VN-VS Gearbox Fluid and Filter Change (Auto)

[Tamperer#1]

handy little thread this one. thanks champs. most helpful.
any ideas what a service kit is worth?

 

[coder]

Would this also apply to VT's? I would have thought the transmissions are the same...?

 

[Tamperer#1]

Ok, after doing this job last weekend on my VS series II, I will never do it again! It was a really dirty job!

If you want to get your hair drenched in transmission fluid, go right ahead. This stuff stinks when it comes out of your gearbox, too.

Tips for newbies... USE A TARP! It's a messy job. You don't have much space under your car when its on ramps and chassis stands. When you remove the bolts around the sides and the front of the pan, expect it to be UNCOMFORTABLE while you're trying to hold up the pan with one hand while you're undoing those last few bolts at the back of the pan. It weighs a lot when you're on your back, and you've got a large container between the ground and the gearbox. You don't have much room for your arm!

Next, when you start trying to get the seal out, don't expect it to come out easily. With the drain tray just behind your head, you're trying to pull this seal out... which does NOT want to come out! It's in damn tight. But once you butcher the rubber, you have no choice but to get the thing out. So, after trying with circlip pliers for a good hour, the only way you're gonna get the thing out is with a small screwdriver and hammer, to bend the thing out of shape and then remove it.

By this time, you're hair has been sitting in the drain pan, your torch is covered with dripping transmission fluid, and you're cursed almost every swear word known to man.

Cleaning the pan and removing the old gasket remnants is like a walk in the park after you've got that bloody seal out!

The new seal taps in pretty easily with a hammer, and the pan and gasket goes on without too much more trouble. Torquing up the bolts to the required 11nm is pretty simple after you've done all the previous chores. Of course, the tarp is covered with fluid and is only worth throwing away at the end of the job.

If you like being dirty, and working in very uncomfortable areas, go for it. Personally, i'm just glad its done and back together.

Still want to service your own tranny? THINK TWICE!!!!


My other car, the VT? I'm taking that to the transmission specialists to get them to do it.... never again!

:cry: *tear* you cant perform mechanical work without getting dirty or greasy, and have you ever considered just putting a wider catch pan under it

 

[Freshmaster]

a little tip

hey guys,

a little tip I thought I would add to save your arms when undoing the auto trans sump pan bolts loosen them all a little bit then use a screwdriver break the gasket seal. Then undo the front ones all the way except for one in the middle of the front (leave it in a few turns). Remove the rest apart from the two centre ones at the back. Remove the front one whilst holding the pan, and guide the fluid out of the front of the pan whilst undoing the two centre rear ones.

Hope this helps.

 

[Drift_Clown_VN]

honestly, what i would do if i had an auto, would be to either

a: Clean your sump up real good, then weld a drain plug in there somewhere where it wouldnt get damaged easily.

b: get a length of wood, place 2 jacks either side and use it to hold pan in place while you remove the bolts. Then, lower each jack just enough to be able to remove the pan upright or even just tip it into a container with two hands.

aZk.

Easy way to drain the auto trans is to undo the 10mm bolt that holds in the VSS (vehicle speed sensor) pull it out and all the fluid flows out of that hole, then removing the pan is easy as.

 

[Calaber]

Easy way to drain the auto trans is to undo the 10mm bolt that holds in the VSS (vehicle speed sensor) pull it out and all the fluid flows out of that hole, then removing the pan is easy as.

That sounds easy, but how much oil do you get out using that method? The VSS sits a lot higher up the side of the rear extension than the sump pan, so even if you get some oil out, you would still have heaps left sitting inside the pan and valve body. Wouldn't you still have to release the pan bolts gradually to allow the oil to spill over into a catch tray?

 

[Jaymz]

Excellent write up dude!

Just did this today and found a couple of tricks.

First, raise only the front of the car. Makes for it being a bit tighter underneath but worth it.
Undo the bolts at the lowest point of the sump (rear)
Undo the front bolts only slightly (3-4 turns)
Fluid should overflow into your drip tray.

Also, jam a floor stand under the sump while you undo the last bolts. Then just move it out of your way while holding the sump.

Worked a treat.

Also, another tip if you don't want to stain your driveway/garage. use some old boxes and lay them flat under the car. Makes sliding under the car easier and will soak up any fluid that falls and misses your drip tray.

 

[aussiepride94]

another tip is to ensure the draining container you are using is wide enough to catch the fluid without it missing it all together (Made that mistake only once)

One further tip (THIS IS SO BUSHMAN STYLE YOU PROBABLY SHOULDNT DO IT) is to remove the return hose from the trans line and place it into an empty 2 litre coke bottle and drain some out by starting the engine before you start the undoing and tipping stage with the pan.

