How To: Change manual transmisson fluid
How To: Change manual transmisson fluid
Transmission fluid is often overlooked when doing basic maintenance on a vehicle. I decided to swap mine out for some Redline MTL manual transmission fluid. There are several options as far as aftermarket alternatives for the fluid, including the oem's recommended ATF+4. Please note that some of the older models (00-02) may suggest a different fluid, so check with the FSM or with the dealer before using something else.
Est. time: 1-2 hours
MATERIALS:
* 3 quarts of the MTX fluid of your choice.
* A tube/hose about 1/2" to 5/8" in diam. and 2-3 feet in length.
* Various sized funnels
* Pan to catch and store the fluid.
* Jack, stands, (or ramps), chocks, and various basic hand tools.
STEP 1
Park the car on a level spot and raise it high enough to crawl under it comfortably. Be sure to use jackstands. Pull the ebrake up all the way, and use wheel chocks in the rear if you have them. Lay down some cardboard underneath to prevent the ground from getting fluid all over it.
STEP 2
Slide under the front of the car and locate the drain plug at the lower right side of the differential housing on the transmission. Grab your drain pan, and a funnel to catch the fluid. Using an 8mm allen wrench, loosen the plug slowly, and remove it. The fluid doesnt come out too fast, so a well postitioned funnel and pan will prevent much of a mess. Allow several minutes for the fluid to completely drain.
STEP 3
Replace the drain plug, and torque it to 250 in lbs (appx 21 ft lbs). Be careful not to overtighten.
STEP 4
Clear out anything that might be under the car and lower it back down. Be sure to remove the wheel chocks if you used them, so you dont forget them later. Keep the cardboard underneath the transmission to catch the new fluid that may drip out later.
STEP 5
This part of the procedure isnt necessarily required, but if youre not using a lift, its the best way to do this. Loosen the battery-wire terminal nuts with a 10mm wrench and isolate them from the terminals. Remove your strut tower brace if you have one, using a 13mm socket. Loosen the 13mm battery hold-down bolt behind the battery, and remove the battery from the tray.
Remove the four 10mm screws/nuts that hold down the battery tray, as well as the 13mm screw on the lower front of the tray. Remove the battery tray.
[/b]
STEP 6
This part of the procedure can be done many ways. Locate the rubber fill plug on the drivers side of the transmission, directly under the master cylinder. Remove it. Using your hose (and a small funnel at the bottom of it, if necesarry), fill the transmission slowly. Keep an eye on the fill hole, making sure all the fluid goes in. This can be pretty tedious, so take your time and spill as little as possible. The FSM calls for the fluid to reach 3/16" below the opening at the fill hole, but its safe to let it fill until it overflows a bit. Replace the rubber plug.
STEP 7
Reinstall the battery tray, reverse of the way you took it out. Do the same with the battery, tightening the battery hold-down carefully. Do not overtighten, or you could damage the battery. Reinstall your strut tower brace if applicable, and torque to 25 ft lbs. Once everything is good and snug, clean up your mess, put your tools away, and take the car out for a spin!
Special thanks to racer12306 for his help and info. All comments and suggestions are welcome. Feel free to PM with any specifc questions. Thank you.
-OB
Est. time: 1-2 hours
MATERIALS:
* 3 quarts of the MTX fluid of your choice.
* A tube/hose about 1/2" to 5/8" in diam. and 2-3 feet in length.
* Various sized funnels
* Pan to catch and store the fluid.
* Jack, stands, (or ramps), chocks, and various basic hand tools.
STEP 1
Park the car on a level spot and raise it high enough to crawl under it comfortably. Be sure to use jackstands. Pull the ebrake up all the way, and use wheel chocks in the rear if you have them. Lay down some cardboard underneath to prevent the ground from getting fluid all over it.
STEP 2
Slide under the front of the car and locate the drain plug at the lower right side of the differential housing on the transmission. Grab your drain pan, and a funnel to catch the fluid. Using an 8mm allen wrench, loosen the plug slowly, and remove it. The fluid doesnt come out too fast, so a well postitioned funnel and pan will prevent much of a mess. Allow several minutes for the fluid to completely drain.
