auto service help

[walesy]

hey my service is due and this time its an auto service ( VL ) too coz the auto box hasnt been done for a while. just wondering how to do it? simple as draining a plug at the bottom and filling from the side somewhere? or is there more to it? filters? also how much oil are you sposed to put back in?

cheers.

[harry3]

if you have the 6 cyl theres no drainplug and the sump is supposed to be removed, a crossmember under the back of it also needs to come off, theres a filter inside, but Ive never done the job

[rb26dett]

Best to get it done by an expert, get your bands tightened at the same time, I try to get mine done every 12 months.

[vlv8vic]

easy as pie to do yourself. youll be looking at about $20 for the new filter and gasket kit, and about $35 for some decent fluid. look at paying $100 - $180 at a mechs.

drop the appropriate xmember, and slowly undo the sump plugs, working your way around so they all come loose at the same rate.
Get a pan, hold it under the front of the sump and take the front bolts out, touch the bottom of the back end of the sump so that some fluid (if its full enough). if nothing dribbles out, you are good to hold the pan and undo all the bolts, dropping it down level so as not to spill fluid.
the service kit will have everything you need and youll see where the bitsas go once your in there.

clean the sump while its out, totally - not just a drain out but a full wipe out and dry, this is where metallic shavings can deposit and best to be removed.
putting it back on is the same process as taking it off, put a new gasket on - some people like to run a tiny smear of clean box-oil around the gasket to make it easier to fit, although ive never needed to.
doing bolts up at the same rate again, when you come to tighten them tigten one, then the opposite bolt, then back again, then opposites etc etc so teh pan wont warp or go on crooked.
put your xmember back on.
fill the thing up through teh dipstick hole, check the levels with the car running for accuracy.

youll only ever be able to change 80% fluid. so dont panic when you cant get it all out!

dont worry about tigtening bands, unless the box is slipping noticably they cant do any harm.

[walesy]

hey thanks guys i did it myself at work over the pit and just used the auto oil from work (endless supply) if they use it in $40,000 engines with $15,000 gearboxes its gotta be good shit

[bangers]

anyone else doing this job then heres a tip for you. to keep the gasket in place wile you do the bolt up, rub vasoline on the surfaces where the gasket contacts. it's sticky and holds the gasket plus it dissolves in auto transmission oil.

[harry3]

since my trans fluid is still clean and bright red I think Ill undo 1 of the radiator trans cooler hoses, start it up and pump it out

its been my experience that the additives in the trans fluid eventually wear out, making the auto not work properly, the first thing to do with a misbehaving auto is to change the trans fluid