94 Eldorado with the dreaded P094 code.

[ezobens]

I have been scanning thru the archives and it appears that replacing the two shift solenoids on these things should be relatively easy.

My question is:

Can these be replaced on a 94' Eldorado with the 4.6 NorthStar WITHOUT dropping the trans from the car?

I have the factory Helm manuals and to me it appears that these solenoids are under the side cover- Not the bottom cover, which would lead me to believe the trans needs to be dropped?

I wish these manuals had actual photos of the components like they did in the old days, I just can't make heads or tails of these cheezy sketch drawings they have now.

Can anyone clarify what exactly is involved here?

If I can do it with the trans in the car and just dropping the lower pan, fine- But if I need to yank the trans out, the car goes in the river ;-)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Elm.

[PAUL T]

Shift solenoids are under the bottom pan. If you remove it they are in sight. The bottom of the valve body has to be removed to get to them. It is a fairly easy job, but very messy, and if the check balls and springs get loose you could create more problems. There is a detailed removal, with pictures, in the archives on this if I recall. Maybe someone will chime in with the link. I found a reputable tranny shop to do mine for $75.00 labor. Do not expect to find someone to do it that cheap. Dealer wants about $250-350, if you can keep them from convincing you that something else is wrong. Check with a reputable tranny shop in your area that works on the 4T80E tranny. It takes about 1 to 1-1/2 hours to do. Good Luck!!

[PAUL T]

I found this by Willie Hank:

If its shift solenoids, here's the A to Z...

a) the job is a mess, be prepared.

drop the pan, and careful removing the tranny gasket, it is re-usable. Once you clean the pan, you can reset it with gasket sealer.

c) disconnect the solenoid electrical connectors and the mechanical linkage. The linkage has a metal clip you lift and slide.

d) remove the valve body screws, and drop the valve body.

e) place the valve body where you can afford a mess, it will continually leak. Best thing is to set it on cardboard on a bench. There is a valve spool that can be removed as well, careful it can slip out, you don't want to damage it.

f) remove the two clips holding the solenoids, careful they are spring-loaded and will fly

g) remove the screws holding the "large" portion of the valve body split, this is where the solenoids are incased. Remember the screw locations, there are about four different screw lengths

h) CAREFULLY remove split, there are 4 steel check balls loose inside the split (about 1/4" diameter, they will fly, as well)

i) inspect spacer plate, if the black coating is not chipping off you can re-use it, otherwise plan on spending another $ 70 at the dealership parts house. If you replace it you will have to remove the "smaller" split, as well. It also has three check balls.

j) replace the solenoids

k) now comes the fun,....you will note three holes in the spacer plate where three of the check balls reside, seat them there (appr. 3/16" diameter with a smaller relief hole next to it, as I remember). The fourth check ball will need to be inserted in a spherically-cast cavity which is near one the solenoids. You can set it with grease, I re-assembled successfully without using grease.

l) re-assemble valve body, carefully and equally torque.

m) you will note a square black plastic item near one of the solenoids, on the end. Replace this plastic filter with the new filter in the solenoid kit. The kit will also come with an L-shaped bracket that is to be used to "capture" this filter and keep it from backing out. The kit also comes with a slightly longer screw used to mount the bracket to the valve body (discard the old screw).

m) re-assemble valve body to transmission, hook up linkage and electrical connectors

n) replace both tranny filters

o) replenish fluid

p) reset codes

I am told there is a screw on the side of the tranny for also draining the torque converter, I did not know this at the time and did not perform this. There should be something in the Caddyinfo.com archives about this, recently.