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Transmission fluid change?

VT97

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my car overheated watr pump shat itself, replaced water pump and luckly it still runs. i wanna change the transmission fluid as soon as i can,, ive got the haynes manual and looks simple enuf, anyone have any hints for things to look out for? still have to get the new filter, a post i read somewhere said that your transmission can blow up if you burn the trans fluid!?!?...

take no chances i say..cheap enuf if you can do it yourslf
 

Shounak

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It's piss easy.. It's very messy, but easy..

Undo all of the bolts except one of the edges of the square.. Umm, like a square has four sides, undo the bolts on three of the sides (articulation!!!)..

Use a big tarps or something similar..

Use Castrol DexIII, it's awesome stuff. Save any left over to top up your PS fluid..

When you pull out the filter, make sure the metal butt comes off. Really try and get it off. If worst comes to worse, then rip the metal butt off the new filter and just jam it in..

Make 100% sure the gasket is sealed up properly.

Don't tighten the bolts up too much, or you'll split the gasket and might cause leaks..

That's about it.. Shoot me a PM if you struggle with it..
 

VT97

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might leave the transmission service to the profecssionals, gonna get them to flush it out completely, i probably could do the job but i would need a torch wrench for the bolts and so on...like to do things properly and if i dont know the right way or dont have the proper tools then wont attempt it..
 

maxbow

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Trans Service

Too easy guys.
Don't get intimidated by the job, it's a piece of cake.
*Buy a service kit off E-Bay, usually under $20 + post.
*Get 6 litres of Dexron 111 Auto trans fluid.
*Put car on stands or hoist.
*Locate the auto trans hose closest to the FRONT of the vehicle out of the tranny.
*Follow this line to the bottom of the radiator.
*Have a suitable container underneath and undo this line at the rad.
*Direct this hose to the container,(I use a cable tie to the chassis)
*Put the tranny in NEUTRAL (N). VERY IMPORTANT so as not to engage clutches.
*Start car and allow to idle. You will see the fluid pumping out of the hose into your container.! hint if the fluid is pumping out of the lower radiator, you have the wrong hose.
*Leave the car to idle until all fluid is expelled. Hint! It will splutter!!
*Turn engine off. This method removes the fluid from the torque converter as well.
*Undo the bolts of the tranny sump.
* Remove said sump and give it a good clean up. ( Yes you will see some metal deposits) this is what we want to get rid of.
*Remove the old filter and replace it with the new one.
*Making sure that the surface is clean put the new gasket in place and bolt the sump up to the tranny. Always tighten bolts from the centre outwards to avoid creases in gasket. Not too tight!!! Check Holden for torque figures.
*Drop car from stands or hoist. Put five (5) litres of fluid in via fill tube in engine bay.
*Drive car until operating temp is reached (Don't flog it)
*With car parked on level surface and hot, check trans fluid level and whilst still idling top up to correct level.
YEEHAH you've just saved yourself about $120 and you know the job is done.
I take no responsibility for these directions. THEY WORK FOR ME AND ARE FROM A HOLDEN MECHANIC. Good luck Max.::bang: :air:
 

