Tranny Fluid

[MiltonHavoc]

would the syncromesh etc be good for an atx?

[Bert]

Follow the speedo cable down from the firewall in order to find the tranny gear. You can reach it (the retainer bolt) from up above with lots of extensions on a ratchet and a 10 (or is it 12) mm socket. This tranny fluid 'top-up' initiation seems to be a 'rite of passage' for 4 and 5 speed Festiva ownership and many/most of us have gone through it. Stupid maybe, but then go out and listen to stories about new car technology where fanciful 'cloud-nine' designers seem to have displaced any and all automotive engineers. Try replacing the driveshaft hanger bearing on an Audi A4 sometime; Rube Goldberg himself must have moon-lighted as a consultant to come up with that set up.

[DriverOne]

Easy solution: Drain the trans fluid into a container with a mark at the exact amount you need. If you need more, plug the drain, add to the marked container, and pour the marked container through an old sock into the trans with a long funnel.

[crazyrog17]

Smart way to measure how much comes out but why reuse the old stuff?

Transmission fluid is made up of synthetic and natural petroleum polymers that tangle and float past each other to lubricate and protect the metal slushing and squeezing them around. Over time, heat and friction break these polymers and they no longer provide much of their usefulness. Of course, this is why we have to change our motor oil but transmission fluid is important to change too. I've read a few recommendations above in the thread but these ideas make up the basic chemistry that you should consider when looking to replace transmission fluid with any brand.

Now there are a few reasons why you might NOT want to change your transmission fluid...
If your trans has the same fluid in it that it came with from the factory, it probably has more than 120K miles on it (shut up you creampuff owners, haha). That trans fluid is so far degraded that it's deposits are probably the only things holding the whole trans together right now. They cake up and stay out of the way, for the most part. When you change the fluid, the new detergents it contains eat away at, and suspend the old crud-on-the-walls in the flow. This interferes with synchros and bearings on an MTX and it can quickly clog your trans filter, lines, and valves in the ATX.

I think the book recommends 60K-100K before you replace it. I'd like to learn a little more about flushing some of the old deposits out before replacing the fluid (basic idea behind seafoam in your engine oil before an oil change).

[DriverOne]

I was thinking 'in the moment', as it were. I hadn't thought about replacing the fluid, just a more accurate way to determine the amount that was in the transmission without a stick, in between fluid changes.

[crazyrog17]

It does sound like a good idea. To make one, maybe using a bucket or big plastic bin/tub from the dollar store would be sufficient. Fill it up with water to the specified 'full' capacity (using an empty quart bottle?) and then mark the line with a sharpie.

[xcracer411]

Take the o-ring off the speedo gear/dipstick and it will make it easier to put in And take out to get the correct level

[blkfordsedan]

would the syncromesh etc be good for an atx?

No, Synchromesh is a special gear oil designed by GM specifically for their manual transmissions and transaxles. It provides better gear protection the proper friction for optimum synchro operation....both of which are compromised when ATF is used in a manual transmission. It's not ATF, it's a manual trans fluid.

[iceracerdude]

DO NOT take the O ring off the gear...Just take the 10mm headed bolt out, then twist the assembly carefully up and out of the hole, carefully because the small gear on the end of the assembly will want to catch the inner edge of the hole when removing. Now If you find it's not twisting up and out by using your hand, it's ok to start the motion by grasping the metal base of the cable housing with a pair of pliers to get the motion started. You'll want to turn in a clockwise direction so you don't inadvertantly start unscrewing the cable housing off the gear assembly. Most of us do that anyway, but that's because WE have them all lubed up and prepared to be removed, this is not the case for you.
Here are pictures of what the gear assembly looks like from the trans side, your's will look like the long third unit at the bottom of the picture of three:


This is a picture of one with a "section" of the speedo cable still attached.



DO NOT not use a screwdriver to pry up on the "tab" the bolt passes through, because that's how they get broken off by so many cobblers. (you guys know who you are ha, ha)
Then simply fill the trans to within 1.25" or 30mm from the top of the opening, that is the correct fluid level, based on the "Fluid level" mark as indicated on the removed gear assembly.
The amount called for is 2.6 quarts (2.5 liters) of "Mercon atf"
"It's just that easy!"

Yeah...guess how I know

[Flw Sock]

Thank you ice.

Does anybody have a picture of what the dang thing looks like on the outside? I looked for the speedo cable but I can't find it, I mean I looked up pictures on google and everything and the only cord I can find is the picture I posted before. Does anybody have any pictures of what the speedo gear looks like on the outside, and be a little more dumb about it to explain to me what side it's on and stuff?

I'm trying to figure this one out without my dad and learn something without his help on a car for once.

[DriverOne]

Re: Tranny Fluid

Sock, it comes out the driver's side of the firewall beside the BMC and drops straight down to the back of the trans.

[iceracerdude]

There's only two thick black cables coming out of the firewall on the driver side of the car. One is the clutch cable that goes to an arm on the top of the trans,
the other drops imediately down along the firewall and seems to go straight down into the trans at the back, that's your speedo cable. Look You NEED to get your hands on a
Haynes Ford festiva and Aspire service manual right away before you cause more trouble than you can fix. You can pick them up on Amazon.com in "used but good condition"
for next to nothing. You need help with even the basics, like learning the difference between an electrical wire, and a speedometer cable, and having a service manual is the
first best step beside having a live mentor there to guide and teach you what parts are which and what they actually do. Guessing is not the answer when you have access to things like
amazon and UPS and service manuals, and knowledge. This is a first world country, we have first world problems like say, too much food in the fridge to be able to see the food you really want.
This is not a third world country like Wehateyoustan, with no access to manuals, or 2 day shipping, or women in bathing suits at the beach!
Look, I know you're no Navy Seal, but for God's sake man, "You gotta want it!"

[zoom zoom]

Am I the only guy here that tried to pour tranny fluid into the lower cable the first time around? (Before I found the forums)

[iceracerdude]

Technicaly the engineers think of the trans fluid the same way as the brake fluid...no dipstick there either. It's supposed to be a "closed system" that
doesn't treat the fluid as sacrificial. They're thinking: If you're missing fluid, you have a bigger problem than a dipstick would tell you and should address it.
Or better yet, "you should have been taking it to one of our stealerships all along and letting us address it for you."
I don't know which car manufacture's have abandoned the dipsticks for the automatics, but I've seen a few GM's that don't have them anymore!?

[Bert]

No, Synchromesh is a special gear oil designed by GM specifically for their manual transmissions and transaxles. It provides better gear protection the proper friction for optimum synchro operation....both of which are compromised when ATF is used in a manual transmission. It's not ATF, it's a manual trans fluid.

This is a curious observation; I retrofit a Mazda-built 5 speed (M5ODR2) manual into my vintage F150 last year and the Ford specs called for Mercon ATF in it. Manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances must have improved considerably over the past few decades.