Maintenance help '01 Grand Am 2.4

[road_rascal]

My sister-in-law wants my to do a few routine maintenance jobs on her '01 Grand Am 2.4 such as fuel filter and transmission filter replacement. So my questions are: Any special tools required for removing the fuel filter/ trans filter? Is the trans oil pan gasket reusable? What are the torque values for the pan bolts? Neither Haynes nor Chiltons have released a repair manual for 2001 Grand Am yet or I would have made her buy one. Thanks for any tips.

 

[Drew99GT]

I'd let the trans be done at a dealer because there is no dipstick for transmission fluid on the Grand Am

Fuel filter is kind of a pain; it's underneath the back of the car. There is some plastic clips on the end that you remove with your fingers; don't get mad and break them like I did when I had a Grand Am

You have to squeeze them pretty hard and pull on the filter till it comes out of the inlet fitting/fuel line.

 

[road_rascal]

He car has a dipstick for the trans on the right rear side behind the #4 cylinder.

 

[Drew99GT]

Hot ****! Why did they ditch it for the V6

 

[goldfinger]

quote:

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Originally posted by Drew99GT:
Hot ****! Why did they ditch it for the V6

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Don't know. I think they ditched it on the 2.2 EcoTech too. Just another trick to get you to take it to the dealer.

 

[road_rascal]

If there's no dipstick how are you supposed to check the level or add fluid? I'll check the car again but I'm pretty sure that I was looking at a transmission dipstick and not an engine oil dipstick. Any takers on the reusable transmission pan gasket or pan torque numbers?

 

[JohnnyO]

quote:

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Originally posted by road_rascal:
If there's no dipstick how are you supposed to check the level or add fluid? I'll check the car again but I'm pretty sure that I was looking at a transmission dipstick and not an engine oil dipstick.

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My wife's '99 GA is a 2.4, there is no transmission dipstick. There is a plug somewhere on the transaxle like a rear axle has. I just had the dealer flush it through the cooler lines. (I did just get a very good UOA with Mobil 1 5w30 and a Mobil 1 filter at 5k miles.)

 

[road_rascal]

I just finished doing a brake job for my sister in law on her 2001 Grand AM and yup- no trans dipstick. What a stupid design. I was all excited in using my LiquidVac suction pump in getting some of the transmission fluid out of the pan but when I saw there wasn't a place to add fluid I told her to take the car to a shop and have the trans serviced. Even the owners manual states that checking the fluid isn't necessary. What a stupid design...

 

[T-Keith]

There is a place to add fluid, just not a easy way to check it. I did find info on how to do it though.

http://www.quality-trans.com/faq/faq8.htm

-T

 

[Gary Allan]

I don't know the GA torque for the pan ..but 13 ft/lbs (how did the tv announcers turn it into "pound-feet" after centuries as "foot-pounds" ..the arrogoance ..the vanity..) is fairly consistant in my Mopar stuff. I would imagine that the bolts are of similar tensile strength.

You will not reuse the gasket. It may infact be RTV. Prepare for a mess if you err on dropping the pan.

Good luck!

 

[T-Keith]

These newer transmissions use reusable gasket. No need for a new one or sealant.

And actually pound-feet is more accurate than ft/lb. It's feet multiplied by pounds, therefor foot-pound or pound-foot are correct. ft/lb implies division like m/h.

-T

 

[Matt_S]

If this trans is anything like the one on my 3800 V6, it has a reusable gasket. I found this out when I purchased a trans filter. The parts guy told me that the kit did not include a gasket because the old one was reusable. If I needed a new one, I'd have to go to the dealer.

As it turned out, I had no problem reusing the old gasket. I have no leaks. Just be careful pulling the pan. As for the torque, I just used a normal rachet and tightened them down firmly, but not real tight, in an alternating pattern to get them as evenly tight as possible.

 

[road_rascal]

Thanks T-Keith for the link! And I probably figured the pan gasket is the reusable type as my '99 Taurus and '01 Windstar use them. Thanks for the info.