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Manual Transmission and T-Case Fluid Change Today

DanW

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I changed the manual transmission fluid today, at 20,148 miles. It was quick and easy and not too messy. Just make sure you don't lose the little metal washer/gasket on the drain plug. Mine fell off and I discovered it after I had filled it up with new fluid, so I had to fix that quickly while trying to lose as little of the new fluid as possible. I wound up losing 3/4 of a quart. Oh well, ATF+4 is cheap. I went with NAPA synthetic ATF+4, which is Valvoline. It is a fair deal at $7 a quart. It took very slightly over 2 quarts.

I then changed the T-case fluid. That is quite a bit messier because of the skid plate and because the fluid shoots waaay out from the drain hole. I used some Castrol left over from my JK T-case change last September and Valvoline ATF+4 for this.

Note: The Napa is Valvoline bottled for NAPA. It is maybe 70 or 80 cents cheaper per quart than the Valvoline branded bottles at Walmart. The T-case took very close to 2 quarts. All ATF+4 is essentially the same, anyway, so I'm not super picky. I've run Castrol and even Autozone brand before in other vehicles and the all are fine.

I typically change tranny, T-case, and diff fluids every 25-30k miles. I like doing the first one a little before that to get break in crap out of it.

Here is the transmission from the driver's side. The front of the Jeep is to the left. You'll need a bottle pump with a tube to reach the fill hole. The drain hole goes straight down and barely touches a brace nearly under it, so it is a much cleaner drain process than the JK's NSG370, which drains right on top of the exhaust pipe and requires an improvised tool to get it loose. The Aisin in the JL is a straight shot with a 24mm socket.

R0uFbKZ.jpg


Here is the transmission drain plug. The magnet has trapped a fair amount of metal shavings. (Normal and about what I expected for the break-in period and 20k miles.) The pic after that is the plug all cleaned up.
Q49csYW.jpg

4GaVOxK.jpg

Napa ATF+4. It says right on the back that it is made by Valvoline. No secret there. Valvoline makes most, if not all of Napa brand oil, gear lube, and transmission fluids. Good stuff.
l9HGJrh.jpg
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intentsrig

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Yeah mine took about the required 2.38 quarts when I changed my transmission fluid. Did you have fluid come out of the hole? I stuck my finger in the fill hole to see how close the fluid was and after 2.3 quarts and my finger test method I stopped before the fluid came out. This seems like a dirty joke...but I swear its not!!
 
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DanW

DanW

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Yeah mine took about the required 2.38 quarts when I changed my transmission fluid. Did you have fluid come out of the hole? I stuck my finger in the fill hole to see how close the fluid was and after 2.3 quarts and my finger test method I stopped before the fluid came out. This seems like a dirty joke...but I swear its not!!
Lol, yes, I got it to where it just began to drip out. I just wipe it up and spray some brake cleaner to get the residue. Not too bad.

How many miles are on your Jeep now?
 

intentsrig

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Lol, yes, I got it to where it just began to drip out. I just wipe it up and spray some brake cleaner to get the residue. Not too bad.

How many miles are on your Jeep now?
Yeah I stopped probably just before it started to come out. And it was getting closer and closer to 2.5 quarts.

Just under 15k. But basically it’s whole life on 35’s or 37’s with a lot of trail time.

I’ll probably change it before each summer starts. Along with all my other fluids.
 
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DanW

DanW

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Yeah I stopped probably just before it started to come out. And it was getting closer and closer to 2.5 quarts.

Just under 15k. But basically it’s whole life on 35’s or 37’s with a lot of trail time.

I’ll probably change it before each summer starts. Along with all my other fluids.
Yep, it is cheap peace of mind.
 

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I changed the manual transmission fluid today, at 20,148 miles. It was quick and easy and not too messy. Just make sure you don't lose the little metal washer/gasket on the drain plug. Mine fell off and I discovered it after I had filled it up with new fluid, so I had to fix that quickly while trying to lose as little of the new fluid as possible. I wound up losing 3/4 of a quart. Oh well, ATF+4 is cheap. I went with NAPA synthetic ATF+4, which is Valvoline. It is a fair deal at $7 a quart. It took very slightly over 2 quarts.

I then changed the T-case fluid. That is quite a bit messier because of the skid plate and because the fluid shoots waaay out from the drain hole. I used some Castrol left over from my JK T-case change last September and Valvoline ATF+4 for this.

Note: The Napa is Valvoline bottled for NAPA. It is maybe 70 or 80 cents cheaper per quart than the Valvoline branded bottles at Walmart. The T-case took very close to 2 quarts. All ATF+4 is essentially the same, anyway, so I'm not super picky. I've run Castrol and even Autozone brand before in other vehicles and the all are fine.

I typically change tranny, T-case, and diff fluids every 25-30k miles. I like doing the first one a little before that to get break in crap out of it.

Here is the transmission from the driver's side. The front of the Jeep is to the left. You'll need a bottle pump with a tube to reach the fill hole. The drain hole goes straight down and barely touches a brace nearly under it, so it is a much cleaner drain process than the JK's NSG370, which drains right on top of the exhaust pipe and requires an improvised tool to get it loose. The Aisin in the JL is a straight shot with a 24mm socket.

