N8ECH
New member
Gents:
I spent a couple of hours doing a drain/refill filter change on our daughter's 01 Alero today.
The fact that this model of transmission does not have a dipstick does alter the refill process a bit, but it is not rocket science.
I give a huge thumbs down to the GM bean counter who made this call!
Since I am a fan of Auto Zone, I picked one of their TF-190 gasket/filter kits for $16.99+ tax.
Along with that, I had on hand several quarts of older Quaker State Dexron III that I needed to use up.
It is my understanding that the current GM Dexron VI is backwards compatible, so that is the way to go if you have nothing on hand.
The best deal I could find on that was Valvoline brand at NAPA for ~$6 a quart.
After removing the trans pan slowly, I ended up with a whopping 7 quarts plus 6 ounces having come from the trans.
For a trans that had never been opened with 130K on the clock, the oem fluid was pretty dark. The pan was fairly clean, and the magnet had the usual small amount of very fine aluminum paste on it.
After cleaning the pan well and wiping down the mating surface on the trans bottom, I ALMOST forgot to reinstall the new filter!
I had gotten the pan back on with gasket, but had not tightened any bolts yet.
The filter has a snout on one end of it that seats into a combined metal collar/rubber ring that gets seated into the trans first.
The filter is then pressed up and into the collar until it seats and hangs there.
Once I had corrected that blunder, I installed the pan by tightening the bolts in a circular pattern.
I located a torque spec of 106 INCH pounds for the pan bolts. They recommend that you take three rounds to tighten them ,ie 27, then 53 , and finally 106 INCH pounds.
Please note I have highlighted the term INCH and not foot pounds!
I began filling the trans with the goal of putting at least 5 quarts in before starting the engine to look for leaks.
When looking for leaks after the 5 quarts, I did find two areas with minor seepage. Snugging the nearby bolts seemed to have cured that.
I then added 2 additional quarts and took her for a test drive.
There appeared to be no more seepage.
The idea on fluid replacement is that you measure what came out, and put that much back in.
I hope this helps others who are considering a trans service in hopes of having their trans live a long a trouble free life.
While there are no guarantees that this will make your trans live longer, it is my opinion that roughly $65-$70 for the fluid and filter is chump change against a trans rebuild or replacement in the $2-$3K range.
Don
I spent a couple of hours doing a drain/refill filter change on our daughter's 01 Alero today.
The fact that this model of transmission does not have a dipstick does alter the refill process a bit, but it is not rocket science.
I give a huge thumbs down to the GM bean counter who made this call!
Since I am a fan of Auto Zone, I picked one of their TF-190 gasket/filter kits for $16.99+ tax.
Along with that, I had on hand several quarts of older Quaker State Dexron III that I needed to use up.
It is my understanding that the current GM Dexron VI is backwards compatible, so that is the way to go if you have nothing on hand.
The best deal I could find on that was Valvoline brand at NAPA for ~$6 a quart.
After removing the trans pan slowly, I ended up with a whopping 7 quarts plus 6 ounces having come from the trans.
For a trans that had never been opened with 130K on the clock, the oem fluid was pretty dark. The pan was fairly clean, and the magnet had the usual small amount of very fine aluminum paste on it.
After cleaning the pan well and wiping down the mating surface on the trans bottom, I ALMOST forgot to reinstall the new filter!
I had gotten the pan back on with gasket, but had not tightened any bolts yet.
The filter has a snout on one end of it that seats into a combined metal collar/rubber ring that gets seated into the trans first.
The filter is then pressed up and into the collar until it seats and hangs there.
Once I had corrected that blunder, I installed the pan by tightening the bolts in a circular pattern.
I located a torque spec of 106 INCH pounds for the pan bolts. They recommend that you take three rounds to tighten them ,ie 27, then 53 , and finally 106 INCH pounds.
Please note I have highlighted the term INCH and not foot pounds!
I began filling the trans with the goal of putting at least 5 quarts in before starting the engine to look for leaks.
When looking for leaks after the 5 quarts, I did find two areas with minor seepage. Snugging the nearby bolts seemed to have cured that.
I then added 2 additional quarts and took her for a test drive.
There appeared to be no more seepage.
The idea on fluid replacement is that you measure what came out, and put that much back in.
I hope this helps others who are considering a trans service in hopes of having their trans live a long a trouble free life.
While there are no guarantees that this will make your trans live longer, it is my opinion that roughly $65-$70 for the fluid and filter is chump change against a trans rebuild or replacement in the $2-$3K range.
Don