STEP 3
Replace the drain plug, and torque it to 250 in lbs (appx 21 ft lbs). Be careful not to overtighten.
STEP 4
Clear out anything that might be under the car and lower it back down. Be sure to remove the wheel chocks if you used them, so you dont forget them later. Keep the cardboard underneath the transmission to catch the new fluid that may drip out later.
STEP 5
This part of the procedure isnt necessarily required, but if youre not using a lift, its the best way to do this. Loosen the battery-wire terminal nuts with a 10mm wrench and isolate them from the terminals. Remove your strut tower brace if you have one, using a 13mm socket. Loosen the 13mm battery hold-down bolt behind the battery, and remove the battery from the tray.
Remove the four 10mm screws/nuts that hold down the battery tray, as well as the 13mm screw on the lower front of the tray. Remove the battery tray.
[/b]
STEP 6
This part of the procedure can be done many ways. Locate the rubber fill plug on the drivers side of the transmission, directly under the master cylinder. Remove it. Using your hose (and a small funnel at the bottom of it, if necesarry), fill the transmission slowly. Keep an eye on the fill hole, making sure all the fluid goes in. This can be pretty tedious, so take your time and spill as little as possible. The FSM calls for the fluid to reach 3/16" below the opening at the fill hole, but its safe to let it fill until it overflows a bit. Replace the rubber plug.
STEP 7
Reinstall the battery tray, reverse of the way you took it out. Do the same with the battery, tightening the battery hold-down carefully. Do not overtighten, or you could damage the battery. Reinstall your strut tower brace if applicable, and torque to 25 ft lbs. Once everything is good and snug, clean up your mess, put your tools away, and take the car out for a spin!
Special thanks to racer12306 for his help and info. All comments and suggestions are welcome. Feel free to PM with any specifc questions. Thank you.
-OB
Last edited by OB on Sun Apr 15, 2007 2:59 am, edited 3 times in total.
-Derek
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cabb- thanks!
korey- you could get away with ramps no problem. I dont use them, so I didnt think to include them. Ill throw that in right now.
And yes, if you have boogers that need installing, this is a great time to throw them on.
korey- you could get away with ramps no problem. I dont use them, so I didnt think to include them. Ill throw that in right now.
And yes, if you have boogers that need installing, this is a great time to throw them on.
-Derek
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You can also put the fluid in the reverse light switch. This method is much, much easier. Just remove the wire pigtail, unscrew the sensor and start pouring it in. It will fill up to the hole on the side where you remove the plug so you can see it. Very easy if you have a spotter.
Also start slowing down with your pouring speed when you get to 2.4 or so quarts.
Also start slowing down with your pouring speed when you get to 2.4 or so quarts.
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Out of curiosity, could you post a screen shot of the 48000 mile fluid change interval. I have searched for an interval in the past and wasn't able to find one.
Good write up.
You can also take off the driver side tire and the fill plug is easily accessible. You will still need a long hose or a long flex funnel.
Good write up.
You can also take off the driver side tire and the fill plug is easily accessible. You will still need a long hose or a long flex funnel.
-Frank
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danman, yeah thats a way to go as well, but I wanted to keep it by the book. Good tip
-Derek
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You sir are a genius. Good idea.danman132x wrote:You can also put the fluid in the reverse light switch.
Also start slowing down with your pouring speed when you get to 2.4 or so quarts.
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I miss my neon at times. She treated me well and taught me a lot about cars in general. I will always have a special place in my heart for these cars. Heres to the 2gn community.
I just ran out to my garage to check that for you, and sure enough, in the maintenance and lubrication section (0-7) the FSM states that one should change the mtx fluid at 48k miles. However, I must have missed the following sentence, which basically said that the said procedure only needed to be done if the vehicle was used under certain conditions (i.e. taxi) which would require extra maintenance on the transmission. Anyways, I didnt waste my time taking a picture of my mistake, and im gonna edit that part out right now. thanks frank, nice catch.racer12306 wrote:Out of curiosity, could you post a screen shot of the 48000 mile fluid change interval. I have searched for an interval in the past and wasn't able to find one.
