We had the transmission in our Buick Terraza overhauled with 196,000 miles on it. The van had about 250,000 miles on it and we took it on vacation this summer when lo and behold, we were left stranded 800 miles from home when the transmission went out. We managed to make it home and eventually got the van home when my wife asked…what are you going to do with it? To which I responded, I am going to replace it myself with a transmission that has a better than 12 mo, 12,000 mile warranty. Long story short, I bought a rebuilt Jasper transmission which comes with a 3 year, 100,000 mile warranty. When I was taking the transmission out though, I noticed that the brace that attaches the transmission to the right rear side of the engine was loose. There are 3 bolts that hold the brace to the engine and all three had bottomed out in the engine block. Me question…is this right…or did the previous garage that overhauled the transmission use bolts that were too long…or maybe they need a washer under them. With them being loose, there is some sloppiness to the bracket so I didn’t know if it was designed that way to account for any variances in the transmission housing.
If they were loose then the they shifted around and made the holes bigger. The easiest thing to do is go to a junkyard and get the bracket and all the hardware.
The mechanic installing the transmission likely used the shorter bolts in the spot intended for longer ones and the longer ones in the brace so they bottomed before the brace was tightened.
He knew this as soon as he did it but was too lazy to fix it correctly. I’ve done this while working on cars, It is easy to do but it should be fixed correctly. Make sure the brace’s holes aren’t ovaled out and just buy shorted bolts - of the correct strength - match the number on the head, 10.9, 9.8, whatever, of get on from the junkyard like @knfenimore suggests.
Loose bolts wouldn’t be designed that way to accommodate dimensional variances or normally expected inertial-force movements. That would be accommodated in the vehicle design by mounts made with rubber or plastic of some kind which give a little. Pay some attention to that area, as the lack of support could have damaged other parts of the engine or support structure. Look for stress cracking, etc. You need to make sure all the parts which support the engine and transmission will continue to do so, otherwise you risk damaging your new transmission.
Thank you for the comments guys…I made a trip to my local U-Pick-A-Part, was fortunate to find another 2005 Buick Terraza, and removed the brace bolts to verify. Just as you all indicated, the previous transmission was installed with the incorrect bolts. I found the right bolts in my hardware, they had been used to install a bracket that goes around the rear subframe bolts, verified they weren’t damaged or the brace was not damaged and correctly installed them. Thanks again guys.
Thanks for posting back. This reminds me on my Ford truck w/302 V8, replacing the water pump. I think there are like 9 bolts which hold it on, and almost every one of them is a different length … lol … I make up this sheet of cardboard with the outline of the pump, with holes in it at the appx hole location in the pump, and place the bolts in those holes as I remove them.
Well that’s how I did it the second and every time after. The first time … well … I won’t go into that … too much swearing … lol .