VX auto service

[NeddyBear]

Our VX Aclaim has 197,000 on the clock and I'd like a service done and I was thinking about taking it to Ultra Tune since they do transmission servicing and since I know nothing about automatics I'm wondering what they might do for the service and can the bands and things be adjusted without removing the transmission.

[som]

your auto definitely needs servicing.I'm a bit of a dumbass but as far as i know there are no bands to adjust so a service is all about replacing the filter and some of the fluid.(generally the fluid in the torque converter is not changed,though if your fluid smells burnt then the slow and wasteful process of refilling and draining it a few times until all the fluid has been replaced may be a plan,your tansmission specialist can advise you better) I have a vt executive that has almost 360,000 ks on it and my auto feels as good as new,i like to think that the cost of regular sevices has been the major contrbutor to its long life .again i'm not an expert but perhaps someone in your area may suggest a better option than ultra tune,i have a friend who used to have services done by ultra tune and it was pretty costly.the transmission does not have to be removed,the sump on the auto is removed.

[The1]

there all fixed these days, only thing to do is keep the valve bodys and servo's in order and keep the fluid clean, if you do that it'l last.

[VYMAD]

If you are a little bit mechanically minded, it is easy to service your auto yourself and save $$$$$$$ as all you basically have to do is take off the sump, fit a new filter and sump gasket and away you go.

[The1]

Don't forget the oil!!!

[Brett_jjj]

^^^Agreed,if you can service your engine oil and filter,then you can service the auto trans,I do mine every 20,000k's or every 4th engine oil change basically.I drive my car hard,I manually shift it a lot too,Ive done 150,000 ks so far on this auto and it still performs the same as the day I got it,well better actually..Ive got the shift times sped up and Ive also firmed up the shifts via the line pressure,I did this via the memcal,all the auto trans parameters are stored on the memcal.It shifts way better and runs excellent now,no more laggy slow shifts that the standard "tune" gives you,also the transmission runs about 10 degrees cooler now too,which has gotta be a good thing..

[VYMAD]

Don't forget the oil!!!

HA HA, yeh, well if the guy seemed interested in doing it himself I thought one of us would have talked him through it, but I was waiting to see if he was interested in doing the job himself before going to the bother of step by step instructions.

[bondy717]

^^^Agreed,if you can service your engine oil and filter,then you can service the auto trans,I do mine every 20,000k's or every 4th engine oil change basically.I drive my car hard,I manually shift it a lot too,Ive done 150,000 ks so far on this auto and it still performs the same as the day I got it,well better actually..Ive got the shift times sped up and Ive also firmed up the shifts via the line pressure,I did this via the memcal,all the auto trans parameters are stored on the memcal.It shifts way better and runs excellent now,no more laggy slow shifts that the standard "tune" gives you,also the transmission runs about 10 degrees cooler now too,which has gotta be a good thing..

How do you change the memcal parameters? I am keen to get the shift times sped u;p a little on my wagon.

[The1]

have a read in here if you wanna do it yourself, otherwise there's a few on here that can do one, delcowizzid, dr bob (memcals.com) or myself if need be i think brett may do them to.

http://forums.justcommodores.com.au/tuning/157237-memcal-id-tool.html

[bondy717]

Cheers,

Thanks for that, I will have a read

[Brett_jjj]

Yeah,theres a bit of an outlay for the cost of the EPROM chip reader/burner($100), and the UV eraser ($20),both available from ebay.But once youve got them, you just need to download a program called tunerpro,(which is free) and you are right to go.You can open the memcal file in tunerpro,make whatever changes you want to make,then erase the memcal chip with the UV eraser,then write the modified memcal file back to the blank memcal chip.Ive been doing VS tunes for a while now,Ive just started doing VR and earlier ones too..

[Jarrad]

How much you guys reckon for a mechanic to do the service?

[VYMAD]

How much you guys reckon for a mechanic to do the service?

Depends where you go, mechanics rates vary incredibly from place to place.
Service kit is around $40, and fluid $30-$40 at least for what you or I would pay retail, so mechanic gets it cheaper.
Then labour time, I think with a hoist and all the gear it shouldn't take more than 0.5-1 hr. (max)
But you could pay one guy say $200 and someone else might charge more or less. Really it is a very simple job and if you are set on getting a mechanic to do the job, then get pissed off if he charges more than $200 (MAX)

[Dayvo]

I serviced mine over the Christmas break ( first time ever done one ) and was pretty easy .Parts cost less than $100. Just make sure you clean all the crap outa the pan . Also no matter how careful you are you will get trans fluid running down your arm ha ha ha .

[edals]

Well I pay holden to do my Transmission service, Filter, Gasket, Oil and do i full flush also. But i do mine every 60k, Holden say 80k thats just insane, but i only do HWY travel so have to service it much less, in lots of traffic yes every 20-40k You have to make sure you dont under fill or over fill them as it can cause damage, thats the part i worry about, think i would measure what amount came out then pour the same amount back in then check lol
And i dont want feel like getting trans oil everywhere esp on a rental driveway lol

[Joey24]

Anyone know how much fluid a refill would take in the VX?

[NeddyBear]

Thanks guys for the suggestions but I'd perfer to have a specialist do the servicing, the original servicing records state the auto was last serviced at 160,000 and it works well but some times it sings a little between 2nd and 3rd, I now understand a little better about the memcal thing but how is the internals adjusted surely this memcal thing can't adjust them.

[tdirago]

dont go to ultra tune!, they charge top dollar as they can afford to push customers around with their big customer base.

learn yourself or make freinds with a mechanic.

[edals]

Anyone know how much fluid a refill would take in the VX?

Its 4.8L, But just dropping the pan, the torque converter etc still has a fair bit in it still, VYMAD what do you do to know how much to put back in ?

[VYMAD]

Its 4.8L, But just dropping the pan, the torque converter etc still has a fair bit in it still, VYMAD what do you do to know how much to put back in ?

I read the specifications section in the owners manual to see what the capacity is (4.8 litres i think for VY). It doesn't include torque converter fluid and I only ever do the basic drain and refill anyway. The trick is to slowly add fluid, as it may take slightly more or less than says in the book. When you're nearly at the recommended amount, keep checking the dipstick, start the car and run through all the gears whilst stationary, then when it is BELOW full, towards the lower end of the cross hatches on dipstick, go for at least a 15 minute drive in at least an 80km/h zone and slow down, speed up so the auto is put through its paces, then, making sure the vehicle is at operating temp, go home, park on a flat area and check the fluid while car is idling in park. Gradually add fluid until it's at the full mark on the cross hatch of dipstick.

[NeddyBear]

2 quotes so far 155 for oil and service kit and 325 for oil, service kit and adjustments and post now closed.

[The1]

adjustments? what to the price lol

[NeddyBear]

I don't know but I'm thinking the adjustments to the things that make the gears change and probably not the mamcel thing but the things inside the box.

[VYMAD]

Eerrr, I don't think there ARE any adjustments to be made?

[The1]

the only adjustments are in the memcal as it's a 4L60E electronic transmission, the only way to adjust the band say is perhaps a different servo pin but that's just band aiding the issue i guess if the band is worn.