Well, the parts came yesterday.

However, I got the stomach bug that had been through 5 other family members the past week.

I was still able to get the 4 solenoids replaced in the valve body. It took all of a few minutes.

The only part left to replace is the large pressure switch, which has to be unbolted. Then it's reassembly time.

It hasn't leaked, but I am thinking I should replace the axle seal since the cover is off.

Also, the service manual recommends erasing the Transmission Adaptive Parameters that it has learned so it can relearn the new parts. This has to be done using the scan tool I don't have so I may have to take it somewhere after I am finished.

Steve

Steve
If your loose (you know what I mean) do to the flu, eat scrambled eggs and rice, it will bind you up. Hope you are starting to feel better.
Richie

Yes, that's the main symptom I am having. It has improved quite a bit thankfully.

Here is a picture showing what's what concerning the electrical parts:


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...1a7b5a2065.jpg

The 2-3 Shift Solenoid that I removed showed about 4 ohms instead of the required range of 19-31 ohms. This means it was drawing at least 5 times the normal current, which resulted in the plastic surrounding the coil melting.

Steve

FastSuv, great thread, feel better and keep posting the terrific and informative information.

Yesterday I was close to feeling normal, so I went back to reassembly.

This is what I did:

1) Put side cover back on trans.
2) Raised trans until I bolted the side mount back on. Note the side mount actually attaches to the cover, not the trans body.
3) Raised the subframe until the front and rear trans mounts lined up and bolted them back on. While raising subframe you must align and attach steering shaft, and make sure radiator locating pegs go into rubber grommets in subframe.
4) Dropped the trans bottom pan to change the filter. A messy job because pan shape makes it larger than any drain pan I had. I used donbrews idea(in an old trans fluid thread) about using a mortar mixing pan, which I had).
5) Put in new filter, gasket, and reattached pan. The fluid was somewhat dark, but not burnt. There were no particles in the pan. There was only a bit of fine powder on the magnet. This trans has 200K miles on it. I was skeptical of GM's recommendation to not change the fluid regularly (except for extreme conditions) but this seems to vindicate them.

This weekend I hope to finish assembly and fill the trans. I also took more pictures for a how-to.

I wanted to change the axle seal, but the AT (unlike my 5-speed) doesn't seal to the axle. There is a pressed-on cup on the output shaft that the seal presses against. This requires a special tool to remove and put on, so I skipped replacing it. It can be done with the tool without removing the cover, so I can do it another time if it leaks.

The only question mark, when everything is assembled, is the transmission adaptive data erase. This will have to be done by a garage with the proper tool. I wonder how it will drive with the old adaptive data?

Steve

Here's some more pictures:

Front Trans Mount disconnected at through-bolt:


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...d400436178.jpg

Rear Trans Mount disconnected at 3 bolts that go through the subframe:


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...e4e35ead50.jpg

This is what the side cover looks like inside:


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...a8ebf6485e.jpg

Here are pictures during reassembly:

As you jack up the subframe here are some points to watch out for:

Make sure the plastic peg sticking down from the radiator is going inside the rubber bushing in the subframe:


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...aab2177785.jpg

As the subframe goes up, make sure the steering shaft slides into the rack shaft:


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...9c4df4953f.jpg

In general, make sure no wires/hoses/parts are getting pinched as you raise the subframe back up.

When you jack the transmission up, look for alignment at the left transmission mount (the one just above the driver side wheel well):


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...0721e65976.jpg

After that, hook up the two other trans mounts.

After the subframe was raised up fully and bolted back (with the transmission attached to it) I dropped the bottom pan and changed the filter.

Here are a couple of pictures:

Inside of bottom pan:

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...3207daee27.jpg


Inside of trans with bottom pan removed, looking up into trans:


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...635fa237ea.jpg

Well, I put everything else back together this morning and added the 7 quarts of NAPA Dexron VI fluid.

Took it for a test drive a few minutes ago and everything is working fine. No codes and the tranny is shifting nicely.

Steve

After driving the car around a while, the shifts seem pretty normal. The service manual calls for erasing the transmission adaptive parameters so new ones can be generated, but I am in no hurry to do that right now. maybe I will take it to a garage with the tool and ask them to erase the parameters when I have a chance.

Steve

Hey Steve, great thread/post, thank you for following up with the Road test also. very informative. I might give this a try in the spring because of your thread/post.

