Trouble with transmission cooling line connectors
 

My daughter's boyfriend is helping a friend pull the auto tranny out of a '99 Blazer and install a replacement. They've done OK, but one of the transmission cooling line connectors (the top one, believed to be the high pressure side) is giving them fits on the re-install. They can't get the cooling line to lock into the connector.

The shop manual seems to require the connector to be out of the tranny when the line is connected, then one screws the connector into the tranny. Question 1: Is this the correct sequence? I think they've had the connector screwed into the tranny and then tried push the cooling line into it, which does not appear to be the correct sequence of assembly. Although I don't know if it makes a big difference, I suspect it does.

The other possibility is that the cooling line is bent and they aren't getting the end of the line square to the connector. The line evidently has been beaten around a bit, so this may be the problem.

Question two: If that top line is bad, how difficult is it to replace the entire line from radiator back to the tranny?

Thanks for any BTDT's.

RE: Trouble with transmission cooling line connectors
 

Pilgrim, You can do it either way, put the connector on the line then thread it in, or bend the line to where it looks the straightest going into the connector then push it in. The line will be a pain in the rear to replace from front to back and holding the bends without bending it more. Just which ever way you decide to do, check the connectors a couple times in the first week of use to make sure they don't leak. Good luck, Korey.