Checking ATF on an Isuzu

[mormit]

Hey guys,

A friend of mine has a 98 Isuzu Amigo with 110,000'ish miles that has started shifting hard at low speeds. Smooths out after it is warmed up. He was talking about taking it in to a shop to get it looked at when I suggested he check his fluid level frist. He told me that the manual states that this can only be checked and serviced by the dealer.

Anyone know how this is checked? I haven't looked at it yet but I guessed it might be similar to a manual transmission where you open the fill plug and feel for fluid. Am I on the right track?

 

[pinoy99]

Isuzu's from the mid 90's got rid of the ATF dipstick. The pan has two plugs, the upper being the fill and the lower the drain. IIRC, when the motor is running, hot and on a level, if the fluid drips out of the fill plug then the level is right.

When was the the change done on the ATF? Again, IIRC, manual states ATF OCI at 30k. If no maintenance is done on the transmission, I would suggest dropping the pan, replacing the filter and fluid. Might want to do a T-Tech fluid exchange or similar procedure(after the filter change) to gid rid of most of the old fluid.

HTH

 

[Spector]

I change my son'S Rodeo which is the same set up. To check, as noted above, fluid hot, leave engine running, crawl under vehicle with engine running, pull fill plug and if nothing comes out needs some fluid. To fill on Rodeo very difficult as the fill plug is not sideway on the pan it is straight up, need a hooked tubing to get fluid into pan. A true pain but once you have the material/hose etc. not too bad.

 

[Geoff]

I would drop the pan and change the filter. The filter is felt and can clog over time. This might be your poor shifting. I used a Purolator from Pep Boys that seemed high quality and came with a new neoprene gasket.

Also the pan will be full of clutch debris. Clean it out.