It was pretty easy in terms of repairs to the engine and trans. Just time-consuming to disconnect and move all the stuff around. After doing it once I could probably do it in half the time now (hopefully won't need to!).

I will put together a how-to on it as soon as I have some time.

Steve

Hi Steve Im probably going to try this on my 08 HHR it has codes PO700 & PO977 any suggestions on the best way to do this? im a little giddy on this i didn't see what you finally did on the PNP switch did you need the PNP alignment tool? or were you able to do this without it? i have jack stands and a hydro jack is that good enough? is the bolts hard to get at on the mounts?i know it looks like you gotta move the fuse block, computer ,etc out of the way after that are things a little easier to get at? any more info on this would greatly be appreciated thanks Roger

I think you can do this with jackstands and a hydraulic jack. Jackstands to hold the front end up as high as possible, and the jack to lower the transmission down. Remove the entire driver side suspension as one piece to make access easier (3 bolts at top of strut, tie rod, sway bar link, and lower control arm bolts). Most of thee underhood stuff was moved for access to the PNP switch from above. I did not use an alignment tool, I could see the original position of the bolts by the mark they left in the slots on the switch. Otherwise, I read a good idea for PNP alignment on a Volvo forum. Put the car in reverse and rotate the PNP switch in both directions until the backup lights go out. Then put the switch halfway between the two light-out spots. Bolts are all pretty easy to access. Nothing is particularly hard or too tricky, just long and tedious to remove and reinstall everything.

If you have any more questions, let me know and I will try to help.

Steve

Gonna try and tackle it this week/end so i hope its easy enough do you recommend new seals/cover gasket? , and all the solenoids? i have the 1-2,2-3 already but not any of the others that are shown i don't see codes for those so think i should do them also? thanks

I would recommend at least a new gasket for the transmission side cover. Its a formed rubber gasket with a metal core and it presses into a slot around the perimeter of the cover. No sealer needed.

I replaced the 1-2 solenoid, 2-3 solenoid, TCC solenoid, pressure control solenoid, and the pressure switch. Altogether about $100. I did it because I had it apart and didn't want to do the job again. This HHR had over 200K miles. If yours has much less, probably OK to leave the others alone. Actually I am having an intermittent MIL light which seems to indicate an intermittent pressure switch. Maybe I should have left the original one in!

Don't forget the new fluid. Its a synthetic fluid that costs about $9/quart if I remember correctly. I also dropped the bottom pan and replaced the filter and fluid while I was at it. I think I added about 6 or 7 quarts. Removing only the side cover will probably only need about 3 quarts or so. BTW, even after 200K+ miles, the transmission fluid still looked very good. So there probably is something to GM saying no fluid replacement needed under most conditions.

Steve

Hi Steve Me again i got the half shaft out was a pain my dad had the great i idea of yanking on the half shaft end with a Chinese tow strap not the way to do it bad idea dislocated the cv shaft not the axle so kids don't try yanking on the half shaft to get the axle out (use a pry bar instead) i was able to relocate the cv shaft by feel so i think theirs no damage to that. As for pnp do i just unbolt it and set it aside or you got to unhook the cable also? then just re bolt it before final assembly? I sill gotta remove the strut ,did you have to replace the sway bar links? i had a ***** of a time removing mine i had to use a vice grip on the back side cause the bolt kept turning so it ruined the boot on the back of the sway link so ill have to put a pair on now the top was shot any way. When the half shaft pulled out i didn't loose any fluid so i hope there is still fluid in the case i unscrewed a lower bolt to try and drain some fluid out before i have to pull the side cover but none came out makes me a little worried this car has never showed any signs of leakage from the trans so i hope the trans isn't toast. what area did you loosen up on the passenger side the lower control arm bolts?. So basically after all is disconnected i am jacking the motor up just enough to get to the bolts and remove the cover that what you mean by dropping the sub frame ? Thanks again Steve Roger

I unhooked the connector tot he PNP switch and removed the switch. There probably isn't any reason you couldn't keep it connected and set it aside if you like.

My sway bar links were Moog replacements that had the wrench flats on the ball side so they wont rotate when removing, so mine were easy to remove. Otherwise, without the wrench flats, they just rotate and you damage them removing them.