minux

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maxbow said:
Too easy guys.
Don't get intimidated by the job, it's a piece of cake.
*Buy a service kit off E-Bay, usually under $20 + post.
*Get 6 litres of Dexron 111 Auto trans fluid.
*Put car on stands or hoist.
*Locate the auto trans hose closest to the FRONT of the vehicle out of the tranny.
*Follow this line to the bottom of the radiator.
*Have a suitable container underneath and undo this line at the rad.
*Direct this hose to the container,(I use a cable tie to the chassis)
*Put the tranny in NEUTRAL (N). VERY IMPORTANT so as not to engage clutches.
*Start car and allow to idle. You will see the fluid pumping out of the hose into your container.! hint if the fluid is pumping out of the lower radiator, you have the wrong hose.
*Leave the car to idle until all fluid is expelled. Hint! It will splutter!!
*Turn engine off. This method removes the fluid from the torque converter as well.
*Undo the bolts of the tranny sump.
* Remove said sump and give it a good clean up. ( Yes you will see some metal deposits) this is what we want to get rid of.
*Remove the old filter and replace it with the new one.
*Making sure that the surface is clean put the new gasket in place and bolt the sump up to the tranny. Always tighten bolts from the centre outwards to avoid creases in gasket. Not too tight!!! Check Holden for torque figures.
*Drop car from stands or hoist. Put five (5) litres of fluid in via fill tube in engine bay.
*Drive car until operating temp is reached (Don't flog it)
*With car parked on level surface and hot, check trans fluid level and whilst still idling top up to correct level.
YEEHAH you've just saved yourself about $120 and you know the job is done.
I take no responsibility for these directions. THEY WORK FOR ME AND ARE FROM A HOLDEN MECHANIC. Good luck Max.::bang: :air:


ummm, 6 litre's isn't removing it from the torque convertor, do you know how long it take's to remove and replace oil into a torque convertor in a VT? I guess not.

Mate spend the $120 that transmission place's charge, because they will also do a few litre flush of your line's to be certain the old oil is out of the system, the only true way(without out it taking hours) to remove torque convertor fluid is to drop the gearbox. I know because i have been in at DTM lending a hand with my car (whichis having a gearbox replaced along with all the rubber hose's and seal's associated with the cooling system)
 
V

Vzniko

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I followed the procedure described by maxbow and it worked like a charm.
Just a few comments: Firstly 5L of fluid is not enough. You will find that the VZ specifications say 5L however specifications are 7.9L for a full transmission refill.
Thats probably including the fluid in the torque convertor.

Secondly, Another problem I experienced when I bought a transmission service kit was that it included a little metallic round 'O' ring that goes on top of the filter.
The old one was a BIATCH to remove! Took me about 2-3 hours to figure out a way because it was jammed in there so tightly.
I took it out and then even putting the new one back in was still hard. I believe they must have a special tool to make the job easier.
I would recommend leaving that ring in place and just replace the filter. If it comes out when you are removing the old filter, then you are really really lucky.

On the VZ the 2 gearbox cooler pipes are on the left of the radiator (as you are facing the car) one is right at the top and one is at the bottom.
You NEED to undo the top one in order to reach the bottom one as the top one is blocking the access.
Then when you undo both of them, rotate them so they can stick under the car, put an oil pan and let it drain.
When the draining is finished, then turn the engine on (ON NEUTRAL!) and that will splatter and drain the rest of the fluid out.
I used a funnel and stuck it in front of the pipes so they do not splatter all over, and I also used a cardboard box which I placed the oil pan inside
to protect from splatter.

All in all, I saved myself a lot of money, and the gears change so much smoother now. I Hadn't done a transmission flush for about 90,000+ Kms. I know the job was done right because I did it myself. Hard to trust those dodgy mechanics those days.
 
V

Vzniko

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Dispose of old oil properly

One thing, that has not been mentioned before on this thread, PLEASE DISPOSE OF OLD OIL PROPERLY. Do do flush it down any drain, Put it on a container and take it to your nearest oil disposal facility. Contact your council and they will give you an address. Most of them require no charge and they will even take your oiled rugs, old filters etc
 

galahs

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Secondly, Another problem I experienced when I bought a transmission service kit was that it included a little metallic round 'O' ring that goes on top of the filter.
The old one was a BIATCH to remove! Took me about 2-3 hours to figure out a way because it was jammed in there so tightly.
I took it out and then even putting the new one back in was still hard. I believe they must have a special tool to make the job easier.
I would recommend leaving that ring in place and just replace the filter. If it comes out when you are removing the old filter, then you are really really lucky.

I asked a Holden mechanic about this and they said if the seal is still in good nick just leave it in there.
If not, you can get it out by tapping a small flat blade screw driver with a hammer (gentle as you can) to get between the metal of the seal and the tranny (I repeat gentle because the tranny is soft aluminium) then pry the insert so it crushes inwards. Then just grab it with a set of plyers and pull it out gently.

