Yes. Or a garden sprayer.
Not having a transmission dipstick Is not good.
- Thread starter Chris142
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Talk about a pain, 2016 Ram 1500, transmission fluid change is a 10 star PITA. Have to raise the rear, rear tires about 10'' off ground to level the tranny, plastic tranny pan has to be removed, filter is built into it, so you need to buy a new one, I purchase a new metal pan with a drain plug and can now replace filter in future. When placing new fluid, tranny must be at certain temp. range and you have so much time to place, it must start running out of fill hole. Then you need to run truck thru the gears. I rechecked the next morning while truck was on stands. Kinda of scary, jack stands and wood blocks I used. Dealer said fluid was life time (refused to change fluid) but maker of the tranny said no, emailed them, fluid should be changed at about 40,000 I think, 30,000 miles if towing,,, Zurich? maker of tranny if I remember. Fluid and filter was changed at about 100,000 miles, pitch black the fluid was, could feel the difference once on the road, smooth shifting, still nice after about a year, and I used valvoline max. Yes, it was a mess.
Dipstick is nice, no doubt. But the automatic I had with a dipstick seemed hard to read after adding oil, reading it was hard as the tube had multiple bends. So I like the fill port with a length of pvc tubing.
But the old school manual trans drain and fill plugs were the best… I get it, automatics can’t do that for various reasons, but they sure defined the simplest way.
But the old school manual trans drain and fill plugs were the best… I get it, automatics can’t do that for various reasons, but they sure defined the simplest way.
My 6R80 dipstick has hashed A and B marked areas on the dipstick for checking the fluid hot or cold so it doesn't need to be 200f, basically just running so all the fluid can be filled. I've drained and filled a number of times and always fill to the lower level with cold fluid which seems to work perfectly.
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4WD
$50 site donor 2025
Yeah, no more often than you do a transmission - start with a new but cheap one - next, do a fence with water seal - served its purpose by then if seals give up …
I think they're working on it.
An idea:
Let's measure and diagram locations where holes can be drilled to accommodate dipstick tubes (and thus, dipsticks)?
Someone did this for Haldex bevel gear units on a Volvo board.
A drain and a fill hole.
To jjfw post#22:
I scoped out that job for a friend's 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee 8-speed.
Dealership pan and juice were ~$325. and my pal chickened out.
$820 it cost him at a garage.
My concern with the metal pan with the replaceable filter was acquiring said filters in the future.
At the time, the meatal pan was listed on RA but the replacement filters were not.
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I agree with OP and restate my argument that it doesn't do any favors for used car shopping-- gone are the days of pulling the dipstick to get a general feel for color and smell.
I will say since I got my Mityvac pressure filler (which is essentially a glorified garden sprayer) I curse these a lot less. I actually like that you just pump it up by hand because I hate fighting with hoses or cords, and it does NOT take that much pumping to get an acceptable pressure to transfer fluid. It comes with a few angles to drop in the fill hole but I've rigged up a full 180 for Ford 10R80s, although I was still using a hand pump here, almost exactly a year ago:
Post in thread '2018 f150, amsoil into 10r80 trans and rear differential, 29000 miles' https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...-differential-29000-miles.331080/post-6790189
I will say since I got my Mityvac pressure filler (which is essentially a glorified garden sprayer) I curse these a lot less. I actually like that you just pump it up by hand because I hate fighting with hoses or cords, and it does NOT take that much pumping to get an acceptable pressure to transfer fluid. It comes with a few angles to drop in the fill hole but I've rigged up a full 180 for Ford 10R80s, although I was still using a hand pump here, almost exactly a year ago:
Post in thread '2018 f150, amsoil into 10r80 trans and rear differential, 29000 miles' https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...-differential-29000-miles.331080/post-6790189
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
Subject is tube with a dipstick - that is old school har har har …2017 is old?
My newest is 10 years older.
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
The 4L30E was the first dipstick-less transmission I ever did a fluid drain/fill on. They are an oddball how the 4th gear is added on to the case in it's own housing and has it's own small pan that you can't drain w/out removing it.
The line is swollen-it will probably leak again.
Most all manufacturers are doing that with Transmissions now some are even doing it with engine oil. They all claim that it's a portal for contamination. So they seal the Transmissions and say it's lifetime oil! What they really should be saying is it's guaranteed oil for your warranty. At least they allow us to change our engine oil.
Now before I even buy a car one of my prerequisites are what type of maintenance is required and how easy is it.
I downsized and went with a little 2.5 sewing machine Toyota RAV4 because of the Simplicity all the way around,, piece of cake working on it.
If I had the money I'd be driving a 4x4 lifted Cummins twin turbo!
Now before I even buy a car one of my prerequisites are what type of maintenance is required and how easy is it.
I downsized and went with a little 2.5 sewing machine Toyota RAV4 because of the Simplicity all the way around,, piece of cake working on it.
If I had the money I'd be driving a 4x4 lifted Cummins twin turbo!
10R80 owner here. The dipstick from a 6R80 will fit and might be moderately useful. Of course, the 2.5” dipstick fits underneath the fill plug, which is hollow and maybe 1.5” long internally, so you’re still going beneath the truck to break loose the 19mm fill plug right next to a cat (I hear you @BrendanC) and then try to manipulate these lego-sized plugs and dipstick with your best attempt at pretending you have tiny fingers.
I also use the funnel and hose from above method. Simple, cheap … but can take some time to pull down 6 quarts.
After doing this a few times, I’ve really come to appreciate Toyota’s method more and more.
I also use the funnel and hose from above method. Simple, cheap … but can take some time to pull down 6 quarts.
After doing this a few times, I’ve really come to appreciate Toyota’s method more and more.
I only did it on the Tundra. I think Camry, their 6AT, I think there was a widget that could be used in the trans pan and set to the right height for oil temps that were not in the super small window. I was not crazy about the small temperature window but it was sorta easy. And on that transmission I didn't worry too much, as it wasn't known for failures--this was something that really only needed doing every 50k.
