I have a 1985 D150 318/auto truck. Is there a good howto out there for changing the transmission fluid? The truck has 84K miles on it, and I certainly don't think it could harm it.

I think it has a 904. How should I check? Crawl under it and look at?

Any shift improver kits like transgo a good idea?

Thanks for your input.

 

Crawl under your truck and draw a picture of the shape of the pan and count the number of bolts. A parts store should have a diagram to id what you have so you get the right filter and gasket. Buy a filter kit that comes with a paper/rubber type gasket and not cork...lot easier to tighten up without leaks. Other than that, just loosen up all of the bolts gradually and then start taking them out of one corner and loosening up the sides so the pan tips down and dumps the fluid in a pan you have sitting under there. By the time you get all but 2-3 bolts out it should be tipped enough to have drained most of the fluid out. It'll never stop dripping so don't worry about letting it all drain. Put the new gasket and filter in and then the number of quarts (minus 1/2-1) for a filter change which a parts store can also tell you. I like to leave a little out because sometimes they aren't real accurate. Then add 1/2 quart at a time until it gets to the bottom of the dipstick. At that point you can fire it up and shift it through the gears and then add to get the proper warmed up level.

Derek

 

Doesn't that leave a lot of fluid in though? Like in the converter? I remember somebody with a FWD using the tubes from their cooler to pull in new fluid and push out old fluid.

 

That is one way to do it via the cooler lines but you should change the filter and since it is apart just crank it until the converter drain plug is at the bottom and drain the converter right there.
Yes there are a few shift kits and transgo is a pretty good one,thats the one I used and it works nice.