HOW TO: manual tranny fluid change
 

Figured since i haven't seen this up and i'm sure some people are getting tired of paying a dealership or some shop to do it for them. here is an image based step by step to replace the manual xB's tranny oil.

required oil - 1.9-2.0 quarts 75W90 G4 or G5 gear based oil.

oil used - 2.0 quarts Royal Purple 75W90 G4/G5 full synthetic

results - smoother shifting, less rotational stress caused by the oil, no oil break down from heat being synthetic oil will not boil over. Red Line and Royal Purple synthetic tranny oils are proven to give added numbers on dynos due to less power lose to the wheels from less added rotational lubrication stress.

pics below as follows:



remove this hose first. hold the spring clamps and just pull the tube off, comes off rather easy.

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now at this time, you'll have your fuel evap lines on the left side of your intake box. i don't have this anymore but they are really easy to take off. after that, just take off the other hose leading to the head cover and then loosen the crimp on the throttle body end of the intake hose, release the clamps on the air box for the filter and disconnect the MAF and EVAP clip *again i have no vapor lines so i don't have an image for the EVAP clip but it splits off from the MAF harness*.

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now that you have removed the top half of the air box and the air filter. the only thing left in our way is the bottom half of the air box. i personally removed the extra plastic tubing that pops into the bottom half of the intake box because i thought it was poorly placed and being that it was halfway blocked by the left headlight, i took it off for a less restrictive flow. also, you'll notice a secondary "after filter" filter on the top half of the intake box, if you'r smart, you'll get that out of there. it's a none replaceable filter and will continue to get dirtier and dirtier so you might as well just get rid of it and rely on the replaceable filter.

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after removing the bottom half of the air box, now we have a clean working area to open the top fill port for the tranny. now i personally took out the battery and the battery tray to do this because i couldn't fine my 24mm socket and the only other tool i had to use was a 15/16's offset wrench so i needed the extra space and removed the battery and battery tray. this bolt can be a real pain because of where it's at if you don't have a 24mm deep socket and a good leverage on the ratchet. be careful how you treat it as well, there is a ball bearing on the bottom side of the bolt that supports part of the hydraulic clutch system.

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now that we've got the top opened up. on the bottom of the tranny, there is two spill points, one on the front side of the tranny and one on the bottom rear of the tranny. you'll want to drain the tranny at the bottom rear spill point. the one on the front will only get about half of the fluid and if you're still running on factory tranny fluid, i HIGHLY suggest doing this processes because i personally only saw about a quart and a half come out. PREPARE FOR A FLOOD! there isn't much oil in there *properly filled should be 1.9-2.0 quarts* and with the top bolt completely open it will ALL come out rather quickly so get your quick reflexes ready unless you don't mind getting a little dirty.

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All Done! just put the spill bolt back on and tighten it down enough to match the painted markings on the outside of the bolt. fill at the top with 2 quarts of oil and once your done with that, seal up the fill port and put your parts back on. i HIGHLY suggest using Red Line or Royal Purple 75W90, big difference in the smoothness of shifting and gear engagement. these two oils are also full synthetics and are proven on dynos to help free up some of the lost power between the engine and drive-train to the wheels. also, if you are running factory manual tranny oil/, i HIGHLY suggest doing this specifically because when i dumped mine out, i didn't get much out which has been causing my gears to grind even when the clutch was to the floor for nearly 10 seconds and even at a dead stop and the clutch to the floor. also, when i opened the front side spill point on the tranny, i hardly got more then a few drops which suggests that i got a factory built xB with not enough tranny fluid cause if i were to do that now, i'd have a water fall like flow of purple oil all over me so i suggest some of you to do the same if you are experiencing similar problems and are still running on factory manual tranny oil.

alright everyone, enjoy!

Looks like you gotta white balance your camera.

Nice writeup though.

thanks, ya i know, new camera so i haven't readjusted it yet.

The thing you call "2 spill points" is actually the drain and fill plugs. The lower one that you drained the fluid from is correct. The one in the front where you said a few drops came out is where it should be filled up to. When you fill the trans fluid up, once it starts to come out of the "fill hole", your done. If you fill it up to the bolt under all of that mess you removed, it will be WAY OVERFILLED!
I don't wanna sound like an ___ but it's just the mechanic in me to correct someone who is misinformed... :P

not misinformed, but what i said above may be misinforming. as i didn't ACTUALLY check to see if it would spill on me after putting the new oil in. all i know is that there was alot less then the require 1.9 quart in there, now it's up to level and perfect. but i know for a fact that it was TOO low before hand. the drops that came out was what was just on the bolt it's self, like a light coating of oil and there wasn't an oil level that i could see looking through it and i didn't feel any oil with my finger when feeling inside of the hole.

