What is this plug circled? Is this another fill plug???

[blaubenz]

The first pic is what my 2005 x5 4.4 tranny look like from the right side looking a little forward. Notice there there is a "plug" on the right side with a black dot on it. Conventional wisdom said, I can not put an allen wrench in there to use it as a fill plug instead the fill plug is in the pan, recessed upward to fill see pic 2 that follows.

My question is what is the screw I circled? Is that another filled plug? Does anyone know what that screw is for?

I attached another tranny that have a similar screw picture 3.

Note: The reason I asked is that ever since I changed my tranny oil I been look for a way to add more tranny back into the tranny. I took out about a quart more than what I was able to put back in (Believe me I did the proper oil fill procedure and other combination to try to get more oil in). I suspect that I have low tranny oil because I have hard shift when cold particular from 1 to 2.

[andrewwynn]

The fill hole automatically determines the correct fill level by spilling out when it's about 100F.

You are describing a desire to over fill to compensate for something worn inside the transmission.

In your shoes I would use this: Lucas 10009 Transmission Fix 24 oz. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ARTZPO..._Od3fAbHCW80DP

Parts are wearing out it's not a fluid dirty etc causing the rough shifts but valves and seals not doing their jobs as designed. I've read good things about this product and was what transmission ships have recommended to get the last range out of a transmission rather than rebuild/replace it.

What prompted you to change the t fluid? and did you actually measure the fluid coming out to know precisely how much to put back in?

If you have 6qt in a bucket and only put 5 back in I would suspect a previous repair added in more than normal rather than somehow the fill port is too low.

I would first use the treatment then if you wanted to throw a hail Mary of over fill before replace transmission, park the car with the fill port uphill. Eg wheels of that side on a curb to allow over fill. (understanding the risk of over filling: there is good reason the fill port is on the side making impossible to over fill)


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[upallnight]

If you are letting the engine and trans warm up before filling the trans, you are doing it WRONG. The engine and trans must be almost stone cold and the temp must not exceed 30 C while filling it. ATF expands with heat so if you warm the engine and trans up, the ATF in the trans pan has already expanded so you can not add additional ATF in. Also the engine has to be running when you are adding ATF or the pump in the trans will not be working.

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

T(understanding the risk of over filling: there is good reason the fill port is on the side making impossible to over fill)

Like mine, there is no fill port on the side - the fill port is on the bottom of the pan (the larger of the two bolts). Tricker to get the fill level correct, to say the least....

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

The fill hole automatically determines the correct fill level by spilling out when it's about 100F.

You are describing a desire to over fill to compensate for something worn inside the transmission.

In your shoes I would use this: Lucas 10009 Transmission Fix 24 oz. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ARTZPO..._Od3fAbHCW80DP

Parts are wearing out it's not a fluid dirty etc causing the rough shifts but valves and seals not doing their jobs as designed. I've read good things about this product and was what transmission ships have recommended to get the last range out of a transmission rather than rebuild/replace it.

What prompted you to change the t fluid? and did you actually measure the fluid coming out to know precisely how much to put back in?

If you have 6qt in a bucket and only put 5 back in I would suspect a previous repair added in more than normal rather than somehow the fill port is too low.

I would first use the treatment then if you wanted to throw a hail Mary of over fill before replace transmission, park the car with the fill port uphill. Eg wheels of that side on a curb to allow over fill. (understanding the risk of over filling: there is good reason the fill port is on the side making impossible to over fill)


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Only the GM trans has the fill port on the side, the ZF trans have the fill port under the pan. The fill port is commonly called a hydrant filled port because it is filled from the bottom like the standpipe in some fire hydrants for tall buildings.

[oldskewel]

I agree with everything above.

If you really want to add extra fluid though, the easiest way would probably be to jack the truck so the fill port (wherever it is; possible unless it is dead center in the pan) is higher than the center of the pan (centroid, actually). Then you should get a little more capacity.

What I've done when filling is to do that - so I overfill very slightly, probably while things are warmed up still from the draining (and warmed up is TOO HOT to set level). Then the next day, once things are stone cold, I take a very quick drive around the block to get through all the gears, jack the car to level it, and pull the fill plug to drain, setting it at the correct level. This may be overkill in terms of accuracy, but it's easy for me to do.

No comment from me on the desire to purposely overfill it. But if you're sure you want to do that, the jacking should make it possible.

[RRPhil]

To answer your question regarding the plug on the back of the 5HP24 & 6HP26 casings, this is the hole through which the park pawl pivot shaft is installed and removed. It has no connection with setting the fluid level.







Phil

[Ohsoslow]

I haven’t actually looked at the trans in mine, but I remember a thread here mentioning there is a fill port on the side. The screw has had the head filled in with bog tho, so guy had to scrape it all out.

On my previous car, (ford) with 6hp26, it had a fill plug on right hand side.. so I wonder if it’s the same plug, just blanked for our application..

Edit: just did oil on mine, there’s definitely a plug on right hand rear, with a rubber insert in the hex. So you “could” possibly use that.. but it appears to be at the same height as the normal filler, so don’t think it would achieve anything. And at least on mine it is right next to exhaust pipe, so possibly why they went with bottom fill option.

[wpoll]

Ohsoslow - what did you use to fill the transmission? Did you make/find/buy an adapter that allowed you to connect a pump (hose)? I've had a quick look for something off-the-shelf but I'm not sure what the thread/size is?

[Ohsoslow]

Hey Wayne!

I knew there was someone I was supposed to talk to once I had finished it! I didn’t make up anything at all, I had one of those hand pumps that go into top of oil bottle (big hand soap dispenser) with about 600mm of clear tubing bout 10mm diameter. Just slid that up into one of the two holes that are visible when plug is removed, and pumped like mad! Was actually really easy! Hardest part was cracking loose the fill plug, it’s a 17mm hex. Which I didn’t have, so used a bolt with two nuts locked into thread. (Put bolt head into hex)