em it worked on FWD's damm good..

Tech working next to me did a twin turbo stealth that way. Unbolted everything ,raised the car did a timing belt/water pump. Then lowered it. He did it while sitting on a chair. Gerard

Chrysler is the way to go mini van wise

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Yeah, they made em so the warranty replacement of the transmission is easy to do.

My boss had a 2005 Grand Caravan that he bought for his wife. She's a stay at home mom and the vehicle saw limited use except on long trips (no daily commute - sat in the garage on bad weather days). When he attempted to trade it last spring the most the Dodge dealership would offer is $1500 on a vehicle with 88K on it. I thought it was a great deal until I looked at it, rusted through on both back fenders (common for the that year) loose transmission that sometimes shifted into OD, and a sterring system that groaned when you turned left.... He had spent over $2000 in repairs in 2010 alone and was looking at $3000 more. He gave it to charity and took it as a tax deduction.

(quoted from post at 20:16:23 12/28/10) Chrysler is the way to go mini van wise

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Yeah, they made em so the warranty replacement of the transmission is easy to do.

My boss had a 2005 Grand Caravan that he bought for his wife. She's a stay at home mom and the vehicle saw limited use except on long trips (no daily commute - sat in the garage on bad weather days). When he attempted to trade it last spring the most the Dodge dealership would offer is $1500 on a vehicle with 88K on it. I thought it was a great deal until I looked at it, rusted through on both back fenders (common for the that year) loose transmission that sometimes shifted into OD, and a sterring system that groaned when you turned left.... He had spent over $2000 in repairs in 2010 alone and was looking at $3000 more. He gave it to charity and took it as a tax deduction.

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Just the way I like'em,,,I bet it has the smell of many a happy meal,,,, buy it cheap,,, spend 1K on it and drive it 10 years.. You know 17,600 a year is a tad more than limited use,,, looks to me they drove the wheels of it...

25,000 got'em 88K,,, spend $3000 and I spec he could drive it a nutter 88K,, are folks that stuck on get'n a new payment book...

Don't know about the rust,,, its not a issue here...YET