Transmission Fluid Change DIY

[Jungerishere]

I always loosen fill plug first but don't completely remove it until drain plug is removed. This way, I know fill plug can be removed and less mess.

Originally Posted by upallnight

Actually you should first loosen the fill plug to make sure you can remove it. Nothing worse then draining all the fluid in the trans and finding out that you can't remove the fill plug because it is rusted in the trans or some PO mangled the fill plug in an attempt to open it without the right tool.



He has an I6 engine, not a V8 so he doesn't have a ZF trans.


Originally Posted by hayaku View Post
here's another tip:

you may want to remove the drain plug first. while the oil is draining from there, you can remove the fill plug to allow air into the pan to help the oil drain instead of creating a vacuum and holding it up. that way there won't be so much oil spilling out from the fill plug.

[RenaissanceMan]

Originally Posted by upallnight

The reason why the temperature is so important is because ATF expands with heat, so the hotter the fluid is, the more it has expanded. Don't make the mistake of draining a hot trans because unlike an engine only 60% of the fluid is in the pan. The rest of the fluid is in the Torque converter and if the fluid in the torque converter is hot it will upset the actual amount that you put back into the trans.

I would drain the fluid from the pan and let the car sit over night. Next morning I would pump ATF into the trans until it come out the fill hole. Put the plug back into the fill hole and start the engine. Go through all the gears and pause in each gear with the engine running and put it in neutral, remove the fill plug and with the engine still running pump ATF into the trans until it starts to come out the fill hole. Put the plug back in and call it a day.

great info, thanks!

[Jungerishere]

Does BMW transmission have fluid temperature sensor so you can monitor fluid temperature with diagnostic software when filling? I have filled trans fluid on Audi this way. Not sure IR heat sensor is always accurate since it is hitting the pan, not the fluid.

[wellingtonamaral]

I'm having a weird problem with a partial transmission fluid change on my X5 3.0i.

I just tried a partial fluid change on my ’04 BMW X5 3.0i E53 AT, by draining from pan drain with engine off until dripping stopped, and then refilling with fresh oil via filler plug.

Issue:
I drained a little over 4.0 liters, but I’m having trouble refilling. Car is leveled. During first refill attempt (with engine off), the oil will spill back out as I pump it in (like it’s already full). Then, with the engine running (tried while both in neutral and park), when I try to unscrew the filler plug, oil sprays out with a lot of pressure. Have you all ever seen this happen?? At this point, should I move on to dropping the pan and replacing the filter and gasket, then trying again? Or should I be worry and just tow it to a shop?

Some important background:
I bought this car about 3 months ago. It has about 110 miles on it. It drove fine and felt not hard shifting or slipping at all, but I figured it was time to do at least a partial fluid change — especially considering that I don’t know much of the car’s history with previous owners. And so, I was planning on getting this done soon anyway. Bought some Pentosin ATF (5.0 Liter bottle), but before getting to it, an issue came up and prompted me to go ahead and get this done immediately. While driving, the car went into transmission failsafe. From what I gather, old fluid could be one of the many reasons the computer would trigger this restriction mode. So, before submitting myself to expensive maintenance quotes, I figured I’d go ahead with the cheapest possibility — old oil, and hence started the partial fluid change.

Partial fluid change reference:
Transmission Fluid Change DIY

I also posted this question as a separate thread, but it seems fitting to also insert it in this discussion.

Any ideas are very much appreciated!

[mgbmwx5]

It sounds like the the transmission might be overfilled, I would just start fresh since you don't know what the PO had done, drop the pan and replace the oil filter with new pan gasket and refill properly.

Originally Posted by wellingtonamaral

I'm having a weird problem with a partial transmission fluid change on my X5 3.0i.

I just tried a partial fluid change on my ’04 BMW X5 3.0i E53 AT, by draining from pan drain with engine off until dripping stopped, and then refilling with fresh oil via filler plug.

Issue:
I drained a little over 4.0 liters, but I’m having trouble refilling. Car is leveled. During first refill attempt (with engine off), the oil will spill back out as I pump it in (like it’s already full). Then, with the engine running (tried while both in neutral and park), when I try to unscrew the filler plug, oil sprays out with a lot of pressure. Have you all ever seen this happen?? At this point, should I move on to dropping the pan and replacing the filter and gasket, then trying again? Or should I be worry and just tow it to a shop?

Some important background:
I bought this car about 3 months ago. It has about 110 miles on it. It drove fine and felt not hard shifting or slipping at all, but I figured it was time to do at least a partial fluid change — especially considering that I don’t know much of the car’s history with previous owners. And so, I was planning on getting this done soon anyway. Bought some Pentosin ATF (5.0 Liter bottle), but before getting to it, an issue came up and prompted me to go ahead and get this done immediately. While driving, the car went into transmission failsafe. From what I gather, old fluid could be one of the many reasons the computer would trigger this restriction mode. So, before submitting myself to expensive maintenance quotes, I figured I’d go ahead with the cheapest possibility — old oil, and hence started the partial fluid change.

Partial fluid change reference:
Transmission Fluid Change DIY

I also posted this question as a separate thread, but it seems fitting to also insert it in this discussion.

Any ideas are very much appreciated!

[admranger]

Originally Posted by mgbmwx5

It sounds like the the transmission might be overfilled, I would just start fresh since you don't know what the PO had done, drop the pan and replace the oil filter with new pan gasket and refill properly.

Agreed. Don't screw around here guessing that the last guy did it right when all indications are something is not normal ("Abby Normal" as Igor said!).

[MPDano]

What about just a top off?

[RenaissanceMan]

Had an interesting conversation with the shop foreman at one of the BMW dealerships in Atlanta last weekend. He recommended strongly against me doing a fluid change on a higher mileage (112k) X5, stating that all of the worn clutch material that was currently in the fluid would be of course drained and could very possibly slipping problems once the newer fluid was in there. He suggested just leaving the trans fluid as it is if it is not exhibiting any problems. FWIW.

[MPDano]

Originally Posted by JCL

The confusion is being compounded.

It is not a ZF transmission, it is a GM transmission. 3.0, not 4.4.

Renaissance Man, when I look up the green tag, I get the part number you list, the ETL7082B reference, and a note that it has been superceded by Dexron VI. So that is what I would use myself. Dexron VI is a backwards compatible fluid that covers the old Dexron III spec (which had an orange tag) among others.

The yellow tag is the ETL7045E fluid. So let's put that one aside right now.

These fluids are probably all variants of Dexron III IMO, and so will have similar specs, but they are trying to make sure that what you add to it is compatible with what is already in it. Since you can't buy the green tag fluid anymore, use the Dexron VI that the dealer recommends.

Aftermarket suppliers may try to upsell a generic fluid that isn't certified, but which claims to meet a number of specs. Sort of an adjustable wrench of the fluid world. I would use a fluid that meets the Dexron VI spec over a fluid that claims to be OK to use on a wide number of specs.

Level is important. Check the procedure.

There are no adaptations to reset.

Good luck

Jeff

Great post. So topping off with Dex VI is ok for my X5 3.0 GM Tranny? Just making sure.

[RenaissanceMan]

Originally Posted by MPDano

Great post. So topping off with Dex VI is ok for my X5 3.0 GM Tranny? Just making sure.

i believe that is the verified consensus now. it is apparently backwards-compatible with what was in there originally.