scapistron
Full Access Member
I was getting some hard shifting while the transmission was cold and being at a little over 100k miles I figured it was time to drain it, drop the pan and put a new one in. Ordered the kit from Atlantic it went pretty well, putting my experience here to maybe help others.
Transmission cross member is going to need to come out. Scissor jack and a block of wood will support the transmission just fine. My passenger side bolts were very rusty and crusty. I recommend replacing them and giving it all a healthy coat of anti seize to help out the next guy.
Passenger side exhaust will at least need to be disconnected from the header. If possible remove the whole exhaust section, it will be easier to get to all of the pan bolts with it fully removed. My exhaust bolts didn't want to come apart just behind the transmission cross member so I left it instead of breaking anything.
Remove the fill plug before the drain plug! If you can't get fluid back in, you better not be letting any out!
Gear wrench slim flex head kit is a real life saver for getting all of the transmission pan bolts.
A second person in the driver's seat pumping up the transmission fluid pressure would be a big help when filling, but isn't necessary. I filled until fluid started dripping out. Started it and built up some transmission pressure with one foot on the brake and revving the engine a little in both drive and reverse. Added more fluid while it was still in drive. When it started dripping out again, I'd hop in and build a little more pressure to see if I could get it to take anymore fluid. In all I got about 6 quarts in.
I punched a few drain holes in the heat shield so it would stop collecting condensate. Also put a couple dabs of RTV on the o-rings to hold them in place to make reassembly easier.
Still wasn't shifting great after all of this. Better, but not great. I reset the transmission adaptation and it is super smooth now.
Transmission cross member is going to need to come out. Scissor jack and a block of wood will support the transmission just fine. My passenger side bolts were very rusty and crusty. I recommend replacing them and giving it all a healthy coat of anti seize to help out the next guy.
Passenger side exhaust will at least need to be disconnected from the header. If possible remove the whole exhaust section, it will be easier to get to all of the pan bolts with it fully removed. My exhaust bolts didn't want to come apart just behind the transmission cross member so I left it instead of breaking anything.
Remove the fill plug before the drain plug! If you can't get fluid back in, you better not be letting any out!
Gear wrench slim flex head kit is a real life saver for getting all of the transmission pan bolts.
A second person in the driver's seat pumping up the transmission fluid pressure would be a big help when filling, but isn't necessary. I filled until fluid started dripping out. Started it and built up some transmission pressure with one foot on the brake and revving the engine a little in both drive and reverse. Added more fluid while it was still in drive. When it started dripping out again, I'd hop in and build a little more pressure to see if I could get it to take anymore fluid. In all I got about 6 quarts in.
I punched a few drain holes in the heat shield so it would stop collecting condensate. Also put a couple dabs of RTV on the o-rings to hold them in place to make reassembly easier.
Still wasn't shifting great after all of this. Better, but not great. I reset the transmission adaptation and it is super smooth now.
