My first DIY Diff/Tranny fluid change... what an adventure!
01-16-2004, 01:27 PM
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My first DIY Diff/Tranny fluid change... what an adventure!
What an ordeal!
Since this was my first attempt at changing these fluids, the hassle factor was quite higher than expected. So here goes:
My car had hit 10,000 miles a couple of weeks back and I was really anxious to change out the differential fluid and might as well do the transmission while I am under the car. I read up on Xviper's two DIY threads on performing these changes. What I went through might be interesting for those of you who want to attempt this the first time.
I tried to find Mobil 75W90 gear oil, and it was nowhere to be found. Luckily, I knew of a place that carried RedLine, so I picked up two quarts of MT-90 and one quart of 75W90. I also bought a couple of jackstands, and two "caps" that replace the tops of the oil jugs that have small hoses attached. Also picked up a torque wrench.
BTW, I had to go to three different places just to find all of this stuff.
I check how these hoses attach to the bottles, and what do you know, they have it set up so you can use either the narrow (Mobil) or widemouth (Honda) bottle!
Redline doesn't use either size
they're "special" ... back to the drawing board... I had some empty spraybottles. The kind that come empty. These fit the hose, so I will use two of these.
It was getting dark, but I had plenty of light, so I wanted to jack the car up. Jack doesn't fit under the car.
Bring out some 12" long 2 x 4's and roll up a tire on them. That did it.
The jack stands did absolutely NOTHING to give me any sort of confidence to climb under the car. I guess this makes me a real
I have a couple of tire ramps (useless for this car) and had an idea. So I waited until today.
Today, I jack up the driver's side, lower the car on the ramps and settle the car on the jackstands. Car is rock-stable now and I climb under. I had no problems at all getting the bolts off the differential, but when the drain plug came out and the black goo started shooting out of pumpkin like pus from an infected boil, then the stink hit me and I almost puked along with the pumpkin in the oil catch tank
.
I scrambled out from under the car holding my prize: the fill and drain plugs. Gasping for air, I looked carefully at the plug an it didn't look all that different than the fill plug. So I started wiping, and wiping and wiping. Quite a bit of black sludge came off and now the drain plug looked very different. I cleaned them up to look like new and put on the new crush washers. I lowered the car and waited a while. I was looking at the sludge carefully and noticed it was magnetic - and there was a lot of it. No metal chunks, so I was relieved.
Jacking up the car, I replaced the drain bolt, and torque it to spec. I'm gonna have to spring for a better torque wrench (a clicker) one of these days, because I cannot read the meter easily on this thing when it is less than 4" from my face. I start to put in the gear oil. Since there is no way to "gravity fill" I have to squeeze it. Over and over. I was concerned that there might not be enough, so I tried to get as much in as possible. Hose kinks and other hassles tried to thwart my efforts, but I managed to get almost all of it in. I lower the car and see the excess fluid draining. When it slowed, I jacked up the car. The fill bolt was easier to put on, and the yellow mark the factory put on it helped me torque it back down.
The tranny looked a lot easier. I popped out the fill bolt and then the drain bolt (no galvanic adhesion) and they came off with minimal fuss. I put a bit of paper towel over the grill on the oil catch tank to see if any metal bits come out. Thankfully, there were none. Lowered the car and waited a bit. Raised it and popped in the drain bolt.
The MT-90 was a breeze to put in since there was nothing to obstruct the hose. The fact that the oil seemed less viscous also helped a lot. Two quarts in (a slight overfill) and the fill bolt went back on.
Lowered the car and did a general clean-up. Then I took it for a spin. No real difference anywhere I can see, shifting feels "different". It's a better different, but then I'll know for sure when I start it up in the morning when it's cold. The 1->2 shift in the morning is pretty rough and notchy, I'd love to see it improve. However, I am very happy I finally got rid of all the break-in fluids.
So that's about it. I certainly learned a lot, and the next time will go a bit smoother.
__________________
2003 Silverstone/Black #1505
Running MPG Diary
Since this was my first attempt at changing these fluids, the hassle factor was quite higher than expected. So here goes:
My car had hit 10,000 miles a couple of weeks back and I was really anxious to change out the differential fluid and might as well do the transmission while I am under the car. I read up on Xviper's two DIY threads on performing these changes. What I went through might be interesting for those of you who want to attempt this the first time.
