transaxle fluid change questions

[larryroohr]

Hi all,

I'm getting ready to change the transaxle fluid on my 2000 PA with 130Kmi and need to ask a couple questions.

My driveway where I'll do this has a grade, and I see instructions stating to be sure the vehicle is level. Is this required only when refilling? Can I drain the fluid with the car on a slope? I'd think so because home mechanics would need to jack the front end up to get under there anyway, but I don't want to assume, been there and done that. I can jack one end so it's level for refilling so that's not an issue.

Also I have the Valvoline DEXIII equivalent fluid already, I'm thinking it would be worth the money to get the ultralife DEXVI equivalent for this, would this be a waste of money in your opinion?

Thanks everyone. Love this car.

 

[Drakito]

The Dex VI runs cooler and shifts easier. The best thing to do would be to replace all the fluid in the trans, not just the pan fluid. I did mine about 2 months ago. Also look into lubegaurd red. GM put it in from the factory in the HD truck transmissions like the 4l80E, 4l85E, etc. It improved shifting in mine. You only need 1 to 1.5oz per qt, so about 12oz is all.

Buy 12 qts of DexVI to do this. I got it off Amazon on sale.

Jack it up as normal, pull the pan and drain. Change the filer and reinstall the pan. Put about 6-7 qts new fluid in. Disconnect the cooling line on the trans that goes to the top portion on the radiator. Make sure and put it in a bucket or it will make a big freaking mess. I had 2 helpers, one to fill the trans, and one to hold the outlet while I kept measuring. So I was able to do this in one start cycle. Run the motor(Or cycle it on/off if your solo). I had the helper pour in a quart as a quart came out. We kept this up until the fluid came out looking new. I ended up 1.5qts low as the trans pump was faster than the gravity fill. Big shocker eh?

I put in the 12oz of lubegard red and then drove it around to get it all up to temp. I then ran it through every gear as the manual says and checked the level. It sill needed about 3/4 qt to top off. Been driving WAY better since then. Much better shifts and the trans runs cooler now as well. My IR thermometer showed a 10* drop with just a fluid change. I then added a large auxiliary cooler in series with the stocker and dropped another 40*. Trans temp never goes over 160* now, even in the 120* weather we have here. The cooler fluid also helps increase life and decrease wear.

I also did the Suburban at the same time with lubegard and Dex VI and added a trucool 40K cooler on it. It also stays sub 160*in daily driving and sub 200* when towing 8500lbs.

 

[larryroohr]

Thanks Drakito for the detailed advice,

I went ahead and bought 4 gallons of the Valvoline DEXVI equivalent and also a hand pump to get the fluid out from up top before I drop the pan. I was planning on doing two changes to get to 75% new fluid, I'll have to think about your method and see if I can get a helper.