Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Transaxle tranny drain and refill

Detailed instructions here:

http://www.glue.umd.edu/~singletn/web/pages/at1.html

Reading to the bottom of the page, you find this wealth of information:

Code:

---

Contributed by Greg J.



I have a suggestion for the module on tranny fluid change -

it is a variation of Dr. Bob's original idea. It can easily

be done by one person working alone and doesn't have the

risk of running the pan dry.



Here's the deal:



I have a friend who is a tranny tech who says that putting

a clamp on the outflow of the oil cooler lines can generate

very high pressures throughout the system. This has the

potential to blow seals, etc. So best not to put a clamp on

the outflow.



My method does not require "pinch-clamps", calibrated

bottles, or putting the oil in a quart at a time. There is

also very little mess. In fact, I stole the idea from 

looking at the T-Tech machine at Jiffy-Lube.



So, here is what I do. I attach tranmission hoses to BOTH

the "from transmission" and "to transmission" connections

at the auxiliary cooler. I use about 10 feet each since I

do this all by myself and can keep everything near the

drivers door. 



The difference is you use two 5-gallon buckets instead of

milk bottles. In one, which is carefully cleaned and dried,

I put 16 quarts of tranny fluid (Amsoil, naturally). The

other is used to collect the old fluid. 



Put both buckets near the driver's side door of the vehicle

so you can watch them. Make sure you know which line

is "in" and which is "out". If in doubt, tickle the engine

with both hoses attached and the outflow line will shoot

t-fluid.



Now put the "in" hose into the bucket with fresh fluid so

the hose is near, but not touching, the bottom of the

bucket and secure it to the handle with duct tape. Put the

other hose into the empty bucket and tape it to the handle,

too. 



Now, start the engine. You will see the dirty fluid flowing

into the empty bucket and the new fluid being sucked into

the tranny. No pressure changes anywhere in the system!!!

Run the engine until the new fluid just starts to pull air

(about 2-2.5 minutes) and shut it down. Reattach the

connections. Check the fluid level, check for leaks and you

are done!! 



The 5-gal plastic buckets are free at just about any

grocery store if you ask. So, you are only out the cost of

the hose, hose clamps, and fluid.



It also makes it easier to take the fluid to the disposal

station.

---

Keep in mind that this would be the perfect time to either:
1) add an additional inline cooler
2) add inline filter

both additions will prolong tranny life

i wish I saw that earlier, I may have flushed all the coolant out. Now I'm just gonna drain/fill one time in 3 months, another time after another 3 months, then 6 months, then a year, then keep doing it every year.

Well, you gotta ask yourself this - How are you going to extend the inlet/outlet lines of the coolant hose? Those are a lot bigger than the tranny cooler lines. When I'm ready to flush my coolant (like some 5 years or 150k from now with the Dex-Cool I have in there), I'm going to "borrow" the hose adapters from work. But I don't know what you're going to do though... LOL

my bad, i meant tranny fluid. they keep me awake at school too much nowadays.