How much does the gasket for the tranny pan cost? How much does the tranny filter cost? Can anyone recommend a brand of brake cleaner? How much does that cost a can? What else will I need? I bought the ATF yesterday. Mobil 1. I have 7 quarts of the stuff. Any tips and suggestions for doing the VB is very welcome. I plan to do the mod next saturday.

ZuM

 

I did the Transgo kit with Hayden 403 cooler:

Gasket was like $12
Didn't replace the filter, have 80k miles on it too
Any brake cleaner works well. Just buy the cheapest $1 variety. Two cans is more than adequate

I used 8 quarts of Mobil 1, an extra than your 7 quarts b/c I put a extra quart in for the cooler.

Drive the car hard before to let the fluid get hot and drain plus wear old clothes. The job gets messy.

 

I'll get another quart of fluid. I have a tranny cooler already. 12 bucks for the gasket. Not bad. Why should I drive the car hard and heat up the fluid before I drain?

ZuM

 

Gets more old fluid out, speeds the 'long' draining process.

 

Really? I'll be sure to heat it up really good then..=)

ZuM

 

There are about 6 different length bolts attaching the valve body to the transmission and there are some that are only 1/8" difference. Make a chart and mark where EACH bolt goes; this is no time for trial-and-error. Not all of the bolts go through the valve body; some bolts just hold the sections of the VB together. Remove only the ones needed to remove the VB.

It was cheaper to get the screen and gasket from Pep Boys then it was to just buy the gasket from the dealer. Get a good gasket scraper and a tube of Permatex #2 (non-hardening) gasket sealer. The sealer really isn't needed for sealing, but helps keep the gasket in place when putting the pan back on.

Are installing Don's VB or are you installing the Transgo kit?

 

I enlarged the picture of the bolt pattern from Don's site, stick onto some cardboard and punch holes into it. That way when I do my VB I can insert the bolt into the right hole so I won't get confused.

 

Maybe I will go to my local autozone and ask about the gasket and the screen. Where is the screen/filter located? Will I just see it right in front of me when I take everything apart? Don has a chart of the where the bolts go. I'm not too worried about that. I'm more worried about getting the VB back in place without a hitch and getting the pan sealed properly.

ZuM

 

I have the ve engine and installed a B&M tranny cooler (19,000) also Royal purple syn. ATF. To refill my tranny it required almost 9QT.

My engine has 74,000k on it and I ordered new gaskets for the vb and the oil pan gasket and a new pilot filter as well as filter screen from courtesy nissan. If you are woundering about the pilot filter it is located inside the vb and after inspecting the old filters neither needed to be changed. If you want you could even back fluch the filter screen and it would be just like new. As for the pilot filter when I ordered it from courtesy, I was surprised to see that they didnt carry the part (they needed to order it in). The pilot filter only catches large particles inside the vb, mine was totally clean.

I would highly reccomend replacing all four gaskets inside the vb. The people at courtesy were only able to locate two of them on their micro fitch (stup!d muronSS) and then had to reorder from a local nissan dealer.
The old gaskets are brittle and wont seal nearly as good as a new set will. The manual also says to replace them.

Good luck and enjoy your mod!

 

If you heat it up, the tranny will be hot during the entire swap process, inviting the possiblity for a warped VB when its bolted back in.

There is a TON of fluid in there, and if you leave it overnight, you will get more of it drained than if you ran it for a while. If you park it where you are gonna do it, then leave it, as long as you don't start the car, you will drain more fluid. Tranny fluid doesn't have the same viscosity as oil....


don

 

Okay, suppose I leave the car over night to drain the fluid. How many quarts are we talking? Also, how many gaskets will I need? I'm getting a little confused. I thought I only had to replace the pan gasket. I may just leave the filters alone if they are generally clean.

ZuM

 

where can i buy the trans-go kit.

 

Here ya go Steve http://www.txchange.com/transgo.htm
You have to call them to order it, and they will just ask you what car you have, so you don't really need the part number. Good luck.

 

i'm gonna seriously think about it. I'm gonna see if harold heimer wants to trade VB's, his old one has a transgo.

 

No wonder you're getting confused. Are you planning to install Don's VB or a Tran-go kit? If you are going the way of Don's VB all you will need is the pan gasket. If you're going the way of Trans-go kit I would recommend all four gasket as Eric said. (Eric, I know what you're saying about not finding all four gasket, I had to make a couple of trips to my dealer before getting it correct) Some have done the Trans-go kit without changing any gasket, besides the pan. They both require about the same amount of ATF to refill. Take if from those who have done both VB mods, like myself. Later