kjpilot
Full Access Member
I posted this as a reply to a question on the General Discussion side, & thought it would be usefull here as well. I tried to remove any comments specific to that question.
Before you begin, if you can get some Sea Foam Trans Tune from a parts store or Wal Mart, use it! Follow the instructions on the can. If you do this before each change, it will keep your transmission clean & happy for a long time
To begin with, lay cardboard on the floor everywhere under the transmission & put the drain pan on top of it; even if every drop goes in the drain pan, & it probably won't, there is a lot of splashing. I like to jack up the front of the car, so I put the drain pan under the rear of the trans. pan; gravity can be your friend. Then I loosen all of the bolts around the pan by 2 full turns, the old RTV should keep the pan in place, but be ready for a gusher anyway. then I remove the bolts from the area I want the fluid to drain from, & loosen some of the other bolts progressively, so as to make an incline with them for the pan to sit at an angle that allows the fluid to go where I want it to
. I like it to drain at the rear driver's side corner of the pan. The RTV will probably still
hold the pan in place, so use a hammer, & tap gently on the side of the pan where you want it to drain...be ready to adjust the pan placement fast, when it goes, it goes! Let it all drain out like that, then remove the pan entirely. There will still be a good amount of fluid in both the pan & the trans so be careful not to spill. Dump the fluid in the trans pan into the drain pan & set it aside. Put the drain pan under the open transmission.
There are 2 filters, replace them both. one is like a round oil filter, & the other is flat with a screw at one end & a long neck going up at the other. The round one comes off like an oil filter. After it's out, there is a plastic threaded adapter left behind, take that too, there should be a new one with the new filter. On the flat one, there is a small torx (T25) bolt that needs to come out, then pull the neck out of its receiver. Use your hands, everything under there is fragile & expensive! The neck does have a slight angle, so pull down & to the rear of the car, you can rotate it side to side as you pull as well. After it is out, you have to remove the small gasket that was at the top of the neck from the transmission, GENTLY use a flat screw driver at the side of the gasket. It is a metal ring with a rubber o-ring, place the blade of the driver between those 2 rings, DO NOT SCRAPE THE TRANSMISSION. Be careful, this is easy to do right, but it's also easy to damage the transmission if you are not careful.
Now leave the scene for a couple hours. More fluid will drain, I like to get as much as I can out. I've been able to get over a pint extra out by letting it sit over night, so let it all drain out! While you wait, clean off all the old RTV from the pan & the transmission. Use a plastic scraper, I tried some RTV remover on the pan, It removes the paint, but leaves the RTV largely intact, plus it's messy. There is no substitute for elbow grease...unfortunately.
Now you are ready to put it back together. Start with the filter gasket, put it in place on the transmission, & tap it into place with the butt end of a hammer handle. This is what MOPAR says, not a shade tree hack replacement for a special tool! Make sure it seats fully & evenly. From here, just put everything back where you found it! Remember to put RTV on the pan of course, & 5 quarts of MOPAR ATF+4 in the transmission & go!
Before you begin, if you can get some Sea Foam Trans Tune from a parts store or Wal Mart, use it! Follow the instructions on the can. If you do this before each change, it will keep your transmission clean & happy for a long time
To begin with, lay cardboard on the floor everywhere under the transmission & put the drain pan on top of it; even if every drop goes in the drain pan, & it probably won't, there is a lot of splashing. I like to jack up the front of the car, so I put the drain pan under the rear of the trans. pan; gravity can be your friend. Then I loosen all of the bolts around the pan by 2 full turns, the old RTV should keep the pan in place, but be ready for a gusher anyway. then I remove the bolts from the area I want the fluid to drain from, & loosen some of the other bolts progressively, so as to make an incline with them for the pan to sit at an angle that allows the fluid to go where I want it to
. I like it to drain at the rear driver's side corner of the pan. The RTV will probably still hold the pan in place, so use a hammer, & tap gently on the side of the pan where you want it to drain...be ready to adjust the pan placement fast, when it goes, it goes! Let it all drain out like that, then remove the pan entirely. There will still be a good amount of fluid in both the pan & the trans so be careful not to spill. Dump the fluid in the trans pan into the drain pan & set it aside. Put the drain pan under the open transmission.
There are 2 filters, replace them both. one is like a round oil filter, & the other is flat with a screw at one end & a long neck going up at the other. The round one comes off like an oil filter. After it's out, there is a plastic threaded adapter left behind, take that too, there should be a new one with the new filter. On the flat one, there is a small torx (T25) bolt that needs to come out, then pull the neck out of its receiver. Use your hands, everything under there is fragile & expensive! The neck does have a slight angle, so pull down & to the rear of the car, you can rotate it side to side as you pull as well. After it is out, you have to remove the small gasket that was at the top of the neck from the transmission, GENTLY use a flat screw driver at the side of the gasket. It is a metal ring with a rubber o-ring, place the blade of the driver between those 2 rings, DO NOT SCRAPE THE TRANSMISSION. Be careful, this is easy to do right, but it's also easy to damage the transmission if you are not careful.
Now leave the scene for a couple hours. More fluid will drain, I like to get as much as I can out. I've been able to get over a pint extra out by letting it sit over night, so let it all drain out! While you wait, clean off all the old RTV from the pan & the transmission. Use a plastic scraper, I tried some RTV remover on the pan, It removes the paint, but leaves the RTV largely intact, plus it's messy. There is no substitute for elbow grease...unfortunately.
Now you are ready to put it back together. Start with the filter gasket, put it in place on the transmission, & tap it into place with the butt end of a hammer handle. This is what MOPAR says, not a shade tree hack replacement for a special tool!
Make sure it seats fully & evenly. From here, just put everything back where you found it! Remember to put RTV on the pan of course, & 5 quarts of MOPAR ATF+4 in the transmission & go!
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