Before loosening up the subframe bolts, I disconnected the front and rear engine mounts that connect to the subframe by removing the 3 bolts at each mount that go through the subframe. Then I placed an adjustable jack stand under the transmission pan (with a piece of plywood on top of it to spread the load) so I could lower the transmission a few inches once I got the subframe lowered.

On the passenger side I loosened up the two subframe bolts (one also goes through the rear control arm bushing). Then I removed the two subframe bolts from the driver's side, which dropped the subframe about 4 inches on the driver side, allowing access to the bottom transmission side cover bolts.

I wouldn't worry about no fluid coming out when you removed a lower bolt. The gasket seal on the cover is very good, so removing just one bolt may not have opened the seal.

Steve

Just to make it more clear, there are 2 issues that keep you from removing the transmission side cover as the trans and subframe sit in normal operation:

1) The trans side cover goes about 2" above the top of the opening below the inner fender. By dropping the trans 2-3", you now can pull the side cover straight off without interference from the top.

2) The subframe covers the lower trans side cover bolts and also blocks the lower 2-3" of the side cover. There is probably room to reach behind the subframe and undo the bolts, but the subframe will still prevent you from pulling the cover straight off. Since you dropped the trans 2-3" to clear the top of the cover, you now need to drop the subframe 2-3" to clear the bottom. Since you already dropped the trans 2-3", now you need to drop the subframe about 5-6" from its original position since the trans is now 2-3" lower from its stock position.

Could you just drop the trans and subframe together about 2-3" without unbolting the two engine mounts from the subframe? Maybe, but I haven't tried. The side cover is not flat, I think it's about 2" thick to clear the transmission internal parts. That means you can't just unbolt it and slide it sideways and finagle it around until you can tilt it out the opening. Also I didn't want to bang the cover around trying to get it back on for fear of dislodging dirt from somewhere and having it fall into the cover. By using the method I used to drop trans and subframe independently, you can just pull the cover straight off.

Steve

Well i hope i didn't screw up from what i saw on your previous posts that i was to remove the sub frame bolts on the driver side which i did but have not removed the motor mounts yet or loosened up the passenger side sub frame bolts did not know it would be safe to do the motor mounts till it was jacked up i was under the assumption there would be weight on the trans thus i was worried it would drop when loosened when i took the motor mounts out. Do you leave the passenger side motor mount bolted then ? i believe there is one under the washer bottle. Did i miss any bolts on the drivers side sub frame? or there just 3?. So since i for the most part disconnected the whole drivers side sub frame as i see it do have to reconnect it to unbolt the trans bolts and motor mounts? sorry ive never done something like this before i'm real close to getting this done im taking more time than i or you might like im just to paranoid i guess hehe. that and the weather been brutal 90-98 degrees out side thanks Steve Roger

I left the passenger side motor mount bolted on. The passenger side of the engine/transmission assembly does not lower at all, only the driver side (where the transmission is located) gets tilted down.

There are 4 engine/transmission mounts. One on the upper passenger side, a front one bolted to the front of the subframe, a rear one bolted to the rear of the subframe, and one bolted to the top of the transmission on the driver side inner fender.

There are 2 bolts on the driver side and 2 bolts on the passenger side holding the subframe to the car.

When you removed the driver side subframe bolts, did the subframe drop down at all? I am guessing it didn't because the transmission mount on the driver side was still bolted on and it was holding everything up.

You need to place a jack (with a board on it to distribute the weight) under the transmission pan to keep the trans from dropping. Then unbolt the front and rear engine mounts from the subframe (keep the engine mount connected to the engine).
Finally, unbolt the driver side transmission mount from the transmission (I think there are 3 bolts facing downward that go into the transmission). Then the driver side of the subframe will no longer be held up by anything and it should drop down a few inches. I backed off the passenger side subframe bolts (2 of them facing upward) to allow the driver side to drop farther without stressing the passenger side bolts (there would be a bending force on them otherwise). Then you can lower the transmission as needed using the jack under the pan.

Steve

its me again i had a hard time getting the sub-frame to drop and it did but not enough then the cover was stuck wouldn't come loose finaly got it loose now cant get the trans cover out jacked it dropped it down loosened up passenger sub bolts still wont drop any further how far did you loosen the passenger sub bolts

Can you post a picture of how it looks now?