I tried to find Mobil 75W90 gear oil, and it was nowhere to be found. Luckily, I knew of a place that carried RedLine, so I picked up two quarts of MT-90 and one quart of 75W90. I also bought a couple of jackstands, and two "caps" that replace the tops of the oil jugs that have small hoses attached. Also picked up a torque wrench.
BTW, I had to go to three different places just to find all of this stuff.
I check how these hoses attach to the bottles, and what do you know, they have it set up so you can use either the narrow (Mobil) or widemouth (Honda) bottle!
Redline doesn't use either size
they're "special" ... back to the drawing board... I had some empty spraybottles. The kind that come empty. These fit the hose, so I will use two of these.It was getting dark, but I had plenty of light, so I wanted to jack the car up. Jack doesn't fit under the car.
Bring out some 12" long 2 x 4's and roll up a tire on them. That did it.The jack stands did absolutely NOTHING to give me any sort of confidence to climb under the car. I guess this makes me a real
I have a couple of tire ramps (useless for this car) and had an idea. So I waited until today.Today, I jack up the driver's side, lower the car on the ramps and settle the car on the jackstands. Car is rock-stable now and I climb under. I had no problems at all getting the bolts off the differential, but when the drain plug came out and the black goo started shooting out of pumpkin like pus from an infected boil, then the stink hit me and I almost puked along with the pumpkin in the oil catch tank
.I scrambled out from under the car holding my prize: the fill and drain plugs. Gasping for air, I looked carefully at the plug an it didn't look all that different than the fill plug. So I started wiping, and wiping and wiping. Quite a bit of black sludge came off and now the drain plug looked very different. I cleaned them up to look like new and put on the new crush washers. I lowered the car and waited a while. I was looking at the sludge carefully and noticed it was magnetic - and there was a lot of it. No metal chunks, so I was relieved.
Jacking up the car, I replaced the drain bolt, and torque it to spec. I'm gonna have to spring for a better torque wrench (a clicker) one of these days, because I cannot read the meter easily on this thing when it is less than 4" from my face. I start to put in the gear oil. Since there is no way to "gravity fill" I have to squeeze it. Over and over. I was concerned that there might not be enough, so I tried to get as much in as possible. Hose kinks and other hassles tried to thwart my efforts, but I managed to get almost all of it in. I lower the car and see the excess fluid draining. When it slowed, I jacked up the car. The fill bolt was easier to put on, and the yellow mark the factory put on it helped me torque it back down.
The tranny looked a lot easier. I popped out the fill bolt and then the drain bolt (no galvanic adhesion) and they came off with minimal fuss. I put a bit of paper towel over the grill on the oil catch tank to see if any metal bits come out. Thankfully, there were none. Lowered the car and waited a bit. Raised it and popped in the drain bolt.
The MT-90 was a breeze to put in since there was nothing to obstruct the hose. The fact that the oil seemed less viscous also helped a lot. Two quarts in (a slight overfill) and the fill bolt went back on.
Lowered the car and did a general clean-up. Then I took it for a spin. No real difference anywhere I can see, shifting feels "different". It's a better different, but then I'll know for sure when I start it up in the morning when it's cold. The 1->2 shift in the morning is pretty rough and notchy, I'd love to see it improve. However, I am very happy I finally got rid of all the break-in fluids.
So that's about it. I certainly learned a lot, and the next time will go a bit smoother.
__________________
2003 Silverstone/Black #1505
Running MPG Diary
01-16-2004, 02:16 PM
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Wierd. Thats the second time I've heard that the diff. oil was stinky; mine wasn't at all. Smelled like...well, oil.
Mine also wasn't particularly sludgy.
Anyway, good stuff.
Mine also wasn't particularly sludgy.
Anyway, good stuff.
01-16-2004, 02:25 PM
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Which jack point were you using? I found it very easy to jack up the right-front, then insert a jack stand in the right-rear. Or vice-versa. There really isn't a need to use the 2x4 method.
