Transmission Fill on 2001 grand am?

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All,

I can not for the life of me find the fill bolt on a 2001 grand am auto transmission. If anyone could help me out I would appreciate it. I plan on dropping the pan but don't want to be stuck and not know where to fill it up. Also, as a bonus, does anyone know where the drain plug is on the radiator? I'm a honda guy and not used to these pontiacs!
 
I don't believe there is a dipstick if this is on the 3.4. There is a fill plug on top of the trans near under the throttle body. It's red. So you will have to measure EXACTLY how much fluid you drained and install that much in new fluid.
 
thanks for the help, I did look near the TB and found the fill plug. for the life of me I do not get why there is no dipstick. Even if I put in the same amount as I take out, who's to say it wasn't low in the first place!!
 
Its what GM likes to call a lifetime fluid. They think that they tranny should never be serviced (another brilliant idea by the General). I did a fluid change on my girlfriends malibu, but went the easy way. I just disconnected the trans line going into the radiator (top one if i recall) and pumped the old stuff out into a milk jug. Put exactly what i got out back in and not a problem yet.
 
There is no dipstick.
Read the convoluted logic in the owner's manual.
Something about - If the trans fluid is low, bring it to the dealer to be serviced.
But how do you know?
 
thanks all, babyjay, how much fluid did you get out with this method? did you do this with the engine running?
 
While we are on the subject of transmissions, I had an employee that was a former mechanic who showed me a great trick for taking off transmission pans. Use a trash can lid to catch the pan in, it's big enough to get the whole thing, fluid and all. Make a small hole in the lid first to drain the fluid out of into your recycle container. I tried it and it cut way down on the mess.
 
I got out 7 quarts. I disconnected the line, started the car and had a friend watch the fluid come out in the jug. I stopped right when the fluid started slowing down, right about 7 quarts. I might of been able to get out a bit more, but good enough for me. Filled it back up and went on my way. I used the Super Tech brand, can't beat the price. I'm sure others will argue to go with something more pricey, but i couldn't justify going with anything else, and it works great by the way.
 
The radiator drain plug is on the far bottom right of the radiator. If you're sitting in the driver's seat, then it's on the far bottom left. There should be a hole cut into the bottom of the bumper to access the drain plug with a socket.
 
quote:

Originally posted by brianl703:
What's idiotic about it? You can't possibly overfill it.

I would assume what Market is trying to say is, if you can't read a dipstick, maybe one shouldn't even be working on a car,
smile.gif
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I agree. It's not what I would want as a do-it-yourselfer.
 
There's an oil level control plug on the torque converter side of this transmission just above the pan. The fluid level should be even with the bottom of the threads. There's no point in guessing how much fluid to add. Use that plug to check.
 
quote:

Originally posted by JakeR22:
Market is trying to say is, if you can't read a dipstick, maybe one shouldn't even be working on a car

I think this is designed for the sort of idiot who thinks they can read a dipstick and then proceeds to overfill it with Type F.

That type of idiot won't mess this system up since they won't even know how it works.
 
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