Sorry I had to throw in that it is bushman and could harm your tranny

haha u are corect with the cooler lines lol ...

1) remove output line from trany to oil cooler in radiator ann direct it into a bucket or container of any sort ... that ur not gunna use again and then start the car and keep running as it pours out untill it starts to bubble out of the hose and then start the proses of removing the pan and all that stuff... after u turn the car offf lol and maybe let it cool down butt the trany shudent get too hot cus it shouldent be runing that long lol :spot on::spot on:

 

[PUSHIN]

alright guys, about a month ago i went out and purchased some transmission fluid, and a service kit. (i own a series 1 vn 6) stated in the original post, i should get two gaskets, one paper, one cork. i only received one, seems to LOOK like cork, but slightly more dense i guess, and is made of some form of rubber or something, anyway i tried doing research for a good hour or two on this gasket, it was stated that i'd need a paper one being that i have a series 1, so i called supercheap, repco, etc. asking about the paper gasket, didnt have any, nor could they get them. called local holden dealership, he was very short with me (maybe in a bad mood, couldn't care to be honest, should treat customers with respect.) but he said they had paper ones there to suit it, so he'd say it could well be a paper one rather then anything else, but after my research today, i found cellulose nitrile composition gaskets, which look somewhat similiar to the one i received, being that this isn't cork, nor paper, can i use it instead of a paper gasket?? or do i go to the local holden joint and pay them $35 for the ones they claim to have..?

ALSO...

I have a question about the oil left in the torque converter, i've tried to research a few methods of getting as much of the fluid as possible out, but a fair few of them were referring to the "remove hose from radiator, place in bucket, start car until it bubbles/sprays then turn off." personally, i dont really feel comfortable running my transmission low on oil to the point where its not flowing through to my radiator, even if the car isn't moving at all, left in park, i still feel that it could cause some damage, my car has somewhere close to 310,000kms on it (however judging by the way it performs, it's either had some form of repairs done to it, or it's been VERY well looked after, is it goes MIGHTY bloody well for 310k, been in a vr with 320, barely moved..) so anyway given the amount of kilometers my car says it has, i'm not keen to do anything that could further damage my transmission, it hasn't got any issues or anything like that, i just do NOT want to cause damage. so i saw other methods of removing the fluid, but they were all basicly saying to do the filter/gasket change, refill fluid, pull hose off radiator, into 1L bottle, start the car, run till bottle is full, (maybe, maybe not, can't remember..) reconnect hose?? add 1L of new fluid to the transmission. repeat process, until the fluid coming out of the hose that was connected to the radiator, is the same colour as the brand new fluid. the way i look at this method is i'm gonna waste a shitload of fluid doing it. i understand the best way to do it would be to pay someone to do the proper flush on it, but i've already purchased basicly everything, may aswell do it now. also on some of these pages i found whilst doing research, they recommended also using; Auto Transmission Treatment- Nulon Australia
Would this be worth using? pretty sure it's less then $30, so thats nothing to me, if it's going to be of benefit i'm happy to buy it..
And what is the best method for replacing ALL of the fluid (including the torque converter) without damaging my gearbox, if the replace a litre at a time is the way to go, and is the best way i could do it besides getting it done by a mechanic, i'm more then happy to waste the fluid to do it.. i just want to know what is correct, and will do the job properly.

My point is, i dont want to go to the effort of servicing my transmission, and leaving a sum of dirty fluid in there..

So if anybody could please help with my question about the gasket inparticular, and then about doing a FULL replacement of fluid from within the transmission, and then yeah maybe if somebody has ever tried the Nulon Auto Transmission Treatment to know if it actually does help?

Any help, suggestions and answers would be much appreciated, sorry for the big long post, but i just wanted to show that i DIDNT just come straight here and ask, i tried researching, but never found any solid answers on what is correct, and which gasket i should use, so if anyone can answer these questions would be much appreciated.

 

[The1]

i use cork as they swell and fill all the gaps, always had good seal from cork, though you will need to retighten after a week or so.

To do a full flush i drop the pan first, oil gasket and filter and replace, then refill with oil, then pull the cooler line into a your oil drop pan and sit it so you can see the oil coming out, start the car in park and keep filling down the dipstick hole so you keep the pan full of oil, keep going till the oil is clean coming out the cooler line, then hook the line backup and get it warmed up and check for correct level while the engine is running, if it's to full drop the line again and let some out.

It helps if you have two people.