A4LD transmission swap time. help?

[Nhaz]

Hello peps. I have several questions before i attempt to swap out my a4ld in my 92 4.0 4x4 for the A4LD in my junker 91 4.0 4x4.

I would love replace the tranny with a manual but circumstances have moved the time table up to this weekend. The seal on the torque converter on my tranny is starting to leak rather badly. And the overdrive stopped running about 6 months ago.

The donor trucks a4ld was working fine when I parked it last dec.

I have the PDF for the a4ld from the tech library but reading it without doing it does little for me. besides its 110 pages long. And I am not trying to repair it. Just replace it.

So on to the questions.

Should I replace the front seal on the donor tranny or any other seals that are easy to get to for a guy that knows how to bolt stuff on but not how to rebuild a automatic tranny?

Any tricks for taking the tranny off and putting it on?

What about the transfer case, The PDF does not mention it in the removal instructions for the tranny. Since I know the two are kinda required for 4x4's I am sure I have to take it off and if so are there any tricks for this?

Since the truck is 17 years old are the seals hard to find(if I should replace them) or will Napa or the dealer have them without ordering them?

Is there anything that has a habit of breaking when taking this tranny out or putting it in?

 

[cocoasranger]

I'm no expert, but I'll take a stab at it. There are special procedures/tools to replace the front seal; leave it alone if it does not leak.
Detach the exhaust and hangers after the cat converter so the trans can tilt down. You can then get at the top two trans bolts from underneath with about three feet of extensions.

Pull off the transfer case first. It's not hard.

The main trouble point in an auto trans r&r is to make sure the torque converter is fully seated before installing the trans; if not the pump will be damaged. The converter should rub against the bell housing bolts if it's fully seated. (It will get clearance to run once the converter is bolted to the flex plate. Some people suggest that after seating the converter, wire it or put a wedge against it so it does not slide forward during reinstallation.