Changing tranny fluid...

[Zektor]

Hi All,
I want to change the fluid in my tranny. My question is, will new fluid improve shift smoothness compared to old fluid?

I find that my tranny whumps into gear when moved say from N to D. Instead of taking up the gear lightly it seems as if it wants to fly off even at low idle speeds. I have adjusted the TV cable on many an occasion. I doesn't appear to get any better. I'm sure it's not supposed to shift this hard. Can the TV cable stretch??? Maybe it's seen better days and needs replacing. If so, how easy is it to replace the cable?

Thanks
Dazza

[78SilvAnniv]

In my experience, if the 78 is 'cold' she will torque into gear pretty strongly, due to the high idle. When she is 'warm' it is not bad at all. Does your tranny have a shift kit in it? This may be the cause for hard shifts.

I have no idea about the shift cable.

Here's an idea Kenny came up with for changing tranny fluid, but it takes several weeks and several applications.
BUT IT IS SO EASY!
I do this myself, after Kenny made the initial set-up.

You'll need a tall bucket with a close fitting lid, a sharp knife, some small diameter flexible tubing (about 8'), duct tape and a shop vac, set on suction.

Cut two tight holes in the bucket lid, one for the shop vac hose and one for the flexible tubing. Insert hose and tube only a few inches into the bucket lid, at least 6" apart from each other.

Duct tape around the hose, tube and bucket lid for a good seal.

Feed the flexible tubing down the tranny dip stick until you're in the pan, turn on the shop vac (suction).

If you have a clear flexible tube, you will see what looks like a blood tranny-fusion!

This will suck out about 3-3.5 quarts. Replace with new, repeat weekly as needed until fluid is clear.
Hopefully someone with TV cable experience will post with that information. Hope my info is helpful.
Heidi

I want to change the fluid in my tranny.

Cool trick, Heidi!


But*** that transmission fluid filter HAS TO BE CHANGED in order for any shift quality to return.
Use Heidi's cool trick transmission sucker, to get most of the
fluid out. Then remove the pan, you'll be suprised to see how
much gunk & mud is in there! Clean the pan with solvent & let it
air dry , drying with a cloth leaves lint behind, you dont want that.
Install a new filter & gasket, tork to proper tightness & fill it up.
It's real easy ( if i can do it, it must be easy!)
You'll notice a big difference. gary.

[78SilvAnniv]

Drop the pan, drain, clean, change filter THEN use my method regularly!
Heidi

[chuck]

This is just a thought. Why couldn't you take the tranny cooling line that goes into the raditor off slip a hose over the end, put the hose in a bucket start the engine and let it pump into the bucket. Any one ever try this. Chuck

[Evolution1980]

Do yourself a favor...if you are going to drop the pan, replace it with a nice aluminum one with cooling fins and magnetic drain plug. Makes it all that easier, as well as acts as a mild cooler for your tranny fluid...the one I got also holds an extra quart or so, so that helps everything as well...

[Zektor]

Ok, I think I am going to do this based on all your comments. If the filter is so easy to change and all that, can I do it with the car on the ground... or will I have to get it on ramps etc.

I've only got a small garage!!!!

Cheers
Dazza

[Mad-Mic]

it would be alot easier to just take it to a shop for 50 bucks plus cost of material it's well worth it cause you really got to get under the pan and loosen all bolts and it's a total mess. changing oil and tranny fluid is too different things.

now if you don't mind getting slopped up and cramped up yes you can do it. i don't know how many bolts but it's a pan about half a baker sheet wide and long with bolts all the way around the pan and you drop the pan take the filter out put the new one in and put the new gasket on while cleaning the old gasket out of the pan and while your at it clean the pan real good to get any metal flake out and reassemble.

with this method you don't get "all" the fluid out. you still got about a quart and a half still in the torque converter but considering my 87 Z52 coupe held 6 quarts of fluid.

some things i just don't do unless i got a lift. i know of a few shops that do reputable work and i barter e-solutions for mechanical work but i'm sure you can find a good quality shop that takes pride in their work to do good deals if you take all your work to them that you can't do yourself. after what i called rebreaking my vette in since it only had 32k in miles for an 87 after 2000 miles i found a shop to do a full tune up. plugs cap wires any little stuff like putting in new air filter doing the trans fluid change, greasing the fittings and just tuning it for me. before it ran pretty rich IMO aftwards seems still rich but not as much. i only smell fuel on cold start ups. i think they did a great job. for 4 hours worth of time they had my car they only charged me $110 i bought all the parts. my friend owns an a/c auto shop in the same industrial park that does alot of work for ford and some other dealers in the baltimore area and he hooked me up.

since my uncle added on his 4 car garage for his top alcohol dragster the concrete pad got used for the foundation and the lift got sold cause he hardly ever used it as a personal item. i don't do brakes either....lol but i'll pull a motor, pull the tranny, port, polish, and any troubleshooting thru a snap on scanner 3000 for any codes on her. for some reason i really like tuning and am learning it thru my uncles operation with the laptop reading the computer thru that and then putting a tune from the data to the car which is harder than you think with 4000 hp and yes thats 4000....lol

i've been tuning with the snap on 3000 since 91 on my 82 Z/28 i need to start playing with it on the vette. so far i haven't gotten any codes to make an excuse to put it on

[Mad-Mic]

Originally posted by chuck
This is just a thought. Why couldn't you take the tranny cooling line that goes into the raditor off slip a hose over the end, put the hose in a bucket start the engine and let it pump into the bucket. Any one ever try this. Chuck

heat kills tranny's once it gets low don't take long to chew up and you don't want that. tranny fluid and long life is a delicate thing. too low it burns out to high it blows out

with oil you can actually run the car with 2-3 quarts total and it'll run for 50,000 miles! see all those nissan smokers? with the trans if your 2 or 3 quarts low maybe 5000 miles if that. now i highly wouldn't advise budgetting money and save a quart of oil based on those figures

[Mad-Mic]

sorry fella's i didn't realized i posted in the C3 section there is some very informative posts in the C4 section regarding automatics also so naturally coming on to the site and seeing another article posted about tranny's i thought it was in the C4 section

[c4ever]

Zector,
Do it on your own. It's a simple procedure. I would suggest rubber not cork gasket. Torque bolts at 15lbs. NO MORE! No sealers. 5-6 quarts of fluid. DO NOT OVERFILL. The C3 is an easy car to get under and if you take your time the mess is not all that bad. The best part is, you know it's done right

If you want to siphon fluids prior to removing the pan, or for that matter, any fluids (oil,brake,etc) get a topsider. It's a great tool to have. Saves wear on the shop-vac

Even the mechanically challenged like myself can get this one done

Carlo

[Evolution1980]

One other thing to note... tranny fluid stays VERY HOT for a VERY LONG time after the car's been off. Give it a solid couple of hours before changing it. If you need to drop the pan because you don't have drain plug, the fluid goes all over. ON the other hand, changing when it's hot will give beeter chances of getting crap out of the lines, as it's still suspended in the fluid.

But that's why I have a magnetic drain plug. It catches a good amount of debris...