What is the easiest way to gain access to the top of the transmission without pulling the transmission from the truck? I had an engine fire and I have to replace the wiring harness and the kickdown cable. I got the old harness removed which was a pain in the a**! I don't know if I can even get the new harness plugged in. I didn't see/feel the kickdown cable when I was under there so I don't even know if I can get to it.

Can I unbolt the mounts and drop it down a little bit? Will I have to drop the transfer case and skid plates as well? What about the motor mounts should they be loosened?

 

Just loosen up the engine mounts.

Support trans/t-case on a jack, and remove the rear mounts. Lower it down some CAREFULLY. Not sure if the distributor will hit anything if you lower it too far....

 

That's what I figured. Thanks!

 

Not sure you really need to do any of that. The main harness plug to tranny is on the side of the tranny as well as the TV cable on the other side. The only PITA is the O2 plug. Yea it's all blind work, but I would just do it by feel, rather than going through all that extra work for another couple inches. Which won't help much anyway. The crank sensor for instance is a PITA and pretty much a blind replacement, but I'm not going to raise the cab to make it easier.

 

There are 5 connectors on the transmission. Plus I never even saw the kick down cable

 

The connectors are all on the side of the tranny as is the TV cable. Except for the O2 sensors.

 

I just pulled the old harness off. There are 2 connectors that are mounted on the top of the transmission. At least there are on my tranny. I just had to pull them off

 

Like I said, those are the o2 sensor plugs. No way I go through all that extra work just for those. They have a xmas tree nipple connecting them to a bracket. Just pull them out.