VE SS Auto tranny service

[chewnoz]

Looking for a DIY or some details on servicing a VE ss auto gearbox 2007 not sure if its 5spd or 6 spd auto

 

[gunsmoke]

Possibly best left to an expert, but generally you change oil and an internal pan filter.

 

[motaba]

i have a 2007 SSV 6 speed auto and it honestly wasnt that hard to service it.

first off....dont be scared about tackling this job........i had all sorts of mechanics telling me its a difficult job and i will struggle but none of it was true......

second.....if you are going to do it at home it wont be a thorough flush of the system....the tranny holds around 11 L of oil and simply draining it will only drain around half of it !! ( but that was good enough for me)

dont buy a cheap aftermarket service kit...........go to ebay and a guy in melbourne docklands named Michael sells genuine kits for....$90..... half of what Holdens sells them for.

kit comes with gasket, filter, filter neck seal......i know many mechanics just leave the old filter seal in cause its usually still pretty good but i changed mine.....they are a challenge to get out without a special tool but dont let it put you off.......its a alloy ring with a ribber inner lining and basically you can "crush" the ring inwards on its self and remove it with pliers.....you simply tap the new ring in with a socket of same size.....it taps back into its housing.

buts that fun is once you get the pan off........so jack the car up level.......all four wheels up......

the pan will have a drainage bolt which is not at the lowest point but still drains about half the pan out......take the bolt out and let the fluid drain........drain it into a bucket that has markings of litres...........once it stops put bolt back in and start to undo all the pan bolts............only half undo the bolts on the side closest the engine...........reason being is that once all the other bolts are out let the pan drop down on an angle but still secured on that one side...........this way a **** load more fluid drains out into the bucket as well.......it will spill up and over the side thats hanging down..........

now take out the remainder bolts and remove pan......clean it.....throw away gasket........make sure the magnet is cleaned as well......it sits in the pan..........you will see the black plastic filter sitting there.......it simply pulls down....may need a slight twist.......its only held in by its neck through the rubber ring seal................

once out have fun getting the ring seal out...............its doable........carefully use a screw driver to crush it in but dont jimmy it against its housing as it will scratch the housing and wont seal properly on the outer side....................tap the new one home with your socket.........push the new filter in...........

new gasket on the pan (fits only one way) and do bolts up to 10 to 12 Nm (or hand tight) working from the centre on each side around to the ends......................

now look at how much oil you have drained.......thats how much you put back............but...........you can put in extra......300ml, some say it does it better, others say they were under filled from the factory....blah...blah......i did extra and no probs from doing it.

theres a rubber bung on top of the tranny.......drivers side but could be passengers.......ive forgotten.........the bung simply pulls out.....thats your fill hole.........and yes you do need a pump.....you cant pour it in.........i bought a plastic hand pump from supercheap........one hose went into the oil bottle and the other went into the fill hole......took about 5 minutes to pump 6L of oil back in.........all done

now there is an official way........run the car to temp.......take out the drain bolt on the pan......keep filling via the bung untill it drizzles out the drain hole..........but i didnt do that because with physics on my side.....what comes out must go back it.......and there will be no problemos ........as long a you accurately measure your out put........plus the extra 300ml if you want......

 

[Zerone_V]

Excellent writeup motaba !!!!

I will add just a couple of quick points regards to my experience with this,

1) I didn't change the ring seal for the transmission filter. it is a pain to do and is definitely preferable if you can do this. I just didnt have enough room when using the small trolley jacks I had.

2) When originally draining the fluid on mine, it looked like my transmission was over filled by around 1 Litre. (Using the drizzle test). I lost around 500ml when changing the radiator a week prior to the transmission service,
and I noticed the transmission flaring slightly more often. (Hence the reason why I brought forward my Transmission service).
So If you notice flaring, you can always try overfilling the transmission by adding another 500ml above the recommended amount.

3) Another option instead of sourcing the filter and gasket locally, is to use the Cadillac Deep Pan / Wide Mouth filter 6L80 parts.
You will need to source these from the USA, and it will cost something like $180 landed, however the pan allows for an additional 2 Litres of Transmission fluid to be held.
The filter also sits lower in the pan, so it is less likely to lead to cavitation when braking, accelerating and cornering.

Again great write up Motaba

Here are a couple of images which may also help.

Pump that you can buy from SuperCheap

Pumping transmission fluid in to the transmission

Transmission Filler rubber bung thingie

Removing the Sump

 

[motaba]

cheers mate, pics are always awsome, pity i didnt take any............

thanks again........and also for your add ons......

 

[bkvyss]

Excellent write up guys, anyone know what kays the 1st tranny service should be done at ?

 

[bkvyss]

Just googled for some info on the caddy pans and found pirate has done this and put up some info on ls1 forums. Not had any probs with my trans yet, just wondering if doing this mod would extend the life of tranny even if only doing normal day to day driving with a bit of spirited stuff occasionally ?

 

[motaba]

i did mine at 75,000km in planning that i would do again at 150,000km..........ill probably do the diff at 100,000km

im sure the holdens book says 150,000km but i halved that just to be safe and i know alot of gear box guys cringe at the though of even leaving it till 75,000km.....they also laugh at the "sealed for life" notion which i also think is the biggest scam.....

i must say, the oil at 75,000km was in pretty good nick.........slight dark in colour but still clean none the less........

im no expert but ive always done regular oil changes with specified oil and its worked well for me so far......

 

[Michael-08-VE]

I just did my 5 speed today, it is probably the ONLY thing Id ever pay someone else to do for me. Thinking about somehow installing a damn drain plug or next time-.-

 

[1_johnboy]

I recently had my 6 speed serviced at a dealership as I wanted a full flush done. Cost $400. They told me the box needs servicing at....get this 160kms!!!! I couldnt believe this. I have only had 4 speed autos in the past an done them at 12 months or 20kms.

Think I will continue to do at 12 month intervals. Im suspect they havent fully filled the system...after reading this Im gonna pull the drain and see if any fluid comes out...if not add untill it does.