5L40E service issues.

[jfarrugia98]

Today I decided to take on the transmission service as the car is approaching 150,000km. A while back I needed to replace the radiator and upon doing so i noticed the fluid coming from the transmission was a dark/cloudy black colour and assumed the fluid will need changing soon.

So today i’ve taken the car to a mates house, put it on a pit, got underneath and began to attempt removing this drain plug, the plug needs a T45 bit. One snapped sidchrome spanner and ratchet later the damn bolt has not budged. Only on the third attempt with the 2nd spanner, i’ve somehow completely stripped the thread of the bolt and am clueless as to how to get it off now.

Upon buying the car 2-3 years ago, a wiring harness had fallen loose from the transmission, getting caught in the drive shaft and digging its way into the rear transmission oil seal. I had taken it to holden to get it fixed, where they replaced the seal and the harness (In a very bodgy way using cable ties and $1000 later but so be it), and i also requested that they topped up the transmission fluid as some had leaked. My opinion is that they have tightened this drain plug way way way too much, excessivly more than the mere 20nm my service book suggests.

So long story short is there any way of me being able to remove this stripped drain plug bolt? Thanks in advance.

 

[Immortality]

Hammer and chisel, weld another nut to it.

There was someone on the forum recently who had a couple of studs broken off in the engine block (for the AC pump) and he had some guy who came out and removed the broken studs for a small fee unfortunately I don't remember any of the detail but no doubt some googling should see you right.

 

[jfarrugia98]

Hammer and chisel, weld another nut to it.

There was someone on the forum recently who had a couple of studs broken off in the engine block (for the AC pump) and he had some guy who came out and removed the broken studs for a small fee unfortunately I don't remember any of the detail but no doubt some googling should see you right.

Thanks mate will try the hammer and chisel method tomorrow.

 

[lout]

are you sure you have 5L40E as i have not seen one with drain plug
check your plate near air filter, 5L40E is M82, 6 speed is MYB,
both need to drop the pan to drain the oil

and for future if you have a very tight torx bolt
hammer a smaller pin punch in as it will jar the threads and make it easier to undo
now your bolt is destroyed you could hammer an allen key in and try that

 

[jfarrugia98]

are you sure you have 5L40E as i have not seen one with drain plug
check your plate near air filter, 5L40E is M82, 6 speed is MYB,
both need to drop the pan to drain the oil

and for future if you have a very tight torx bolt
hammer a smaller pin punch in as it will jar the threads and make it easier to undo
now your bolt is destroyed you could hammer an allen key in and try that

Is definitely a 5spd, I’m talking about the bolt you use to check fluid level, my mistake.

Will try allen key also, thanks. Also another question, how much fluid should i be needing to refill? I have 5L on hand but doing some reading is suggesting I need more. Was also thinking of flushing the radiator and tranny lines but have decided not to, or should I be?

 

[lout]

5 litres will be good
bear in mind it is dex VI, full synthetic
i use penrite FS

 

[RiCeY]

Best practise is measure what comes out and replace the same amount. Yes to flushing cooler and lines as the more old fluid you get out the better. The converter will hold a bit but hard to flush that out without a proper flushing machine.

 

[jfarrugia98]

So I took the job on today, all successful. I grinded a notch on each side of the bolt, then used a screwdriver and hammer to rotate the bolt (with major ease might i add). I also disconnected the lines leading into the radiator, and pumped new fluid through it to get as much of the old fluid out as possible. I used the same fill bolt as I had major trouble trying to find a replacement bolt, the reinstall of the bolt was the opposite of taking it off. I ended up using around 6-7 litres with minimal waste. Gear changes are much smoother now and less laggy.