Bongo Fury

As the weather was good today, I decided to change the transmission fluid - a job I'd been putting off till the weather improved, as I have to work outside.

I took the Bongo for a drive, to warm things up, then sucked the old fluid out with my Pela 6000 suction pump - this certainly is a useful bit of kit - made the job a whole lot less messy than trying to remove a sump full of ATF fluid!!

When I'd got out all I could with the pump, I removed the gearbox sump to let it fully drain. I reckon there was les than 1/2 litre left in there after pumping.

When you remove the 4 x 10mm long bolts to clean the pick-up filter, be aware that there is an O ring on the round pipe that goes up into the gearbox - and actually TWO filter gauzes - one on the square pick-up tube, and one on the round pipe.

I gave this part a good swill around with some petrol, making sure both filters were as clean as possible, as you can't remove then from the assembly.
I cleaned the sump cover, also with petrol - there is a round, removable magnet in the centre - this was removed, and also given a good clean, before refitting the sump cover.

There is no problem with the gasket sticking - the weight of the cover itself broke the seal, once all the 10mm bolts were released, and the gasket comes off still attached to the cover.

I had a 5l container of Dexron 3 fluid - but found I still needed about another litre - will check the level again when I have been for a drive.

Mike

I'm glad others are finding that it takes at least 5 litres of ATF to refill, I put nearly 7 in mine. I did let it drain for around 2 hours though. I think the general feeling is around 4.5 litres, I would say to everyone who is taking the sump off to make sure they have 7 litres of ATF available for refilling so as not to get caught short!.

What frequency does ATF (and oil in diff's for that matter) need to be replaced?

I think it's about every 24,000 miles - it certainly feels a smoother change since changing it - well worth doing.

Mike

How do you know if it needs changing? Mine looks nice and clean, but I have no idea when it was last changed.

I'd change it then for peace of mind! You'll be amazed at the sludge in the sump! Did the bolts turn up?

ChrisEm wrote:I'd change it then for peace of mind! You'll be amazed at the sludge in the sump! Did the bolts turn up?

Hi Chris - no bolts yet, there has been some sort of industrial action so maybe they're in a pile somewhere
Did your oil look clean and red before you changed it?

Yes it looked clean and didn't smell burnt, however compare new and old and they are significantly different! I'll post some more bolts.

ChrisEm wrote:Yes it looked clean and didn't smell burnt, however compare new and old and they are significantly different! I'll post some more bolts.

Thanks Chris, and I'll change my ATF

I'd better do mine too i guess, i check it, but it still seems a nice red,never uses any,and gearchanges are faultless... its at least four years old though...

bigdaddycain wrote:I'd better do mine too i guess, i check it, but it still seems a nice red,never uses any,and gearchanges are faultless... its at least four years old though...

Same here bigdaddycain, but nearly everybody says it seems better after changing the fluid - just got to get a pump now

Me too john,...ive just been out taking off the wipers for a re-spray,and yep, you guessed it,by the time i'd prepped em, it peed it down!

Now i'll have to wait for the missus to go to work so i can sneak em into the kitchen to paint em...oh the sorrows of bongo ownership eh?

(i dunno why painting the wipers would make me feel better about not changing the gearbox fluid though?)

From reading the posts while you were away, I'm surprised you'd got any wipers to paint

thats pretty much all the buggers left!