anybody have experience working with FWD cars?

[fiznat]

well the synchros in my Father's 94 Saturn SL finally wore down to the point where it grinds every time you go into 3rd gear. The shop told him that it's a $1500 job to pull the transmission out (which I guess requires also pulling the engine?) and either fix it or replace it. Now, $1500 is more than the entire CAR is worth, so that is obviously not an option... but I looked on car-part.com, and there are plenty of trannies for under $200, I'm thinking maybe I can do this myself. I wanted to see though if anybody has had any experience with FWD cars, and knows wether it's a real pain or not to get to the transmission and all that. Is this something you think I can handle with moderate mechanical experience, or is it a job best left to the pros?

[SmallBrownSilvia]

Getting the transmission out is quite a bit of work, but not impossible. I helped a friend remove a transmission from an AWD Talon, it took the good part of a day. I don't know anything about Saturns, you'll definately need a shop manual.

[Adikt]

gettin it out is not nearly as fun as trying to put that mofo back in

[jacob360]

Unless you have access to an engine support brace, a lift and a transmission jack, it's probably too much of a pain. I've never done a Saturn though. I would be willing to pull a RWD transmission with the car on jackstands, but the FWD ones I've done, I've found it neccessary to have the room to work with the car in the air.

Its probably more trouble than its worth, but you could pull the bumper/grill off and pull the engine and transmission together out the front.

[Altiman94]

you dont have to pull the engine out, just lift it off its mounts. some 2 by 4's and chains will support the engine off its mounts. You could theoretically do it without a lift, but a lift always makes transmission pulling easier, whether it be fwd, rwd or awd

[BuudWeizErr]

Contact Ian @ http://www.qksltwo.com