Good write up.
You can also take off the driver side tire and the fill plug is easily accessible. You will still need a long hose or a long flex funnel.
oh and I thought about taking the wheel off and seeing if it was easily accessible, but that would have made it pretty difficult to lower the car back down and get it level for accurate filling of the fluid. Otherwise (for those of you who have access to a lift) that is a very good idea. Whatever works, right?
-Derek
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having a lift kicks ass. it makes work so much easier.
one thing you can do is lower the jack down so that the car appears level and then you will be good. but if you are using ramps it wouldnt help you.
one thing you can do is lower the jack down so that the car appears level and then you will be good. but if you are using ramps it wouldnt help you.
-Frank
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What school do you go to?
It isnt a necessity to change it, but its a good idea. especially if you drive the car hard and/or shift often during your daily routine.
It isnt a necessity to change it, but its a good idea. especially if you drive the car hard and/or shift often during your daily routine.
-Derek
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It has been shown and some manufacturers actually require gear oil changes early on once just to get wear in metals out. MTX is just a big gear box. So I would recommend it at least once to good synthetic oil. I used Amsoil ATF that they say meets ATF+4 and works great.
Also another way if you have room to get under neath easy enough is to use a syphon pump thingy (looks like grease gun) and fill it that way (how I did mine).
But that way works easy enough.
Also another way if you have room to get under neath easy enough is to use a syphon pump thingy (looks like grease gun) and fill it that way (how I did mine).
But that way works easy enough.
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Its very tough to get a hose to the fill plug from above, and even if you could, holding in without spilling the 7$ fluid (well, in my case) is nearly impossible. If you fill it in the reverse light switch as mentioned above, you might save some time. Removing the batt and tray takes 10 mins and makes things a ton easier if you care to do things by the book. Removing the driver side wheel seems to be another alternative, but I avoid that if possible because im lazy.
-Derek
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When i did mine i did both i took out the battery tray 4 bolts up top and one bigger one in the middle on the bottom of the tray its kinda hard to get to if your using your stock air box setup but i got it and i took off the drivers side wheel made it easy to get the hose in there then after the hose was in there good i put the wheel back on in a pattern where i can see the fluid coming out so i know when to stop filling
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^^^damn right that battery tray is a pain when you have the airbox in. i elected to leave my airbox in when i did my boogers. that was a mistake.
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I don't think this was mentioned, but if you want the fluid to come hauling out of the drain hole, pull the fill plug. If you leave the fill plug in it will be like turning a soda bottle up side down, it will come out in spurts. But with the fill plug removed it takes all of about 30 seconds (or less) for the fluid to be out.
Think of when you shotgun a beer, the beer doesn't start hauling ass until you pop the top.
Think of when you shotgun a beer, the beer doesn't start hauling ass until you pop the top.
-Frank
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I'm going to have to do this one of these weekends coming up.
I haven't looked yet (and its probably obvious) but where it the reverse light switch? I've seen the rubber plug before while I was under the car, but haven't ever paid attention to the reverse light switch. Anyone use the AMSOIL Synthetic Synchromesh fluid? I think that's teh way I'm going to go.
I haven't looked yet (and its probably obvious) but where it the reverse light switch? I've seen the rubber plug before while I was under the car, but haven't ever paid attention to the reverse light switch. Anyone use the AMSOIL Synthetic Synchromesh fluid? I think that's teh way I'm going to go.
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The AMSOIL MTF is supposed to be the top stuff for our transmissions.
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I checked it out briefly, and I can't find the reverse light switch, or I just don't know what I'm looking for. Either way, anyone able to post a picture or explain where its located? Is there a possiblity of breaking teh switch when removing it? Thanks!
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I'm sure you've found it by now, but I'm going to do this myself today and I had the same question. I looked in the FSM and found this pic:neonxrt wrote:I checked it out briefly, and I can't find the reverse light switch, or I just don't know what I'm looking for. Either way, anyone able to post a picture or explain where its located? Is there a possiblity of breaking teh switch when removing it? Thanks!
Hopefully that helps anyone else who has the same question.
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