Gear Box Oil Change

[Glomis (2)]

Hi:

Does anyone know the details of changing the gear box oil in a 2001 SL2? Is there a drain plug or do you need a pump? What goes in? I have heard - just regular automatic trans fluid. Opinions? Also how do you fill - through the drain site?

I'm at 110,000 Km, and the service manual calls for a change so I want to do it soon. Also anyone had this done at the dealer, and if so what was the cost?

Thanks,

Glomis

 

[ben@]

Do you have a 5-speed : yes there is a drian plug & a dip stick for refill,
2.4 qt.

OR Auto ????

 

[Glomis (2)]

It's a five speed. I would never drive an Auto! ;-)
I though everyone here already knew that!

2.4 qrt of what? A weighted gear oil or auto trans fluid? And where abouts are the drain plug and the dip refill? Thanks.

Cheers!

 

[Philip Nasadowski]

2.4 qrt of what? A weighted gear oil or auto trans fluid? And where abouts are the drain plug and the dip refill? Thanks.

Hmm, at least on the '93 SC2, the drain plug is a plug alll the way at the bottom of the case, looks like the oil plug. Look under there. It's pretty obvious once you see it.

The refill is genuine Dexron ATF, available just about anywhere. You can be a snob and use Mobil 1 synthetic ATF, I don't think it makes much of a difference.

Look at your ATF when it comes out. It should be RED, not red and chunky, not brown and chunky. Mine was brown and chunky when it came out. No idea why. Refilled, it seems to drive better, but that's a placeibo efect, IMHO.

Oh yeah the diff between almost empty and overflowing full on the dip stick is like a pint, not a quart. Yeah, I overfilled it the first time. A MightyVac works great here to suck the excess out.

While you're over there, clean/lube the linkage, it's probbably caked with junk and sticky.

Oh yeah, anyone got a part # for that plastic thing the gearshift lever goes into, and how much the dealer wants for them? Mine's worn to the point that gearshifting is an adventure - the lever flops all over the place, and the stupid thingie inside is messed up because the shaft wore the plastic down and flops. Grrr. Why does GM always take the ..000000000000001 cent cheaper route with designs, only to screw people with BS like this? Two brass bushings, or -heck - just a better design of the plastic, would elimanate this and give great shifts.

 

[Glomis (2)]

Great Info!!

Thanks, Philip!

Hmm, at least on the '93 SC2, the drain plug is a plug alll the way at the bottom of the case, looks like the oil plug. Look under there. It's pretty obvious once you see it.

The refill is genuine Dexron ATF, available just about anywhere. You can be a snob and use Mobil 1 synthetic ATF, I don't think it makes much of a difference.

Look at your ATF when it comes out. It should be RED, not red and chunky, not brown and chunky. Mine was brown and chunky when it came out. No idea why. Refilled, it seems to drive better, but that's a placeibo efect, IMHO.

Oh yeah the diff between almost empty and overflowing full on the dip stick is like a pint, not a quart. Yeah, I overfilled it the first time. A MightyVac works great here to suck the excess out.

While you're over there, clean/lube the linkage, it's probbably caked with junk and sticky.

Oh yeah, anyone got a part # for that plastic thing the gearshift lever goes into, and how much the dealer wants for them? Mine's worn to the point that gearshifting is an adventure - the lever flops all over the place, and the stupid thingie inside is messed up because the shaft wore the plastic down and flops. Grrr. Why does GM always take the .000000000000001 cent cheaper route with designs, only to screw people with BS like this? Two brass bushings, or -heck - just a better design of the plastic, would elimanate this and give great shifts.

 

[Tim Shoppa]

The refill is genuine Dexron ATF, available just about anywhere. You can be a snob and use Mobil 1 synthetic ATF, I don't think it makes much of a difference.

Look at your ATF when it comes out. It should be RED, not red and chunky, not brown and chunky. Mine was brown and chunky when it came out. No idea why. Refilled, it seems to drive better, but that's a placeibo efect, IMHO.

At how many miles was this done? Was there an earlier change done?

I don't know what your manual says, but my 92 SL1 manual says that the gearbox oil is changed at 6k miles - presumably to drain out the early wear gunk. Was this done on yours? Or do you have a used car and the answer is that you don't know?

I've drained red ATF with a noticable amount of tiny shiny metal filings but I've never seen brown and chunky...

Tim.

 

[Glomis (2)]

Hi Tim:

I don't know if you are asking Philip or me, but....

I bought my car new is 2001 and the gear box oil has not been changed yet. The dealership told me that I didn't have to do it till 110,000Km. The fact that they were basically turning down work gave me some assurance at the time. I probably should have changed it anyway. But 110,000Km later, I am finally going to do it! Just as a note, I am not experiencing any difficulty shifting at all, feels like it did when it was new. The service guide calls for a change now (the first change in the life of the car) so I will go ahead and do it.

I will report the condition of the removed oil to the group when I do the change.

Cheers!

Glomis

 

[Philip Nasadowski]

At how many miles was this done? Was there an earlier change done?

220,000.

No earlier change either. In fact, my dad didn't bother to change or do ANYTHING beyond change the oil and spark plugs/cables. He's neurotic about sparkplug wires, I have NO idea why.

Oh yes, I changed the tranny oil ("You don't have to do that on new cars!"), the brake fluid ("These new cars don't need that"), the PS fluid and the bad seal on the pump* ("It's just ATF, keep adding ATF until the pump wears out"), coolant ("It last 100,000 miles" - it was really this yucky brown color too), lubricated the fan inside (squealed as it stopped), lubricated the idler pullies (dry)....

Last 'adventure' was 300 miles from home, the clutch stopped functioning because the master cylinder was empty...

BTW, is there a way of bleeding that thing, even though the book says there isn't? Can you take the assembly apart? There's a bit of junk in the resivor on mine and I'm sure some of it was sucked inside, too :/

Yeah dad, it's a throwaway car, but if you would have MAINTAINED IT a bit better, it'd be in a LOT better shape...

I don't know what your manual says, but my 92 SL1 manual says that the gearbox oil is changed at 6k miles - presumably to drain out the early wear gunk. Was this done on yours?

It was likely done at 6, but never again until I got to it recently. I check the dipstick every now and then, it's still red. IIRC, Dexron (tm) is good until it changes color, unlike Type F which does get old. Oh yeah, the various whatever packages get used up, so I guess you should change it every few k anyway.

I do'nt understand why Dexron in a manual. AFAIK, the stuff isn't really a great lubricant, especially at low temperature, and I can't think of any friction material in a manual tranny.

 

[SnThetcOil]

<<I do'nt understand why Dexron in a manual>>

Because it flows better than gear lube, especially at low temperatures, providing better lubrication, reduced wear, easier shifting and better fuel economy.

To respond via e-mail, simply take the, "REMOVEXX" out of my return e-mail address.

 

[SnThetcOil]

I will report the condition of the removed oil to the group when I do the

change.

Does this mean you will have an oil analysis done on the fluid?

To respond via e-mail, simply take the, "REMOVEXX" out of my return e-mail address.

 

[Glomis (2)]

"SnThetcOil" wrote:

Does this mean you will have an oil analysis done on the fluid?

Sorry, I should have said that I will report the 'appearance' of the oil when I change it. I had not planned on having an analysis done on the gear box oil.

Cheers!