I have a 2007 Aspen. Somehow the transmission dipstick tube broke about half way down (found this while doing an oil change). I have the new tube, but I can't figure out how to replace it. It has a bracket to hold the bottom end into the transmission, and another bracket that attaches to the side of the transmission about half way up. You can't really see any of the brackets from the top. I crawled under the vehicle and I can more or less see both brackets, but not the bolts. I can get my hands on the bolts, but I can't find any way to put a wrench on them.

I finally gave up and took it to a mechanic. He checked on it for a while and then called me and said that it looked like he would have to drop the transmission to replace the tube - around 4 hours worth of labor. I told him to hold off for now.

I wonder if the bolts could be accessed by removing the front fender liner. It looks like it would be a straight shot in from there. That leads to my next dilemma - the fender liner has some plastic fasteners that I've never seen before. I can push the center part out with a punch to remove the fastener, but I don't see how to get them back in and tightened without getting to the back side of them (which isn't possible behind the fender liner).

Any thoughts on the need to drop the transmission and/or how to re-install these plastic fasteners?