Todays automotive pet peeve. Transmissions that fill from the bottom.

[fastfredracing]

I am typing this as I am trying to clean VW transmission fluid from my armpits, and hair. Not to mention my tool cart that is now looks like a transmission fluid fish pond.
What is wrong with a dipstick and fill tube? I think we all know the answer......
Rant over.

[Geary]

What kind of VW?

[fastfredracing]

2002 Jeetta diesel. Auto trans has to be filled from the bottom, . BMW, Voklswagen Ford, GM, they are all doing it now. It makes a simple job a total pia.

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

2002 Jeetta diesel. Auto trans has to be filled from the bottom, . BMW, Voklswagen Ford, GM, they are all doing it now. It makes a simple job a total pia.

It makes a simple driveway job a dealer (or indy mechanic who will touch it) only item. Lots of "While were at it..." to be found from crooked service managers at the stealerships.

Pretty soon there will be no more dipsticks or removable caps for fluids.

[Geary]

It's a pisser. Still .. there has to be some satisfaction in defeating the thieves ..

[ossiblue]

Is it possible or practical (if you continue to do it yourself) to fab a tube that screws into the filler hole and extends upward into the engine bay? Not being familiar with any of the cars mentioned in the thread, this is just a thought.

[mattdavis11]

I thought they had a cap and all you needed were a hose, funnel and about 3.5l of trans fluid.

[look 171]

How do you put the plug back in without it spilling out after its filled? How do they do it at the dealer?

[Rick V]

A lot of them are also temperature sensitive for a proper fill.

[mattdavis11]

Originally Posted by Rick V

A lot of them are also temperature sensitive for a proper fill.

yep. Get it up to temp, let it puke, refill, allow to drip and replace cap.

[widebody911]

I have never heard of this before. I looked it up and found this: How to DIY DSG transmission fluid change on VW TDI or Audi TDI

[fastfredracing]

Actually, this one does have a fill cap, but it is plastic, and my experience is that if you touch it, it breaks off ( vw quality) then , you have to call the dealer, and they NEVER have it in stock, so you have to get it from a vendor, and wait a day.......
I made up a little drill pump with a few different adapters, that has worked on everything I have run across so far. still, no matter how careful you are, it is messy, and time consuming. And yes.... has to be at a specific trans temp, so you have to hook up a scanner, and watch the values, while you pump $20.00 a liter fluid up into the fill hole. Sucks donkey dong every time. The german long life fluids have a nice synthetic flavor to them. The american stuff is a tad bitter.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Recently did this on my Audi, so I feel your pain. I also dropped my pan to replace the filter which was fun (insert sarcasm here). Modern cars simply are not built with long term maintenance in mind. Lifetime fluid is a joke.....

[Rick V]

Lifetime fluid is awesome, it is guaranteed right up to the point of component failure, hence the life of the fluid

[onewhippedpuppy]

I think it's funny how some OEMs tab fluids as lifetime, but with a little research you find that the component maker does not. Some ZF automatic transmissions were like that for a while, the OEM said lifetime but ZF recommended changes at 80k.

[matt711]

My favorite issue is when the lifetime fluid my BMW/GM tranny (E46) requires is no longer available. No shortage of debate on the BMW forums on what the appropriate new fluid should be. The old stuff was made by Texaco. I ended up going with Redline and have been happy with the choice. I also dropped the pan when I did the swap. What a pain trying to capture and measure how much fluid came out. I guess I did it right though, the tranny is working great and it's been several thousand miles so far.

Did the rear diff at the same time and had to create a tool to get the fill plug out. Damn sway bar that is part of the ZHP package comes within 2 inches of the fil plug.

[GG Allin]

My T-56 fills on the side, I suppose that's the same as we're talking about. I was able to fill it with an $8 pump and managed to not make a mess.

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

I think it's funny how some OEMs tab fluids as lifetime, but with a little research you find that the component maker does not. Some ZF automatic transmissions were like that for a while, the OEM said lifetime but ZF recommended changes at 80k.

I think it's "lifetime" so they can artificially deflate the maintenance costs. Putting on my cynical hat for a minute, maybe they hoped that would lead to some tasty post-warranty rebuild jobs.

[fastfredracing]

No, nothing like filling a t 56. More like this

[GG Allin]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

No, nothing like filling a t 56. More like this

Stupiddrainpluglocation.jpg

Oh, in that case, that's ridiculous.