Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting solenoid and valve body replacement

Before I tare into the auto transmission on my '98 contour (2.0L)-The shop has previously diagnosed some solenoid errors. I am tentatively planning a valve body replacement, shift kit install and solenoid pack replacement. I am assuming these can all be done at the same time. I have also researched and found that bulkparts.com is out of lots of the parts listed by previous posters here on the forum.

Just wanting to make sure I can do all three when my valve body pan/cover is off. Looks like I need to pull my AC condenser, battery and tray, as well as the range selector. I found sporadic info on each individual swap. I have modified manual valve bodies before-and that procedure doesn't scare me-just want to make sure I have all the correct tools before I dig in. Anything special I need or would be good to invest in at this point. I want to have everything together before I rip into this project-and hopefully crank it out in an afternoon.

I was also wondering if it would be worth yanking the components from the local u pull it yard before buying all brand new stuff-or is it everyone's opinion that I should just go new from the beginning. I believe that my previous solenoid failures (posted in the last few days)- Any help is appreciated and I will post some good pictures and steps along with the swap and install to help people in the future.

~TIM~

Man, I don't have too mant tips to pass on to ya. Like you said, there are only a few that I have read here and they are so spread out through different threads. I really need to research a great deal more on here and dig all that stuff our and add it to my site. I guess the most important one would be to make sure you not only replace all your gaskets, but install them correctly. If you put the solenoid block gaskets on wrong, well... it wont work very well.

Either way, I can point you to a location that has decent rebuilt valve bodies at a good price. Check it out here.

Keep me updated on your progress and I will add your stuff to my site, with your permission of course. I would really like to add BT's stuff as well, just haven't gotten around to it.