Manual Transmission oil change

[uraca]

Did manual transmission oil change today for first time. Got data from Haynes Repair Manual to use API GL-5 75-90 w gear oil. Found it at Advance Auto parts store in quart containers.

Jacked up car and used jack stands. Slid under car and could not find either drain or fill/check plugs. Took off splash cover on left side to get better view of tranmission. It has about 6 small ( 10 mm) bolts and two screws. Screws come out of a plastic backing and the bolts from nuts held in place. Want to note which came from which hole. Used a six inch extension on the ratchet to remove some of these.

Still could not find drain or fill/check plugs even after rechecking Haynes. Went to the Toyota Repain Manual and found the plugs pictured in a diagram in the transaxle section. The plugs are 24 mm hexagonals. The fill and check plug is at the front of the car and the drain is on left side. It did not seem to me that the plugs were separated vertically by much . Maybe 1.5 ". Got 24 mm socket from Sears for about $4.00.

Undid the fill/check plug and had some run off of the fluid. Let me know it was full. Replugged this and removed the drain plug.

The pain is in getting the gear oil back into the transmission. The plastic bottles are too big for the space available to be able to squirt it in directly. Got a funnel from Advance Auto with a calibrated cup on top and about 18" inches of tubing at the bottom. Could thread the tubing down from behind the radiator and stick the end into the fill/check hole. Supposed to fill until the fluid just begins to come out or about 2.7 quarts. Moved the drain pan under the fill hole and put the first two quarts in pretty quickly. Went slower in adding the last part letting the tubing clear before adding more to the funnel. When it began to overflow, pulled the tubing out and let it drip in the drain pan. Put in the plug and tightened. Did not see a torque rating for these plugs so just tightened them.

The time delays were in getting the 24 mm socket- get the short socket -and in getting the funnel with the tubing. Had also tried a suction pump but it was faulty and would not suck. Funnel worked well and quickly and it was cheaper.

Seemed silly to have to take off the splash board to get to the drain and fill/check plugs but I could not figure any other way. It is really a pretty quick job to undo the bolts and screws and to set the splash board aside.

Given the right tools, this job can be done in less than 30 minutes including the jacking up of the car and the placing of the jack stands. I combined it with an oil change and I fooled around trying to figure out things for a long time. Hopefully I will remember what to do next time<G>.

BTW on the Car Talk web site someone recommends letting your service people do this job. They said they can do a better job of flushing the transmission. Might be so but it was a fun job if you just want to play with your tools.

[uraca]

I should have mentioned that the car is 2001 Corolla ce.

[stevelaw]

You did end up doing the job the right way. Notwithstanding multiple trips to Advance and Sears. Trial and error, as they say. My only question is did you use/consider a synthetic or semi-synthetic gear oil?

Did manual transmission oil change today for first time. Got data from Haynes Repair Manual to use API GL-5 75-90 w gear oil.  Found it at Advance Auto parts store in quart containers.

Jacked up car and used jack stands.  Slid under car and could not find either drain or fill/check plugs.  Took off splash cover on left side to get better view of tranmission.  It has about 6  small  ( 10 mm) bolts and two screws.  Screws come out of a plastic backing and the bolts from nuts held in place.  Want to note which came from which hole.  Used a six inch extension on the ratchet to remove some of these. 

Still could not find drain or  fill/check plugs even after rechecking Haynes.  Went to the Toyota Repain Manual and found the plugs pictured in a diagram in the transaxle section.  The plugs are  24 mm  hexagonals.  The fill and check plug is at the front of the car and the drain is on left side.  It did not seem to me that the plugs were separated vertically by much . Maybe 1.5 ".  Got 24 mm socket from  Sears for about $4.00. 

Undid the fill/check plug and had some run off of the fluid.  Let me know it was full.  Replugged this and removed the drain plug.

The pain is in getting the gear oil back into the transmission.  The plastic bottles are too big for the space available to be able to squirt it in directly.  Got a funnel from Advance Auto  with a calibrated cup on top and about 18" inches of tubing at the bottom. Could thread the tubing down from behind the radiator and stick the end into the fill/check hole.  Supposed to fill until the fluid just begins to come out or about 2.7 quarts.  Moved the drain pan under the fill hole and put the first two quarts in pretty quickly.  Went slower in adding the last part letting the tubing clear before adding more to the funnel.  When it began to overflow, pulled the tubing out and let it drip in the drain pan.  Put in the plug and tightened.  Did not see a torque rating for these plugs so just tightened them. 

The time delays were in getting the 24 mm socket- get the short socket -and in getting the funnel with the tubing.  Had also tried a suction pump but it was faulty and would not suck.  Funnel worked well and quickly and it was cheaper. 

Seemed silly to have to take off the splash board to get to the drain and fill/check plugs but I could not figure any other way.  It is really a pretty quick job to undo the bolts and screws and to set the splash board aside. 

Given the right tools, this job can be done in less than 30 minutes including the jacking up of the car and the placing of the jack stands.  I combined it with an oil change and  I fooled around trying to figure out things for a long time.  Hopefully I will remember what to do next time<G>. 

BTW  on the Car Talk web site someone recommends letting your service people do this job.  They said they can do a better job of flushing the transmission. Might be so but it was a fun job if you just want to play with your tools.

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[uraca]

You did end up doing the job the right way. Notwithstanding multiple trips to Advance and Sears. Trial and error, as they say. My only question is did you use/consider a synthetic or semi-synthetic gear oil?

←

I did consider using a synthetic and felt it was not needed. I have no data either way for deciding this. Spoke with a mechanic who told me manual transmissions in general have a lot less stress compared to automatics. He implied the regular gear oil was sufficient for this low level of pressure/stress.

