Manual tranny fluid/fill questions

[claytoncallihan]

have to reverse light sensor and another sensor so gonna just put new fluid in while im at it, was wondering a few things:

anyone know the exact amount of oil to put in trans for a s13?

I was thinking just drain, replace things (sensors), and unplug the fill plug and then pour in fluid thru the shifter and when it starts coming out the fill plug, should be full right? never done it on a 240, but seems easy enough right? or am i missing something?

also, what oil do you guys recommend? want to put some good stuff in there and keep this puppy goin

[Ilya]

Good plan. Make sure car is level. Amsoil or redline is good. 75w90 or mt90. I'd recommend Amsoil however. Make sure the gear oil is gl4 only

[claytoncallihan]

Thank you sir. sounds good. Ill post back if any troubles arise haha!

[dawagarage]

yep, fill til it pours out. if you google the fsm it will give you an exact quantity

[MrMigs]

You'll need to buy 3 quarts. The tranny holds something like 2.5 qts, but yea... as for filling, do as the guy above said.

[teh smithers]

I just used Amsoil and my shitty transmission feels noticeably less shitty. Definitely hyped about that.

As stated above, buy 3 quarts of GL4 ONLY.

[claytoncallihan]

Awesome guys, thanks for the replies. This is why I love zilvia

[Tom N]

Amsoil manual trans oil. Dont get the amsoil 75w90 gear oil as its gl5. Make sure its the amsoil manual transmission oil.
This AMSOIL Manual Transmission & Transaxle Gear Lube 75W-90

[claytoncallihan]

Originally Posted by Tom N

Amsoil manual trans oil. Dont get the amsoil 75w90 gear oil as its gl5. Make sure its the amsoil manual transmission oil.
This AMSOIL Manual Transmission & Transaxle Gear Lube 75W-90

Ahh! Was lookin for a direct page for it! THANK YOU!

[Mikester]

You can also attach a long hose to a funnel and fill it from the engine bay if you don't feel like pulling the shifter.

[kpnasty]

i love how you can fill through the shifter, so easy. was the same on my miata. idk much about these trans' but the yata was extremely picky about what fluid was in it. heard good things about amsoil anyway.

[Tom N]

With a gear oil pump all you have to do is pump it out of the bottle and into the tyranny threw the fill hole. Takes less than 5 minutes.

[mechanicalmoron]

Originally Posted by Mikester

You can also attach a long hose to a funnel and fill it from the engine bay if you don't feel like pulling the shifter.

Or, you can do the same, but sit in the driver seat and fill it with the hose running down the shifter hole in the body.

If you have a steady hand.

Ended up doing that after I couldn't get the shifter off....

[jr_ss]

If you have a compressor, drill a hole in the top of your fluid bottle, insert a long hose into the bottle, through the spout, to the bottom and use an air pressure source in tye drilled hole to force the fluid up through the tube and into your transmission.

[Mikester]

Originally Posted by jr_ss

If you have a compressor, drill a hole in the top of your fluid bottle, insert a long hose into the bottle, through the spout, to the bottom and use an air pressure source in tye drilled hole to force the fluid up through the tube and into your transmission.

...says the guy who taught me how easy it is to just fill from the bay...

Of course, the difference between these guys' trannies and ours being the lack of accessibility to the top

[jr_ss]

Originally Posted by Mikester

...says the guy who taught me how easy it is to just fill from the bay...

Of course, the difference between these guys' trannies and ours being the lack of accessibility to the top

I had to use the above mentioned method to fill the front and rear diffs and the the transfer case in my Xterra. Worked beautifully.

[claytoncallihan]

Seems easier to just do it from the shifter haha.

[mechanicalmoron]

Originally Posted by claytoncallihan

Seems easier to just do it from the shifter haha.

It can be a bitch to reach the two forward bolts, especially if the exhaust is hot. And then when I got them all, I couldn't pop the thing off, without doing things that made me sure there would be a large mess. I just poured in the normal hole, and it went fine.

The pouring will be easier, but getting READY to pour, will not be.

As far as hoses go, you can just use a bike inner tube, and a funnel. Or you can get a pump that looks like a big syringe that holds a quart, for like 15 bucks. That's probably the best, easiest way.

Originally Posted by Mikester

^^Yea until you spill gear oil in your car somewhere and it wreaks for several weeks

You don't like gear oil? Smells like sweet onion salad dressing.

[jr_ss]

Originally Posted by claytoncallihan

Seems easier to just do it from the shifter haha.

For the people running better transmissions than the KA/SR that simply doesn't work.

[Mikester]

^^Yea until you spill gear oil in your car somewhere and it wreaks for several weeks

From the engine bay is easy peasy- doesn't require the bezel, shifter & sound/dust boots to be removed (along with any grounds for stereo, gauges etc).

Pump/aspirator is perfect for the diff.

Either way, pretty much every method is now covered in this thread... Other than the 'take it to Jiffy Lube & have some minimum wage DB do it' method haha!

[claytoncallihan]

I gotcha. Ill debate in my head for a bit haha

[Johannes]

I'm surprised at how no one has mentioned that you can simply just remove the shifter lever by removing the internal snap ring on there using snap ring pliers or needle nose. You just need to remove center console, rubber boot, and the boot that's on the shifter assy., and you'll see the snap ring.

^that's of course, only for people who has stock shifter.

[om3ga]

I use Motul Gear 300 in the diff and tranny, it is good stuff. Looks like you have got your answers but make sure to get a cool fluid pump thingy and fill your tranny up until it drips out.

Also, we tend to teflon tape our drain plugs but this is optional.

[claytoncallihan]

Originally Posted by Johannes

I'm surprised at how no one has mentioned that you can simply just remove the shifter lever by removing the internal snap ring on there using snap ring pliers or needle nose. You just need to remove center console, rubber boot, and the boot that's on the shifter assy., and you'll see the snap ring.

^that's of course, only for people who has stock shifter.

Definitely stock as crap haha

Originally Posted by om3ga

I use Motul Gear 300 in the diff and tranny, it is good stuff. Looks like you have got your answers but make sure to get a cool fluid pump thingy and fill your tranny up until it drips out.

Also, we tend to teflon tape our drain plugs but this is optional.

Gotcha.

[brndck]

Do NOT pour fluid into the shifter if your fill plug on the side of the trans is out. It will pour right back out of the fill plug and get all over the place. (Ask how I know).

[claytoncallihan]

Originally Posted by brndck

Do NOT pour fluid into the shifter if your fill plug on the side of the trans is out. It will pour right back out of the fill plug and get all over the place. (Ask how I know).

Wouldnt it only pour out once its full?

[brndck]

Originally Posted by claytoncallihan

Wouldnt it only pour out once its full?

Negative. If you pour it IN the shifter it has to go PAST the fill plug to get down into the guts of the trans. I tried it once before and wasted almost a full quart of mt90 straight onto my driveway.

[claytoncallihan]

Originally Posted by brndck

Negative. If you pour it IN the shifter it has to go PAST the fill plug to get down into the guts of the trans. I tried it once before and wasted almost a full quart of mt90 straight onto my driveway.

ahhhh gotcha. good to know!

[brndck]

Another thing, sit the cans or bottles of fresh fluid out in the sun for a bit before you start. If the fluid is warm it flows more easily.