You may need to tap in the new seal with a soft face hammer too.


Again, ONLY replace the little O-ring seal it if it needs it!
 

Calaber

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I followed the procedure described by maxbow and it worked like a charm.
Just a few comments: Firstly 5L of fluid is not enough. You will find that the VZ specifications say 5L however specifications are 7.9L for a full transmission refill.
Thats probably including the fluid in the torque convertor.

Secondly, Another problem I experienced when I bought a transmission service kit was that it included a little metallic round 'O' ring that goes on top of the filter.
The old one was a BIATCH to remove! Took me about 2-3 hours to figure out a way because it was jammed in there so tightly.
I took it out and then even putting the new one back in was still hard. I believe they must have a special tool to make the job easier.
I would recommend leaving that ring in place and just replace the filter. If it comes out when you are removing the old filter, then you are really really lucky.

On the VZ the 2 gearbox cooler pipes are on the left of the radiator (as you are facing the car) one is right at the top and one is at the bottom.
You NEED to undo the top one in order to reach the bottom one as the top one is blocking the access.
Then when you undo both of them, rotate them so they can stick under the car, put an oil pan and let it drain.
When the draining is finished, then turn the engine on (ON NEUTRAL!) and that will splatter and drain the rest of the fluid out.
I used a funnel and stuck it in front of the pipes so they do not splatter all over, and I also used a cardboard box which I placed the oil pan inside
to protect from splatter.

All in all, I saved myself a lot of money, and the gears change so much smoother now. I Hadn't done a transmission flush for about 90,000+ Kms. I know the job was done right because I did it myself. Hard to trust those dodgy mechanics those days.

I'm interested in doing a complete oil change as the car has now done over 150k with only the specified 105k service change and filter so far, so some of the oil is getting very old. Using this method, how much oil do you think you removed - almost the full 7.9 litres?

And how long did you leave the engine running once the oil started to splutter out the pipe? I'm concerned at the risk of transmission damage without any oil, even if it is in neutral.
 

Brett_jjj

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You might drain the trans fluid in the above mentioned way until the fluid level in the trans is low if you want to get as much dirty fluid out as you can,but I wouldnt like to let it run until its completely empty, as its probably not good for the transmission to be ran dry of fluid...Its best to just drop the trans pan and drain the fluid.And if the auto fluid is fairly dirty,then change the filter and fluid again for a second time in a few weeks first up, then again once every couple of months until its clean.
I change my auto trans filter and fluid every 4th engine oil change or every 20,000 k's in my VSV6. I drive it fairly hard,I shift it like a manual a lot etc, so I like to keep it serviced regularly. Its done 180,000 km so far being driven like this, and it still runs and shifts etc as good as the day I got the car. A lot of people will bag these autos and say that they are rubbish etc etc, but so far Ive found that they arent too bad under fairly hard use, as long as they are serviced regularly, and as long as a good auxilliary transmission fluid cooler is used to keep temperature out of the trans fluid when its under hard use.
Another thing is how many people have no idea how to let an auto upshift under full power/full throttle without having it slipping unnecessarily on the upshifts, which just kills autos in no time when driven in this way. Its always best to let the transmission get the shift over and done with as quick as possible, even if that means backing off the power for a split second to help the auto complete the shift properly before the trans is put back under full load again in the next gear.If driven properly and looked after service wise,these can be a fairly reliable transmssion.
One last thing I will mention is making sure the auto transmission is fully up at operating temperature before running it under full power or high speed etc.This should go without saying anyway to most wise people on here,as most people who drive their car hard without first having the engine/trans up at operating temp, usually have no idea what they are doing or the engine/transmission wear etc they cause by doing this.Its best to idle the car along slowly and just cruise until its fully warmed up,then get into it if you want.Your cars engine and trans will usually last a lot longer if treated this way..
 
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