Changing my tranny fluid (GT)

[Psychobroker]

I bought 4 quarts of Amsoil 75W-90 Severe Gear GL-5 synthetic gear lube, and was hoping to get Jiffy Lube to drain/flush my tranny and fill with this...well, they said they couldn't because the tranny is sealed. So, I called the dealership and asked them if they could do it, and they said no, not with my lube...what's the deal? JL said the tranny needed to be OPENED (?!). Can't it just be drained, and then lube added to the resevoir, or am I nuts?Can I just do this myself?

[DavidPIL]

Hey Psycho...You can do this yourself. I've done it twice in mine. You won't need 4 quarts though, should take a little over 2 (2.4 to be exact.)There is a How To on everything celica... it's basically the same tranny. The one thing that was different with mine than even the other GT Vibe tanny's on here was that the drain was a 24mm bolt but the fill was a 10mm hex. The process was very similar to a simple Oil drain except for that there isn't a filter and the fill is a little difficult to get to.I can't seem to be able to access the celica site now so I can't find the exact thread there for the change. If I can't get to the site, I can try to take pictures of the fill and drain locations so you have an idea where those are. You WILL need a funnel with an extention hose on it. Can get em at any auto parts place... THe website is http://www.everythingcelica.com/ . You can try to access it, look in the How To section. A lot of very useful stuff there... If the site is still up!Dave

[Raivis]

how often should you drain and fill with a manual, i always thought u didn't have too

[Jahntassa]

I was always under the impression that you shouldn't have to, but that can't stop someone from wanting to..

[DavidPIL]

Hi...For me, I changed mine the first time to hopefully get smoother shifts. Used Mobil One and found that it apparently thickened up too much in the cold weather making shifts almost impossible till the car had warmed up a bit... So I changed it the second time to Redline MT Oil and am finally happy. No major issues.As for having to, I'm not sure what the interval is but I think changing is only needed if you tow a trailer.. I guess there isn't enough friction happening to warrant a change. I've also heard that using a synthetic would render changing the fluid almost completely unnessecary and I've read that decent synth is already in there.Dave

[goodvibe]

I believe that a 30k normal inteval is recommended but treating it better doesn't hurt. I did my first drain after 10k of break-in. I've found that synth gear oils can change charateristics over time. I'm not sure it has to do with wearing out. I think that the additives can begin to plate synchros (protect the metal) and they become too slippery to function as well. That happened to me with Royal Purple. Shifted great when fresh but the synchro action was worse 9 mo. later. Synchros work with friction and are designed to wear gradually. With gear oil, it's a balancing act of wear, friction and synchro action. The synchro wear plus gear wear is a good reason to change even a synthetic at 30k. After all, there isn't a filter and a good oil keeps the smallest bits in suspension and therfore in circulation.

[Psychobroker]

Quote, originally posted by goodvibe »I believe that a 30k normal inteval is recommended but treating it better doesn't hurt. I did my first drain after 10k of break-in. I've found that synth gear oils can change charateristics over time. I'm not sure it has to do with wearing out. I think that the additives can begin to plate synchros (protect the metal) and they become too slippery to function as well. That happened to me with Royal Purple. Shifted great when fresh but the synchro action was worse 9 mo. later. Synchros work with friction and are designed to wear gradually. With gear oil, it's a balancing act of wear, friction and synchro action. The synchro wear plus gear wear is a good reason to change even a synthetic at 30k. After all, there isn't a filter and a good oil keeps the smallest bits in suspension and therfore in circulation.Yikes, maybe I should have gone with Amsoil's normal synth gear lube. So the stock lube is synth? I know that XRS/GT-S guys running Redline MT90 lube have nothing bu praise for it. Amsoil's severe gear lub e seems to be the equivalent...did I make a mistake?David, I'll try to find it on that site...thanks for the offer, i might have to take you up on it

[joatmon]

in my base 5 speed, I put in mobil1 synthetic at 60K miles, and had the bearings go out at 76K miles. Was the synth responsible or did it prolong the life of the bearings, I don't know, but I will always wonder

[Psychobroker]

Alright, haven't been able to find a walkthrough. Now that I'm thinking about it, I seem to remember someone at MO.com snapping pics of the drain plugs, etc, but couldn't find the post.

[DavidPIL]

