AFT automatic transmission oil change

[Purple Pixie]

My adventures captured in Video on YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPvSdmuSktI (8 episodes for your delight!)

Well with a great deal of help from my good mate & Bongonaut Nick Roberts who lent me his SILVERLINE OIL & FLUID EXTRACTOR PUMP, I did an automatic transmission oil change on our 2l petrol ford freda (aka Bongo), very plain sailing, a lot of oil left in the sump despite the use of the sucky thing down the dipstick tube AND having a sump plug on the transmission sump. Found the grey pressed metal pickup filter and its FOUR mounting bolts (it has a huge filtration area of fine mesh). Quite a bit of fine iron filings on the magnetic pickup in the bottom of the sump but the fluid was quite clean.

Refitting the sump and pouring the new fluid in down the dipstick hole was easy.... will check the oil level and retorque the sump bolts tonight.

SCAREY!!!! try not to look up into the gearbox too much when it is exposed, looks like the contents of C3PO's underpants... complex or what! the strainer is easy to find and the mounting bolts can be found using finger tips only ( I was working on a van that was NOT jacked up)

Having a large drip tray and some NITRILE gloves that did not dissolve in the ATF would have made the day better - a 1/4" drive 10mm socket and a 19mm one for the sump was all I needed, no force no swearing....

[Purple Pixie]

Now the dust has settled (metaphorically speaking) I might well sum up the whole transmission fluid change in a few key item:

There was not as much oil removed using the vacuum pump as I suspected

The transmission sump plug was in a bizarre place, as it was NOT at the lowest point, thus there was still a lot of fluid left in the sump to pour out

The weight of the remnant fluid probably provided an even loading on the sump to gearbox clamping area to gently break it free

The gearbox is frighteningly complicated ( indeed a cross between Reginald Dixon's Mighty Wurlitzer and Metal Mickey's underpants) in comparison to what the inside of classic Mini manual gearboxes look like....and it was very useful to be able to work out the FOUR bolts I had to remove to get the strainer out using photos online

Using a 1/4 drive socket and extension rod ensured the bolts were less likely to be exposed to torques that could damage the threads.. threads in alloy castings can easily be stripped, especially little threads like these....... no 1/2" drive ratchet here!

It would have been hellishly easier had I done it with the van up on ramps!