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Are the transmissions in these two vehicles the same?

Is anyone able to tell me if these two vehicles have the same transmission in them? We have a 91 Astro with a nice tight engine and transmission but the body has been crunched beyond reasonable repair (it's my husbands van and I crunched it while he was away so I'm feeling a bit guilty and trying to find inexpensive options).

There's a (95 or 96) Safari (VIN below) that has a blown engine and the body is in very good condition. If its worth my while I will proceed, but first I need to know if the two are compatible.

Any other things I should be checking before purchasing the vehicle? I contacted the engine shops and they said to make sure the tranmissions were the same but when I contacted the service department at the GM dealership here they treated me not so great. Maybe they don't give this information out about the VIN's? Does anyone know a website that would decode the VIN with enough detail to list the transmission?

Thank you, Katherine

1GCDM15Z7MB164620

1GKDM19W1SB553321

Reply to
Shaynelle
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Reply to
Shep

You're correct, the 91 unit won't work in the 96 van. The 91 has a TH700R4 while the 96 has a 4L60E... Pretty sure the driveline in the Astro followed that of the S-series closely...

Reply to
Mike Levy

The 1991 has a THM 700 R4 (MD8) transmission, while the 1995 has a 4L60E (M30) transmission. The engines are different as well. The 1995 has an L35

4.3L CPI, while the 1991 has a 4.3L FI engine. Depending on what is wrong with the engine in the 1995, you could just strip them down to the block and put all the parts from the 1995 on the 1991 block. That being said, you might as well just pick up an engine from the junk yard for a couple extra hundred bucks. Go here,
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and find a yard near you with one.

Steve

Reply to
Steve Mackie

It would not be that hard of swap to put the 91 engine in the 95. Worst case senerio, you could take the 91 engine and use 95 heads and intake on it and drop it in and it will bolt right up to 95 tranny and run fine.

Reply to
SnoMan

One engine's a W code (port injected) and the other's a Z code (throttle body injected) so the engines are dissimilar where computer controls are concerned, without regard to the transmissions being the same or not. I'd guess the Z code would be likely to have a lot less power than the engine in there. Unless... If the camshaft specs are the same you could swap the top end of the W onto the Z, if the transmissions are compatible.

Reply to
James Goforth

Thanks for all this useful information. We have decided not to get the

96 as chances are, even if we can make it fit it would be a hassle.

Sooooooo we are looking for other Astro's or Safari's and keeping our

91 as a parts vehicle. Does anyone know the years (91 and newer) of Astro's and Safari's we should be considering? I will check the VIN once we go, but if I know ahead of time a 94 Safari engine won't fit, no sense in even going to look at it.

There's a 93 Safari with high mileage that's pretty cheap, we may consider that one if chances are decent we can use the engine if need be from our 91 Astro.

We may go look at the Hayne's manuals, or buy one so we have it around as it's useful anyways. But it's always nice to have a few opinions as well :)

Katherine

Reply to
Shaynelle

Check at your local part store they can look up things for both vecs. and see if they will exchange for each other or check junk yards

Reply to
MegroeG

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