Hi Psychobroker...I don't know how good of a walk-through I can give you. I no longer have the torque specs for each plug. I thought I had them notated on my maintenance records but apparently I didn't. I do however have pictures of the Drain and Fill locations. 1. Park the Vibe on a level surface! This is vitally important for the filling process cuz you fill to the bottom of the Fill Plug.2. Basically, drain the fluid (be sure to catch the oil in a pan. This stuff stinks!!!). You will want to open both the Fill and Drain plugs for the oil to come out easily (It's air tight and you may notice a slight hiss if you open the fill plug first. (See Photos!) Also note, the Fill Plug on my Tranny is a 10mm hex type bolt... Yours may be a 17mm regular bolt. check yours to be sure3. I would suggest, since you have 4 Quarts and only need 2.4 Quarts, to pour maybe half a Quart into the transmission with the drain plug off, to let it drain out. This might help clean out any of the old oil left in the bottom of the tranny.4. To fill, you will need a funnel with an extended hose (a clear hose works best so you can tell when the oil isn't going in anymore). Find the longest one you can. Insert the hose end into the Fill Plug hole. Before filling, make sure the Drain Plug is tight and torqued properly. (I don't remember this specification but I think it was around 25 ft lbs. Don't quote me on this though).5. You're good to pour 2 Quarts in but remember this stuff is a bit thicker than regular motor oil so it'll go in slowly. 6. After you have the 2 Quarts in, start pouring the next .4 quarts slowly. It's possible that the Tranny Oil will get full before the entire 2.4 Quarts get poured. You don't want to spill this stuff so pour slowly. 6. Once no more oil is going into the Tranny, it's full. Remove the Funnel+Hose, Secure the Fill Plug (Again, I don't have specifics on the torque but I believe it was 12 ft lbs. PLEASE check for the exact numbers before doing this though!!!), then clean up whatever overfill might have occurred. It's really just like changing the Engine Oil except both the Fill and Drain are plugs and there's no dipstick, just a full level up to the Fill Plug.Dave

[Psychobroker]

David -- thanks for thw walkthrough, and those pics should help a lot too!

[DavidPIL]

Hey... Just did some research on the torque specs... this site... http://www.trixology.org/Repair/ shows both the Drain and Fill @ 29 ft lbs. THe direct link to that info is http://www.trixology.org/Repai...0.pdfDave

[Psychobroker]

Thanks for all the advise David. I just finished changing my fluid to AMSoil severe gear, and I must say -- I do feel a difference! Shifts seem smother. Overall smoothness has increased Thanks also to larryd @ newcelica.org for this excellent walkthrough. Although, if I were to do it again, I'd try the funnel! The pump was a PITA!http://www.newcelica.org/forum...21104

[DavidPIL]

Hey... sorry I wasn't more detailed... The funnel with the extended tube thing really worked well for me. BTW, was your fill plug a regular bolt or a 10mm hex thing?Dave

[Psychobroker]

Bro -- your pics helped too, don't worry about which ones were more detailed. The fact that you went out and snapped me pics got me a little more motivated -- thank you MIne was a regular 17mm bolt, just like in larryd's pics. I do have a question though...do I need to worry about OVERfilling my tranny? I waitied until fliud started backingup, then capped it. But the manual says to keep the fluid level below the bottom of the fill plug hole...come to think of it, no fluid came backing out when I removed the fill plug, but I know some would flow out if i removed it now. Do I need to worry about this?

[DavidPIL]

Hi Psychobroker...I don't think I can answer that with any level of expertize at all. I do know that someone once mentioned not over filling the engine oil too much cuz it will have a tendency to froth up if the oil gets too high up in the engine. I dunno if the same issues would apply to the gears but I would assume so.I probably filled mine the same way you did. Used a hose extention on a funnel. Once the oil stopped going in, I pulled the tube out and capped it. There was some oil backing out of the tranny as I capped it, but it couldn't have been more than maybe 1/4th or so over the full mark. I haven't experienced any problems but I probably should have leveled it off before capping it.I don't understand why my tranny has that 10 mm hex bolt. When I first did this proceedure, I had the most difficult time finding the fill because everyone told me it was a regular bolt. For some odd reason, mine is different... wish I knew why.Dave

[Psychobroker]

Wow, that is weird though about the 10mm bolt.Oh well, I'll go let it drain a bit more just to be safe.

[syclnjr]

David I have a 10 mm Hex bolt on mine also and it is an 04 GT.

[DavidPIL]

hmmm... must be an '04 thing. My Vibe was fairly late in the '03 production cycle so could be a cross-over part.Dave

[21Rouge]

Quote, originally posted by Psychobroker »I do have a question though...do I need to worry about OVERfilling my tranny? I waitied until fliud started backingup, then capped it. But the manual says to keep the fluid level below the bottom of the fill plug hole. Do I need to worry about this?But with no dipstick doesnt that imply that the transmission case needs to be full to the top ie to have the fluid backup just a bit to know it has the right amount of fluid?

[21Rouge]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »in my base 5 speed, I put in mobil1 synthetic at 60K miles, Joatmon, I assume the factory fluid is *not* synthetic right?

[joatmon]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »in my base 5 speed, I put in mobil1 synthetic at 60K miles, and had the bearings go out at 76K miles. Was the synth responsible or did it prolong the life of the bearings, I don't know, but I will always wonderI don't know if the 5 speed comes from the factory with synthetic or not. I did have to replace my tranny at 75K miles, 15K after I put Mobil 1 synthetic in. However, I now (5K miles later) have to replace the second tranny for exactly the same differential bearing failures with a different oil, so although I said "I will always wonder" I am not wondering about the oil anymore, I am wondering what about my car is killing trannies, and what else I need to replace on the car to keep tranny #3 from suffering the same fate as 1 and 2. So I'm not concerned about the type of oil anymore, mine has a more significant problem.

[MadBill]

Here's a long-shot cause of repeat bearing failures: Missing/defective ground straps. I have seen cars burn up U-joints in less than 5,000 miles because a detached ground strap was causing a couple of hundred amps of battery cranking power to flow through the needle bearings.