How to Drain/Refill Automatic Transmission

You will still have it for future projects though!

 

wat

$20

 

You can do this without a torque wrench. 65 in-lb is a firm ONE HAND tight on a 3/8" ratchet. Grip the ratchet by the head, not the handle.

Just run the bolts to snug on the first go around. 2nd time work a "star" pattern a bit more tight. 3rd time do the final one hand torque follow a star pattern. Run through Temp Check procedure to verify fill level. While under there you can check for leaks. Tighten a little more if leaks.

No need to go gorilla or Hercules.

 

Dude. You just saved me some major cash. Over the phone they had found this:



And thanks to you I knew to look for this:

Appreciate that...since I did manage to find something inexpensive I’m all good...I’m particular if there’s a torque value, especially with aluminum cases...

 

What procedure did you use on your transmission?[/QUOTE]

This one.

I don't have a dipstick pan - yet...

 

Well, I'd say you are still saving over having someone else do it!

If you weren't too OCD (as I often am), you could get by with making those bolts snug, not tight, and I'd bet money you'd be just fine...

 

So, inch-pound torque wrench in hand, I drained and dropped the pan. By the time I pulled the filter, about 4.2 ish total quarts came out. Cleaned the pan, magnets and filter, put on the new o-ring and gasket, put it all back together. Pumped in 5 quarts.

Went to do the temp check and it took about 5 mins to get the hang of it. I also took time to idle and circulate the fluid before the temp check. Unfortunately when I went into park the light was already blinking. It’s about 80 F here and humid, but I’m surprised it got that hot that fast. Will try again later tonight.

 

Did you take any photos of the pan once you dropped it.....would be interesting how much crud is found at the bottom and the condition of the magnets
Keep us posted - Go Team TW

 

I did actually, I’ll put together a write up this weekend and link to it from here.

Here’s the pan and magnets, before and after:

 

[QUOTE

Nice job, how many miles on the 2015?

 

Thanks! 65K

 

Gave her a 90 minute rest, came back and the light went solid. Overflow plug gave me a steady but small stream. Went back up to the cab for a look and the light was already blinking. Well, stream had slowed to a trickle so I capped it right there and called it a day.

I’d say the original fluid was low by about .3 qt or maybe a bit more, based on the cumulative fluid drained and what I pumped in. So, the original post recommendation to overfill by at least 1/3 qt prior to level check is a good one.

 

ive had fluid sitting in the garage for like 1.5yrs...lol. maybe one of these days

 

Pretty sure I got mine right. But what would happen with an under or overfill? Under I assume would get too hot and throw a code, is there a pressure sensor that would also throw a code in the event of overfilled?

I be clear - I got no codes. Just smooth sailing.

 

As long as the temp was relatively close to the check temp, any amount of over or under from "optimal" would likely have no effect at all (and "optimal" is probably a pretty wide range, as the check temp is a range). There's a lot of fluid in the system, so I would argue that being half a quart high or low would probably not cause any issues at all. The engineers probably know exactly how much it can be over or under before there's a problem, and I bet it is a pretty wide range for a margin of safety.

I don't think there are any pressure sensors, just a couple of temp sensors.

 

So I think I'm ready to tackle this. My truck has 96k on it and I believe it's the OG fluid. I plan on doing the drain/fill x 4 as I believe that puts it around 93% fully changed/circulated.
I've read all the debates on not touching it and I just can't do it as I plan to have this thing for awhile....
I plan on using my OBD Fusion app for getting the trans temp. This should be fine correct? I figure the 115-130 F temp on the OBD should be just as accurate.

 

Once you take the time and do the first D&F exact with the correct temp. The other 3 are simply replacing exactly what you drained from the pan. Mine was right at 3 qts. Count your ounces, know exactly how much the pan will hold and your golden for future Drain and fills.

 

Frankly, I wouldn't bother with OBD gadgets. I'd just use the Temp Check mode system built into the truck.

Don't really care what the actual temperature is, ONLY that the truck knows and is happy.

 

My recommendation, if you’re doing multiple drain and flushes in one sitting, is to replace approximately what comes out each time and then overfill and level set on the last one. Obviously turn the truck on and cycle through all the gears in between each.

 

If you assume the system starts with about 12 quarts, and you replace 3 qts on average each drain and fill (maybe more because of the drain, overfill and level set), the actual amount of original fluid remaining is .75^4 or 31.6%. So your system has 68.4% new fluid. This also assumes the old and new mix together evenly on each fill.