I used a hole on the front of the tranny (front of the car), it's a black bolt and is very short and looks like a plug for a filler hole. I should have used the fill plug on the side of the tranny, in front of and above the drain plug, but on the same end of the tranny as the drain bolt. I just went out in the dark after finally finding a schematic and realized I messed up. Tomorrow I will remove the fill plug and check the level. The fill hole I used was above the one I should have used so the oil level may be off. Could I have caused damage in doing this? I drove the car about 2 miles with the new fill. The oil drained very slowly and I wasn't there to watch it and drained it into a pan with engine oil so I don't know the amount that came out. I don't know what the hole is that I used but it is definitely on the transmission housing. Man I'm sick.
2012 elantra manual tranny oil fill mistake
- Thread starter schuylkill
- Start date
- Status
You might want to invest in a factory service manual. I doubt you hurt the trans in 2 miles as long as you had some lube in there.
Last edited:
In the realm of DIY car repair, it's par for the course! Chock it up to a learning experience, and move on to more mistakes that lead to learning experiences! It's how I learned car repair/maintenance.
I doubt you caused any damage at all. Find out EXACTLY where the drain and fill plugs are, repeat the procedure correctly, and sleep well knowing you know how to do it right ne4xt time. The cost was probably less than taking it to a shop/dealer.
I doubt you caused any damage at all. Find out EXACTLY where the drain and fill plugs are, repeat the procedure correctly, and sleep well knowing you know how to do it right ne4xt time. The cost was probably less than taking it to a shop/dealer.
Last edited:
Remember measure twice, cut once. LOL
A good rule to work on is:
If you don't know something for certain, don't touch it!
Always good to have a GOOD service manual handy.
Like others said, you only drove it two miles so the residual gear box fluid was sufficient to protect it more than likely.
A good rule to work on is:
If you don't know something for certain, don't touch it!
Always good to have a GOOD service manual handy.
Like others said, you only drove it two miles so the residual gear box fluid was sufficient to protect it more than likely.
Do you have a trans dipstick? If the fluid you put in went into the trans then your fine. Just see if it is showing up at all on the dipstick. If it is then just get it to the right level and sleep easy
I added 2 quarts of Red Line mt-85 so it is more than residual oil, my concerns are that either I overfilled or that the oil is in some place it shouldn't be, but I don't think the latter is possible from what I know of manual transmissions housings. As soon as it gets light I will go for my morning run and then remove the correct fill plug and see if it is overfilled. Since the oil never ran out of the hole I was using, and the capacity is 2.02 quarts, I assumed I was good. I was anticipating that not all of the oil had drained and I wouldn't get all 2 quarts in. Now I know I added the oil above the fill level so it may be overfilled and I'll correct that today. I do wonder what the plug is for where I added the oil, hopefully all is well.
If it is overfilled there is still old oil in there (the car has 106K miles, embarrassingly I did this replacement before at 50k miles and didn't remember where the fill hole was. Hyundai had a free online service where you could view their shop manuals among other things, I found out yesterday it is now a pay service and I didn't pay and that's why I made the mistake.) So if there is much overfill I will get another 2 quarts and do the job over.
If it is overfilled there is still old oil in there (the car has 106K miles, embarrassingly I did this replacement before at 50k miles and didn't remember where the fill hole was. Hyundai had a free online service where you could view their shop manuals among other things, I found out yesterday it is now a pay service and I didn't pay and that's why I made the mistake.) So if there is much overfill I will get another 2 quarts and do the job over.
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
Based on your posts, I'm assuming that there is no dip-stick, and that a full transmission is indicated by the overflow of oil at the fill port, meaning all you'll have to do is remove the correct fill port and then reinstall when the lube stops draining, right?
Regardless, the chance of damage seems minimal to me, since you added no more than the capacity, right? So, with residual lube that didn't get drained, probably a minor over-fill that affected nothing. I'm still curious to find out how much, so please let us know. For no reason whatsoever, my money is on 1/2 quart draining out from the fill port when you remove the plug this morning.
Is the port you used is a lot easier to access, maybe it was used for the factory fill. If they add a precise volume, then needing to verify actual level by the service fill port would not be required.
Regardless, the chance of damage seems minimal to me, since you added no more than the capacity, right? So, with residual lube that didn't get drained, probably a minor over-fill that affected nothing. I'm still curious to find out how much, so please let us know. For no reason whatsoever, my money is on 1/2 quart draining out from the fill port when you remove the plug this morning.
Is the port you used is a lot easier to access, maybe it was used for the factory fill. If they add a precise volume, then needing to verify actual level by the service fill port would not be required.
Quote:
Today my golden rule is "Google it".
Yeah me too. I tried for about half an hour to find a schematic on this tranny and finally gave up. When I removed what looked to be a fill port plug I figured I was good. But after the job was done I still had an uneasy feeling and finally found a site last night with some good info. I should have waited, but you know how it is, once you're motivated you get stupid sometimes and press on. And the older I get the less the motivation!
http://www.hemanual.org/repair_procedures-1508.html
Off to the car!
Today my golden rule is "Google it".
Yeah me too. I tried for about half an hour to find a schematic on this tranny and finally gave up. When I removed what looked to be a fill port plug I figured I was good. But after the job was done I still had an uneasy feeling and finally found a site last night with some good info. I should have waited, but you know how it is, once you're motivated you get stupid sometimes and press on. And the older I get the less the motivation!
http://www.hemanual.org/repair_procedures-1508.html
Off to the car!
So the level is a little low. I did lose some oil when filling because the fill hose I used fit snugly in the hole and there was no where for air to escape so it burped back through the fill hose occasionally. I think it's good.
- Status
