alright guys, heres what i got for yas..

well my tranny pan gasket is leaking..and i figure while im under there i might as well service the tranny a little bit. Im going to take the pan off, which means draining the fluids. and i also wanna change the filter, depending on how hard it is to do. How much ATF4 flluid would i need to re-fill the tranny? also where exactly is the tranny filter? (im only 16 yrs old so im still learning =] ) any help would be apreciated.

Thanks guys!!!, im just trying to gain the confidence to get in there and do it myself instead of sending my truck to get F'ed up and pay waaay too much for the work i get.

 

also, is there a cabin filter in these trucks?? Thanks again everyone!

 

When you take the trans pan off to drain the fluid, you'll see the filter...it'll be staring you right in the face so you can't miss it. I haven't changed the fluid in my Dak yet so I'm not sure how the filter is held in place, but the filter on my 98 caravan is just held in place by clips. If it's not clips, it'll probably just be a couple of screws...either way, very easy to replace. When you put thepan back on, make sure the gasket is HELD IN PLACE while tensioning the bolts. Use some kind of sealant on the gasket. Sometimes it's hard to get the pan back on and tightenedwithout the gasket shifting, which of course means it'll leak once the fluid is replaced. Not sure how much fluid you'll need but I can check the manual once I get home this afternoon.

 

Are you sure the bolts just aren't loose? That tends to happen. Recheck all bolts first, if loose, wipe clean and drive around and keep and eye on it to see if it still leaks.


To drop the pan and change the filter, it's only a few quarts of fluid. There will be some in the torque converter you don't have to worry about. I would guess pick up 5 quarts to be safe.

I know mine used 12 quarts I think it was with a whole new rebuild and new converter.

 

For just a filter change, it calls for about 4 quarts of ATF
And no, these trucks do not have a cabin filter.
These trucks are good learner vehicles for mechanical work because it is a pretty straightforward motor.

 

well i tightened the bolts (they werent snug) to see if that will work and i also cleaned it with "brakleen" and rags. im going to make little over a 200 mile round trip this weekend so ill ee how it looks at the end. if its still leaking, im going to go ahead and replace the filter and gasket next week.

thanks for your help everyone, ill post the results on sunday!

 

well its still leaking a bit..alot less then before but i would like to replace the gasket and change the filter.

just to make sure this is as easy as it seems...take off the pan, have a catch pan waiting and drain the fluid into the pan, take the filter off and replace with a new one, clean up where the old gasket was and put new gasket on with a high temp. sealant. then just put the pan back up there and tighten to snug. then refill.

correct me if im wrong guys!! thanks for all the help too.

 

Make sure to get a cork gasket. Doesn't necessarily have to be hi-temp RTV put on. I would also recommend some loc-tite on the bolts.

 

alright, sounds good, i have high temp laying around so i figure ill use it. ill get some loctite too.

thanks for the help!

 

When you tighten the bolts, try and go in as much of a star pattern as possible.