96 Riv with a 4T65 transmission

The skinny here is doing the swap from the 96 4T60 to the more easily moddable 4T65. And in Oldsmans' case..from a dead trans to a working trans.

I arrived in NYC yesterday and Enriques car with dead transmission went under the knife about 7pm. Three lunatics worked through the night to swap transmissions, swap pcm's to a 97 and rewire the necessary transmission wiring.

Thanks go out to TType Riviera for wiring diagrams, Corey for some general info...Bonnie buddys, Aaron and Mike. Aaron did the swap in the past on his car and Mike hit the 97 FSM's for a wire that wasn't in the 97 Riviera PCM connector listing. The help from them was invaluable.

The happy report is our only hang up when trying to turn the key was the car not starting due to it not seeing itself as being in park. There is a metal piece that sits on top and operates via the shifter cable. Between the shifter cable bracket and that piece.. the car thought it was in reverse and wouldn't start. Some quick diagnosing and it was rolling through the shift pattern.

Enrique is finishing up the fix up.

More to come with pictures from him.

edit.. Enrique is done and the car starts correctly. Test drive soon to come.
PS..hey Corey.... your gear selector armature is from a 4T60

Nice....

Can you do a write-up?

ok nice to hear

Gonna let Oldsman do the write up as soon as we can get him away from the car. He didn't have 3rd gear or a supercharger belt for quite some time.

BillBoost37 wrote:

Gonna let Oldsman do the write up as soon as we can get him away from the car. He didn't have 3rd gear or a supercharger belt for quite some time.

I didn't know Oldsman was Amish!

Nice Job guys!!!!!!!!!!!! glad i could help... thos damn range selectors suck though, did you have to ohm it to the right spot??

TType_Riviera wrote:

Nice Job guys!!!!!!!!!!!! glad i could help... thos damn range selectors suck though, did you have to ohm it to the right spot??

No we just used the one from the 96 4t60.

No, the range selector switch actually has a dot on the inner ring that lines up with a line on the switch.

But the selector actuator (little armature) was the issue.

We nabbed a picture of the dot and line on the PNP that need to line up.

Congrats! looking foward to the writeup.

Albertj

All the road tests were successful and overall this swap was easy.

Things we had on hand that made it easy were:
PCM and trans pinouts for both years
The new trans year pcm and trans connectors with some wiring.
The axles were researched for inboard and outboard splines as well as length (rockauto is great for this)
Some extra wire, soldering iron and electrical tape.

Things we found along the way.
I don't have good memory skills and got the wrong side axle from the JY for cheap.
The trans armature that is moved by the cable for gear selection depends on the vehicle.
Three guys in a super clean shop can lose a subframe washer.
The trans shop that put the last rebuild in didn't replace the backwards bolt. (Behind engine. Unlike the rest of the bolts that go in from the trans to engine, this one goes into the engine first and holds to the trans.)

Overall I'd rate the project pretty easy from a technical standpoint. Mechanically it's the same as changing a transmission. Using Deekster Caddy's writeup it's a snap.

As long as we follow the proper steps and do things carefully. Next time we need to swap trans, I believe we may be able to do this by our selfs!

As long as we can call Bill when we scrwe uo or forget something!

Hmm found this posted on another forum I'm on. Wonder if Olds is ok with it being posted here.

oldsman105 wrote:

Dropping the subframe and putting it to the side, By hanging it off by one ball joint. (Derek..this is the way....Bill)

Picture of Bill

Transmission Removed and old connector in the picture

My TC which sounds like a Maracka

My old Transmission Removed ( fluid is not thee nicest looking)

what are we doing?

Failing at repairing my rear mount

Driver side mount is diffrent. Small modification.


All hooked up ( We were required to add 6 more wires to the harness)

Fire up after Bill nailed down a Nuetral safety switch issue


Running!


Temps stayed at about 180-190 degrees depending on driving.

This will do . I will attempt to make a writeup.

I was getiing to it. I got send out on a errand at work.

Just busting your chops....

How's it running?

BillBoost37 wrote:

Just busting your chops....

How's it running?

Like a champ. Will be ordering my Shift kit next before I grow to accustomed to the luxury shifts its making now.

Aaron.. can you coach us on DHP shift times and tables?