hey guys im going to be changing the tranny fluid and filter and i was wonderin what the best way to take off the tranny pan w/o most of it dumping if possible

 

I dont remember where i read it but somewhere i read you do all of the bolts lightly so that only a little bit of fluid will leak out until it is level

 

Remove all the rear bolts first.
Then one side. Get a drain pan under the rear.
Do the other side and then pry on either rear corner, just enough to break the seal of the gasket. Break each front bolt loose, @ 1/4 turn. As you take each one out, eventually the pan will begin to lower in the back.
You probabally will still make a little mess, but this will keep it at a minimum.
If you find a little white plastic plug, don't worry, it is just a dipstick tube hole plug the factory uses. They just push the tube in knocking the plug into the pan.
Toss it in the trash.
There are 10 bolts on the valve body if you get frisky and want to drain the converter half out. 3 on the front,3 on the rear and 4 on the pass. side in a square pattern. They just need to be freed up about 2 turns just to let the valve body drop a little bit.
This will get more of the fluid out.
You must use Type 7176 fluid(I believe they call it ATF+3 now.
It is a highly friction modified fluid. Failure to use this can result in the torque converter clutch chattering(slippage).

 

Actually check your dipstick on the type of fluid needed. Depending on the year you will need atf+3 or atf+4.

 

They make a drain plug kit you can put in the pan so 25k from now it won't be such a mess.

http://www.pavementsucks.com/tech/trans.php

 

All the ATF4 does is supercede the old.
It started out as type 7176,then ATF+ then ATF+3 so I guess now it is ATF+4
I just buy it from Chrysler so I bought a case about 3 years ago so I don't know what they are calling it now.
Want to save money? Buy regular ATF (dexron) and call your local tranny shop and see if they have just the additive. It will be called "highly friction modified additive". Any GOOD shop will know what you need. If they tell you otherwise, find a different shop.I've used the stuff before and it works.
The fluid has no bearing on transmission operation, only the clutch in the converter.

 

Do yourself a favor and just buy the ATF +4 for 13 bucks from the dealer. I put in Dextron III (I dont know about any additive, so I didnt try that and can not comment on how it would work) and I bought my APS trans around 8,000 miles later. First reverse didnt go anymore, then I lost 4th gear. So, yes, there is a reason it says to use ATF +4. If it calls from +3, using +4 is the new recomendation.

 

yah just stick with what it says i think in 99 or 00 they changed from +3 to +4 so if it says to use +3 use that and if it says to use+4 use that insted. if your not shure what to put in there just phone the dealership up and ask, and unless you know exactley what your doing when mixing additives to the oil, dont be cheap and just buy the propper stuff (if you think something is cheaper it usally ends up being more in the end). its cheaper to spend a little more on the oil then to half to rebuild the tranny just think of it like that

 

At Victory Lane we use a smart blend formula to convert Dexron III into ATF+4 there are several different types. Look for the black bottle if you're going to go with this brand. There really isn't a clean way to get the pan off and drain the fluid. If you've got $100 go to a quick lube and make sure they do use the addative... Find out by calling. Also there is a process that we do where we hook up a machine to the transmission cooler line. The transmission pump pumps the fluid out and the machine has a mircroprocessor to pump the fluid back in at the same rate. Dealerships do it this way and they charge a lot more. So there are various options to consider. When you drop the pan and change the filter, you get only 30% of the old fluid out. You get 99% of the old fluid out and you don't have to worry about the filter getting clogged up because it reverse flushes the valve body.

 

So all the stuff the filter has collected goes where???????? Back through what??????