Nice info!


Thx



John

whats the next recommended transmission fluid change interval for redline mt-90? how many miles or how much longer?

FYI - DIY is here, page 3:

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...=asc&&start=40

No need to remove hoses, batteries or airboxes. Just remove the drain and fill plugs, and use a funnel (w/ hose) to refill.

i understand switching to a better blend of oil.. and i run Royal purple in my engine, but is it really nessacary to change your trans oil too? i hear this shouldnt be a problem tell around 90,000 miles.

I would reread the maintenance book that came with the car. Why would you think it was unnecessary to change out your fluid? Would you wait until 18K miles to change your engine oil?

no.. but you shouldnt have to change it everytime you change your engine oil.. every 3 to 5k miles or so.. i dont recall what the owners manual says.. ill have to take a look when im off work..

i think most cars might be 30k instead of 90k like a stated earlier..

It says 30K.

Transmission fluid is a slippery liquid that acts as a lubricant for all of the moving parts inside your transmission. In a manual transmission, the problem is not so much the fluid degradation, but rather fluid contamination. This contamination occurs over time as the synchronizers, bearings and gears in the transmission wear out. The resulting metal particles then float around in the lubricant. And we all know that oil with microscopic particles of metal in it does not lubricate as well as clean oil. So if these contaminants are not drained out, they will shorten the life of your transmission.

i understand all that.. and im not trying to put this thread down or anything, just more curious then anything..(also thought opur trannys didnt have synchros, reason its so damn hard putting in reverse sometimes)

p.s. Happy b-day

Many people only change their motor oil once per year, and they get plenty of service life out of their cars. Its just not the best thing for your motor. Same thing goes with the trans - fluids are cheap, new transmissions or engines are not.

Actually, they do contain brass synchros which is why GL4 is a better choice than GL5 in these maunal transmissions. Personally, I did my first change (w/ Redline GL4) around 10K miles and feel I should have changed it earlier.

Cheers!

good to know.. maybe ill do this with my next oil change.. (as a royal purple dealer, this shouldnt be to expensive)

What the worst thing that can happen if its overfilled???

excessive wear and eventually leading to tranny component or complete failure.

I no there is a build up of pressure of sorts in the bell housing when its overfilled.

Which tranny seal is the one that goes 1st?

I think there are two or three, to my understand, lol.

Someone chime in.

^^ you're thinking of an automatic, there is no pressure build up in the bell housing for manuals, that's just about impossible when the bell housing is open to outside ambient air at the bottom.

since i did the change, not once has it ground on gears. also, there is a much smoother shift to it and less drive train power loss.

a buddy of mine here near me has a manual PW and we go toe to toe all the time. he's got a SR intake, exhaust header and new piping. his driving skills are similar to mine specifically because i taught him how to drive.... yet for some reason, i still pull on him and i'm stock, i think it's the fluid i used because i've read other places that is help free drive train power loss from the engine to the wheels. it's obviously doing it's job.

i'm going to be changing it again here shortly to flush out any debris that might be left from before i changed it out and make sure it's nice and clean.

i highly recommend doing this though. things are going so much smoother since i did it.

Hmm....

Well something is definitely wrong with my tranny, lol.

There is a odd noise coming when the car is in gear, and only when its in gear.

Idle in neutral, no odd sounds.

Cruising in gear has the odd sound.

The minute I leave it cruising and put it in neutral. The sound disappears.

So its definitely something with the tranny.

The shifting, is only dificult putting it into 1st gear.

But the sound happens at every gear.

Its not a scary grinding noise or anything. Just a barely audible whining noise. That I know has gotten worse over time.

I'm not burning or leaking any oil/coolant/power steering/brake fluid.

My tranny is covered in Tranny fluid though. I cleaned as much as the bellhouse as I could. Took it for a drive but its next to impossible to try and pinpoint where the leak is. It looks like its just spilling everywhere when I rev it in gear.

I have noticed, that it tends to leak from upper part of the tranny first.

So I guess i'll try and buy new washers for all the tranny plugs.

If that doesn't fix it, i'll have to buy 1 or 2 rubber seals, from what I can see in the breakdown of the tranny in the scion repair guide.