Steve

Let's keep the conversation in 1 thread.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...8d24614acc.jpg
sub frame
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...925ae6f1bc.jpg
front
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...50aeabec97.jpg
opening not enough clearance

i can take pictures of the other side passenger the bolts are loose but didnt seem to help dropping driver side those bolts are loose but not nearly as loose as drivers side

Did you remove the steering shaft bolt at the top of the rack and slide out the joint?

If not you need to do it, but first mark the position of both sides of the joint for reassembly.

Steve

Yes i removed the bolt completely i think in the first picture you can see its gone it doesn't come off the shaft by it self with the bolt removed when you jack the trans up? i got the cover off but it was a real hard to get off im real concerned about getting it back in i'll get- back with ya when i work on it some more monday

On my HHR, the steering shaft joint did not pull apart by itself when the bolt was removed. There was enough corrosion to keep it tightly together. I used a long rod and hammer from below to tap the bottom edge of the upper part of the joint (the intermediate shaft end) to drive it out. Once it starts moving it should slide apart OK.

Steve

You think that's causing the sub-frame problem? i turned the steering slightly on the passenger side so i hope that didn't change the shaft position and no i didn't mark the shaft before that was turned. i'm not sure if the shaft ever came out of the sleeve completely i think it moved up and down but since i didnt mark it will it fall back in place? looks like theirs a flat part on the staft

If the shaft is stuck in the joint, the subframe won't drop far enough.

There is a flat on the shaft, but if I remember correctly there were two flats 180 degrees apart, so you could put it back 180 degrees out, but if you didn't pull the shaft out, it can't rotate within the joint until the joint is almost fully apart.

Steve

One other possibility, I don't remember if I did or not. The sway bar is connected to the subframe with bushings in 2 places. I know you disconnected the sway bar link at the driver side strut, but you may have to disconnect it at the passenger side also. I don't know if the sway bar being connected at the passenger side would hold up the subframe. You might try disconnecting the sway bar link on the passenger side.

One other VERY important point. The radiator sits on top of the subframe. There are 2 plastic pegs molded into the bottom of the radiator which fit into two rubber grommets in the subframe. I used a bungee cord to hold the radiator to the upper bracket on top of the radiator to keep the radiator from falling down before dropping the subframe fully. When you reassemble everything, make sure the two radiator pegs are going into the holes in the subframe or you will break it off.

Steve

i have both sway links unhooked

Besides the four bolts holding the subframe to the car, the only items bolted to the subframe are:

1) Front lower control arm bushing (both sides) - only need to remove on driver side
2) Sway bar bushings (2 places) - since you disconnected the links at both sides, this should be free to drop
3) Steering Rack - need to disconnect at intermediate shaft to steering rack input joint
4) Front lower engine mount Behind radiator)
5) Rear lower engine mount (steering rack area)

If all of these are removed, then it must be the steering shaft connection to the steering rack.

Steve

Changed 4 solenoids car wont shift out of 1st now
 

Hey Steve my 06 HHR was doing and coding same as yours. I had a mechanic change all 4 SOLENOIDS and after putting it all back together the car now won't shift out of first gear. Now the codes are reading the other 3 solenoids that didn't need replacing before. The one that coded originally is not coding but the other 3 are PLEASE HELP. I'm at my wit's end with this car. My son's college car and back to school is Saturday.

It likely would be much better to keep the details of your transmission problems to a SINGLE thread. Perhaps ask Steve to check into your other transmission thread to see if he can offer some suggestions.

Also - you mention codes 4 times, yet you did not once mention what those codes are.
You being an IT person of all people should now that the codes are absolutely necessary - just like IT related error messages and codes are needed to resolve IT problems.

Oh never mind - just continue posting what you like - I JUST saw your comments in your original transmission thread to Don who was really really trying to help you out.

I think your son is going to be taking the bus.

Shift solenoid question
 

Hello all, I am finally joining the site after reading it for some time now. This is an epic thread and certainly deserved becoming a sticky. I have just completed this on my 2011. Much like the last guy (his issue, not attitude ;) ) I have a transmission that wants to go forward in all shift positions. It shifted fine before repair. I had the P0700 and P0842 combo plate. I decided to replace the pressure switch manifold, pressure control solenoid, and both shift solenoids. I also replaced the trans pan and filter. My question is; does anyone think I may have reversed the plugs between the two solenoids? I have checked all of my external connections and fluid level. Any input would be greatly appreciated.