TRANNY FLUID CHANGE
I performed this fluid change when i replaced my torque tube as the tranny had to be removed anyway. Becasue of the other work i did, the converter bearings, i ended up draining just about every last drop of fluid out of the tranny and the converter.
Start by having the new fluid, a catch pan and a transmission filter kit handy. The tranny holds nearly 2.5 gallons of fluid!! Mine was absolutely dry before i refilled it and it held just few Oz. less than that!
To drain the
converter you need to line up the drain bolt in the access window
as seen above. This can be done by pure luck LOL or...since i was
doing other work on the car, i used a screw driver on the starter
ring and gently rotated the engine CW to line it all up. Undo the
bolt and let it drain.
The tranny pan
showing the drain plug, similar to the converter plug. As you can
see I removed the tranny fluid resivour as well to clean it.
Place your pan under here and let the fuid drain.
After
the fuid was drained i removed the pan, tipping the remaining
fluid into my catch pan. You may find a buildup of sludge in the
pan..greyish in color....apparently this is normal in a tranny
that may have not been serviced in a while. You obviously dont
want to find metal flakes or shavings! I took the pan, removed
the old seal,sprayed the bottom of the pan with cleaner and wiped
it clean. You could have eaten off it when it went back in! Be
sure to use a lint free rag as you dont want to leave particles
in the pan that could cause problems if left behind. (notice the
exhaust system is off my car...this is in association with other
work i was doing...you dont need to remove it for this job)
removing the
old gasket. The new one will fit perfectly and you can use the
rubber tabs incorporated on the gasket to hold it in place. As i
do with my oil filters i spread a light film of new tranny fluid
over the gasket to help it seal.
this
shows the filter removed. It is held on by a couple of Phillips
head screws. The 2 holes you see above are the main passages for
the tranny fluid as it gets picked up thru the filter. Take your
new filter and install it, being carful to get it lined up on the
big holes as well as the screw holes. Tighten the screws to
specs.
Once the filter was installed, i installed the pan. Torque the pan bolts and the drain plug to specs. When you get your tranny filter kit it will have new seals for the pan and the drain plugs....use them.
The next trick, like the differential, is to get the new fluid into the tranny. Since i had my tranny and converter ABSOLUTLEY DRAINED i knew exaclty how much fluid should go in....2.46 gals to be exact per the owners manual. My car was up on blocks with the wheels removed when i did all this so filling it was easier than you may encounter. I ran a piece of fuel line from the filler cap on the resivour to a funnel i had suspended in the rear passenger wheel well. I filled the fluid from here keeping track of the amount that went in as i went. Eventually, the tranny pan was FULL and i couldnt get any more in. This is when i started the car in order to get the tranny fluid pump to operate and to pump the fluid into the converter and the rest of the tranny. I started the car, watched the level drop in the sight guage and then went to the wheel well and start to "feed" the fluid to the tranny via my hose setup as the car ran.. It took a bit of time but the tranny took all but the last 1/8 of a quart of fluid of the 2.5gallon total.....and the level is now perfect on the sight guage!!! After all the fluid was in I also cycled the car through all the gears and checked for leaks.
The tranny is VERY sensitive to fluid level....this fluid level will change as the tranny temperature does. Be sure to follow the procedures set up in the manual when checking your fluid level and servicing it.!!! My tranny happened to be bone dry so i knew exaclty how much SHOULD go in.
Hope it all helps....
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