fastsuv

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

Oldblue

pbatmen

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.

fastsuv

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

Oldblue

wokbelly

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

fastsuv

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

wokbelly

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

fastsuv

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

wokbelly

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