Dose 89 GXE auto tranny have a pan, gasket, filter or anything at all?

Yesterday I went to a mechanic right next door to drain and refill my tranny oil because the oil color's gotten pretty dirty on the dip stick recently. Anyhow after short inspection, the mechanic told me my max(89 GXE) doesn't have a gasket or filter and all I need is to replace the tranny oil. He didn't drain the oil out but just pumped up the oil through dipping stick hole, refilled with new one and that was about it. He told me to come again 3000 miles after to do the same thing. Well, I am no mechanic apparently but it's hardly believable that there is no gasket or filter and this is the only way to replace tranny oil. Does this guy seem to be right to you?

 

He's absolutly right. The "pan" on the GXE tranny is actually up on top of the transmission. It covers up the valve body, which is also up on top. There is a filter in the tranny, but the only way to change it is to remove the transmission and dissassemble it!! His method of changing the fluid should work as well as the "official" way of doing it, which is to remove a drain plug and then refill it.

 

yeah the mechanic is right i was told the same thing and to come back in a month to get it redone because they cant get all of the crap out on the first one i have 156000 miles on my original tranny i think that was the first time its been changed out. shifted better after that but still hits hard between 1st and 2nd sometimes and drops into OD pretty hard

 

The drain plug is located on the lower right front "corner" of the tranny as you are looking at the car. It is designed so you can put a 1/2" drive ratchet or breaker bar in the square hole to turn it out. I would say short of a flush, your mechanic is doing the right thing. There are mixed opinions about doing a flush anyway on a car with that many miles on it, due to not knowing the history of maintenance. Sometimes a flush can do more harm than good if it's never been done before. Changing the fluid fairly often like that will help get some of the crud out, though.

I'd be happier with harder shifts than I would be with soft ones. Last time mine started shifting soft, it cost me $1800....

 

why not do this? its from the 5th gen section, and it works for 4th gens, so im guessing that it'll work for 3rd gens too...........

Before you start, go and buy 10 qts of your favorite auto trans fluid. (I recommend Mobil 1 Synthetic)

The whole procedure can be done in 30 mins or less but take your time and do it right.

1. Jack up either the front or drivers side of the car and put in jackstand.

2. Remove the drivers side engine undercover.

3. Remove drain plug from transmission and drain fluid into suitable container, this will be approximately 4 qts. Insert drain plug and pour the same amount of new fluid into the transmission. (Transmission should now be back to stock level)

4. Disconnect the fluid supply line at the bottom of radiator. Its the bottom line connected to the transmission. (Be very careful removing this line, its very easy to break the hose nipple on the radiator) Put the end of the hose into a clean, clear or white plastic 1 gal container.

5. While you are holding the hose get someone to start the car until the transmission pumps out approximately 2 qts (half the container). This should take 15-20 seconds, its not really fast so don't panic, I do it all myself but its easier if you have someone to start and stop the engine for you.

Note: If the trans fluid comes out of the bottom of the radiator vs the hose you are holding you have the wrong line. Put it back on and remove the other one.

6. Pour the same amount of new fluid back into the transmission that you pumped out.

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 until fluid changes color. Since you already put 4 qts in initially and the trans holds 9 qts we are talking about approx 5 qts. I buy 10 qts and remove that much just to be sure I got it all. (The trans flushing places use much more and synthetic fluid is expensive).

8. If your fluid is in fairly good condition the color change will be very small and may not be noticable so stop at 10 qts.

9. Reinstall hose to radiator, replace engine cover, lower car and recheck trans fluid level to make sure you have the correct level. Maybe even go for a small drive and recheck to make sure, its difficult to read at times.

10. There you have it. What you have basically done is removed all the fluid from the pan and replaced it. The internal pump takes its suction from the pan and pumps to convertor and all internal trans part then to radiator for cooling. So you have completely replaced all fluid internal to the transmission without shocking your transmission into submission like the force flush machines do.

btw When the dealer does a transmission fluid change all they do is drain the pan and refill, which is right from the FSM.

Also some people do a few drain and refills to change their fluid but all you are really doing is mixing 4 qts of new fluid with 5 qts of old fluid and pumping it around, eventually you would get a complete change but I really don't like the idea of mixing old and new, a complete change is very easy and does it all the first time with very little waste.

 

Yes, that procedure has been discussed before as well. As far as I know, it would work, although I haven't tried it myself. As long as you are careful and verify the capacities, etc, it should be OK..

 

Thanks for your inputs, all!
I may not try flushing but will definitely change the tranny oil due 3000 miles after. Prolly will hit that 3000 mark quite soon because I beat the crap out of my max. Man, she is over 160k but still running strong and will stronger if I do follow up you guys' advice. Really appreciate it!

 

maybe you shouldnt beat the crap out of your max. save the tranny

 

I've done it. My tip is to have two 1 gallon milk jugs. Use one to pour the used fluid into, and use the other to measure the exact amount of new fluid needed to replace the old. This way the fluid level in the tranny stays the same.

 

On 3rd gens, which one of the lines is the "tranny-to-radiator", and which is one is the radiator to tranny??? And how much ATF is in the radiator??? not much probably..

 

Ummm, there was a thread that answered this exact question. Dig back a few pages.