R0uFbKZ.jpg


Here is the transmission drain plug. The magnet has trapped a fair amount of metal shavings. (Normal and about what I expected for the break-in period and 20k miles.) The pic after that is the plug all cleaned up.
Q49csYW.jpg

4GaVOxK.jpg

Napa ATF+4. It says right on the back that it is made by Valvoline. No secret there. Valvoline makes most, if not all of Napa brand oil, gear lube, and transmission fluids. Good stuff.
l9HGJrh.jpg
Nice writeup...I wonder why the ATF-4 bottle specifies Automatic transmission fluid...yet its also used for manuals?
 

intentsrig

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Nice writeup...I wonder why the ATF-4 bottle specifies Automatic transmission fluid...yet its also used for manuals?
I thought it was weird too that we use atf-4. After some searching, so have other manufactures in the past. Some have used motor oil as well.

Sorta weird but it works
 
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DanW

DanW

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Nice writeup...I wonder why the ATF-4 bottle specifies Automatic transmission fluid...yet its also used for manuals?
I'd imagine it may be the move to thinner lubes for better fuel economy and tighter tolerances. ATF+4 certainly seems thinner than Synchromesh.

I do know that the old ATF+4 I drained out still looked and smelled like new, but it only had 21k miles on it, so it probably should be in good shape.
 

Rubi

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I changed the manual transmission fluid today, at 20,148 miles. It was quick and easy and not too messy. Just make sure you don't lose the little metal washer/gasket on the drain plug. Mine fell off and I discovered it after I had filled it up with new fluid, so I had to fix that quickly while trying to lose as little of the new fluid as possible. I wound up losing 3/4 of a quart. Oh well, ATF+4 is cheap. I went with NAPA synthetic ATF+4, which is Valvoline. It is a fair deal at $7 a quart. It took very slightly over 2 quarts.

I then changed the T-case fluid. That is quite a bit messier because of the skid plate and because the fluid shoots waaay out from the drain hole. I used some Castrol left over from my JK T-case change last September and Valvoline ATF+4 for this.

Note: The Napa is Valvoline bottled for NAPA. It is maybe 70 or 80 cents cheaper per quart than the Valvoline branded bottles at Walmart. The T-case took very close to 2 quarts. All ATF+4 is essentially the same, anyway, so I'm not super picky. I've run Castrol and even Autozone brand before in other vehicles and the all are fine.

I typically change tranny, T-case, and diff fluids every 25-30k miles. I like doing the first one a little before that to get break in crap out of it.

Here is the transmission from the driver's side. The front of the Jeep is to the left. You'll need a bottle pump with a tube to reach the fill hole. The drain hole goes straight down and barely touches a brace nearly under it, so it is a much cleaner drain process than the JK's NSG370, which drains right on top of the exhaust pipe and requires an improvised tool to get it loose. The Aisin in the JL is a straight shot with a 24mm socket.

R0uFbKZ.jpg


Here is the transmission drain plug. The magnet has trapped a fair amount of metal shavings. (Normal and about what I expected for the break-in period and 20k miles.) The pic after that is the plug all cleaned up.
Q49csYW.jpg

4GaVOxK.jpg

Napa ATF+4. It says right on the back that it is made by Valvoline. No secret there. Valvoline makes most, if not all of Napa brand oil, gear lube, and transmission fluids. Good stuff.
l9HGJrh.jpg
Excellent write up.
 
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OceanBlues

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Very good write up, thank you.

I changed fluids in my transmission and t case today. I recommend just unbolting the skid plate before draining the t case, made things really simple.

FYI, anybody confused where the T case drain and fill plugs are, they are on the back face of the T case. If anybody needs help identifying any of the plugs, let me know and I can go take some photos of mine.

BTW, my T case fluids looked very fresh. If you rarely shift into 4wd, you can probably go a while between changing fluids there.

Next project is changing rear diff fluids, figure I don't need to do the front for a while, since like I said, I rarely am in 4wd.
 

D60

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ATF is essentially just a lightweight oil, doesn't matter that "automatic transmission" is in the name.

It's used in power steering systems, my 2-post lift, and dozens of other applications.

In anything that's just a gearbox (like a manual trans or part-time t-case) I suspect you could get away with a basic Dex/Merc and Chrysler only specs +4 'cause it's "their thing." But not worth risking it, either.
 

CarbonSteel

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Very good write up, thank you.

I changed fluids in my transmission and t case today. I recommend just unbolting the skid plate before draining the t case, made things really simple.

FYI, anybody confused where the T case drain and fill plugs are, they are on the back face of the T case. If anybody needs help identifying any of the plugs, let me know and I can go take some photos of mine.

BTW, my T case fluids looked very fresh. If you rarely shift into 4wd, you can probably go a while between changing fluids there.

Next project is changing rear diff fluids, figure I don't need to do the front for a while, since like I said, I rarely am in 4wd.
@OceanBlues - Are the TCase plugs magnetic?
 
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CarbonSteel

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I don't believe so, just the trans drain plug. Honestly the tcase drains pretty hard so I feel like it would clear out any shavings.
Thanks; I was thinking about trapping any particles between changes. Are these 1/2" NPT?
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