Thought the synthetic might be longer lasting.

Would love to hear any other ideas on this. Especially would like to see some data saying one or the other is better.

[stevelaw]

By the way, Toyota Corolla 1992-96 automatic transmissions (though yours is an automatic) also have a 24 millimeter drain plug for the differential. 24.5 millimeters equals an inch, so a 15/16 socket works as well. In fact, the easiest way to get to the differential on the aforementioned is with a 15/16 inch open end/closed end wrench.

Did manual transmission oil change today for first time. Got data from Haynes Repair Manual to use API GL-5 75-90 w gear oil.  Found it at Advance Auto parts store in quart containers.

Jacked up car and used jack stands.  Slid under car and could not find either drain or fill/check plugs.  Took off splash cover on left side to get better view of tranmission.  It has about 6  small  ( 10 mm) bolts and two screws.  Screws come out of a plastic backing and the bolts from nuts held in place.  Want to note which came from which hole.  Used a six inch extension on the ratchet to remove some of these. 

Still could not find drain or  fill/check plugs even after rechecking Haynes.  Went to the Toyota Repain Manual and found the plugs pictured in a diagram in the transaxle section.  The plugs are  24 mm  hexagonals.  The fill and check plug is at the front of the car and the drain is on left side.  It did not seem to me that the plugs were separated vertically by much . Maybe 1.5 ".  Got 24 mm socket from  Sears for about $4.00. 

Undid the fill/check plug and had some run off of the fluid.  Let me know it was full.  Replugged this and removed the drain plug.

The pain is in getting the gear oil back into the transmission.  The plastic bottles are too big for the space available to be able to squirt it in directly.  Got a funnel from Advance Auto  with a calibrated cup on top and about 18" inches of tubing at the bottom. Could thread the tubing down from behind the radiator and stick the end into the fill/check hole.  Supposed to fill until the fluid just begins to come out or about 2.7 quarts.  Moved the drain pan under the fill hole and put the first two quarts in pretty quickly.  Went slower in adding the last part letting the tubing clear before adding more to the funnel.  When it began to overflow, pulled the tubing out and let it drip in the drain pan.  Put in the plug and tightened.  Did not see a torque rating for these plugs so just tightened them. 

The time delays were in getting the 24 mm socket- get the short socket -and in getting the funnel with the tubing.  Had also tried a suction pump but it was faulty and would not suck.  Funnel worked well and quickly and it was cheaper. 

Seemed silly to have to take off the splash board to get to the drain and fill/check plugs but I could not figure any other way.  It is really a pretty quick job to undo the bolts and screws and to set the splash board aside. 

Given the right tools, this job can be done in less than 30 minutes including the jacking up of the car and the placing of the jack stands.  I combined it with an oil change and  I fooled around trying to figure out things for a long time.  Hopefully I will remember what to do next time<G>. 

BTW  on the Car Talk web site someone recommends letting your service people do this job.  They said they can do a better job of flushing the transmission. Might be so but it was a fun job if you just want to play with your tools.

←

[uraca]

This is a folow up on a problem I had with changing the manual transmission oil on the 2001 Toyota Corolla ce.

As mentioned in the notes above the oil for the transmission was changed using jack stands to support the car. The car was still on jack stands when the transmission was refilled. I had eye-balled this and thought the transmission to be about parallel with the ground. I was wrong. The first day following the change the car was not driven on a highway. On the second day the transmission jumped out of fifth gear two times on an hour drive on a freeway.

Took the car into my garage and left it on the floor and reopened the fill/check hole. This let about a half cup of transmission fluid overflow out of the transmission. Looks like it had been too full. It has been 5 days since doing this and it has not jumped out of gear since.

It seems I over filled the transmission by tilting it back and raising the fill/check hole while it rested on jack stands. I don't understand the dynamics of how this led to it jumping out of gear. Perhaps someone can help.

Bottom line of all this is that all four wheels should be on level ground when the transmission is refilled. Both the fill/check plug and the drain plug are reachable from the driver's side of the vehicle without getting under the car. The splash board can also be removed without jacking up the car.

[fidgits]

thats good advice, really if your filling anything in your car, its best to do it when the car is level, as you dont know the inside shape and dimensions, and can cause problems..

[stevelaw]

This is a folow up on a problem I had with changing the manual transmission oil on the 2001 Toyota Corolla ce.

As mentioned in the notes above the oil for the transmission was changed using jack stands to support the car.  The car was still on jack stands when the transmission was refilled.  I had eye-balled this and thought the transmission to be about parallel with the ground. I was wrong.  The first  day following the change the car was not driven on a highway. On the second day  the transmission jumped out of fifth gear two times on an hour drive on a freeway.

Took the car into my garage and left it on the floor and reopened the fill/check hole.  This let about a half cup of transmission fluid overflow out of the transmission.  Looks like it had been too full.  It has been 5 days since doing this and it has not jumped out of gear since. 

It seems I over filled the transmission by tilting it back and raising the fill/check hole while it rested on jack stands.  I don't understand the dynamics of how this led to it jumping out of gear.  Perhaps someone can help.

Bottom line of all this is that all four wheels should be on level ground when the transmission is refilled.  Both the fill/check plug and the drain plug are reachable from the driver's side of the vehicle without getting under the car.  The splash board can also be removed without jacking up the car.

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Yeah, its just like checking your engine oil--do it on level ground. Overfilling an automatic tranny will cause foaming, and all kinds of problems. So I assume it is similar for a manual tranny.