TimKustom
Registered
Finally got around to doing my trannie fluid change and 1-2 accumulator upgrade. Fun job indeed!
I consider myself a decent shadetree mechanic, but have never done any transmission work. I wouldn't even consider this job without the excellent instructions provided by LOD.
There were a few things that I'd like to let everyone know from my experience that might help anyone doing this job in the future, even though I assume most have done this job at some point.
First of all, I did mine using jack stands. It's recommended to use ramps; I second that. You need the car up pretty high to be comfortable. I'm a skinny guy and was a bit cramped.
There wasn't as much "raining fluid" as I thought there would be. Nice surprise.
Removing the pan from the car: Not fun at all! The linkage on the drivers side looked to pose a clearance problem, but what I'll call "rubber beer cans" that are attached to the exhaust system really got in the way! Couldn't really figure out what they are there for except maybe in the event of a crash the exhaust doesn't tear up the trannie?
I'm still not sure how I got the pan out, but after much cussing and some "Jedi mind skills" it somehow came free.
I was surprised how much crud was in the pan. Most appeared to be Arizona dust, but the magnet was covered pretty good IMO. Not what I expected in a 28k mile transmission.
(Cleaned)
Replacing the accumulator was a piece of cake. I thought there was no way a 5 inch C-clamp was gonna fit where it needed to go, but it slid in there like it was made for it. Thanks HOTLNC!
I found a set of snap ring pliers at Harbor Freight that included the needed 9" pair. I used the pair with the angle tips. I'm all about quality tools, but didn't feel I needed to spend big bucks for this tool. The Harbor Freight set was a whopping $11 and included 10 other sets of Pliers.
I could see some wear on the accumulator piston, but the inside bore looked fine. No broken springs, but I used the new springs to be safe.
(Other side)
Note that when you remove the accumulator piston there is a good amount of fluid behind it. Glad I had my pan close by and my face outta the way!
On the reinstall for some reason the pan slid right back in no problem. I did a "dry run" first to see if I could figure out how it comes out. Got it back out after 10 more minutes of cussing and using "The Force." That C-clamp came in handy to move the rubber beer can out of the way.
Everything else went very smoothly. While the converter drained, I replaced the front brakes since I had the car up in the air.
It took 11 and 1/2 quarts to fill it back up. Poured 6 qts in to begin with then I would start it, let it idle a bit, shift back and forth, then keep filling as needed.
Car shifts fabulous now. Noticed on a WOT run that it turned on the traction control light during a 1-2 shift. Haven't noticed it do that before.
Just want to say thanks to those that contributed to the "paper" as well as LOD for hosting it. I want to see our Mark go at least 200k miles as many cars here have done. Hope this "long read" helps anybody else doing this job.
I consider myself a decent shadetree mechanic, but have never done any transmission work. I wouldn't even consider this job without the excellent instructions provided by LOD.
There were a few things that I'd like to let everyone know from my experience that might help anyone doing this job in the future, even though I assume most have done this job at some point.
First of all, I did mine using jack stands. It's recommended to use ramps; I second that. You need the car up pretty high to be comfortable. I'm a skinny guy and was a bit cramped.
There wasn't as much "raining fluid" as I thought there would be. Nice surprise.
Removing the pan from the car: Not fun at all!
The linkage on the drivers side looked to pose a clearance problem, but what I'll call "rubber beer cans" that are attached to the exhaust system really got in the way! Couldn't really figure out what they are there for except maybe in the event of a crash the exhaust doesn't tear up the trannie?
I'm still not sure how I got the pan out, but after much cussing and some "Jedi mind skills" it somehow came free.
I was surprised how much crud was in the pan. Most appeared to be Arizona dust, but the magnet was covered pretty good IMO. Not what I expected in a 28k mile transmission.
(Cleaned)
Replacing the accumulator was a piece of cake. I thought there was no way a 5 inch C-clamp was gonna fit where it needed to go, but it slid in there like it was made for it. Thanks HOTLNC!
I found a set of snap ring pliers at Harbor Freight that included the needed 9" pair. I used the pair with the angle tips. I'm all about quality tools, but didn't feel I needed to spend big bucks for this tool. The Harbor Freight set was a whopping $11 and included 10 other sets of Pliers.
I could see some wear on the accumulator piston, but the inside bore looked fine. No broken springs, but I used the new springs to be safe.
(Other side)
Note that when you remove the accumulator piston there is a good amount of fluid behind it. Glad I had my pan close by and my face outta the way!
On the reinstall for some reason the pan slid right back in no problem. I did a "dry run" first to see if I could figure out how it comes out. Got it back out after 10 more minutes of cussing and using "The Force." That C-clamp came in handy to move the rubber beer can out of the way.
Everything else went very smoothly. While the converter drained, I replaced the front brakes since I had the car up in the air.
It took 11 and 1/2 quarts to fill it back up. Poured 6 qts in to begin with then I would start it, let it idle a bit, shift back and forth, then keep filling as needed.
Car shifts fabulous now. Noticed on a WOT run that it turned on the traction control light during a 1-2 shift. Haven't noticed it do that before.
Just want to say thanks to those that contributed to the "paper" as well as LOD for hosting it. I want to see our Mark go at least 200k miles as many cars here have done. Hope this "long read" helps anybody else doing this job.
