How much fluid does the tranny need?
 

Newbie question...

How much transmission fluid does the 915 transmission need? I'd like to drain mine and refill it with Swepco 201..

Thanks.

-M

3.2 quarts/3.0 liters

1st things first for the newbie...

Buy 1 container of Swepco 201.
Buy 1 cheap fluid pump at NAPA or similar for pumping fluid oil (about $5)
Get 19mm hex tool from Pelican, you'll need it to remove the fill and drain plugs.
Jack up car level so you can get underneath, or get access to a lift.
Remove fill plug on the drivers side of the case FIRST. If it is stuck (and it happens) its best to resolve this before draining all the fluid and finding out you just hosed yourself and can't drive it for help.
Once fill plug is out, drain fluid, car should be nice and warm.
Replace drain plug (do not overtighten either plug BTW) and pump in new fluid, pumping until it starts to run out of the fill hole. Obviously, you can't fill it any more than that.
If memory serves me right, you'll have about 1/2" of Swepco left in your container.
Another thing that's nice to do is change the fluid first with some regular old Valvoline gear oil, run for a few hundred mi, and drain again. Get out any crud before you put in the spendy Swepco.

Sorry for the info overload, I just couldn't resist again...:D

Or...have a 19mm wrench around. The tool needed to remove the fill and drain plugs can change. It depends on the year of the car. Also, there may be other, possibly better, gear lubes out there than Schwepco...tho few here will admit it. You see, ever since Sweet Old Bruce wrote that Schwepco was the only way to go, many others were.....well, "true" believers.

There just might be better transmissions out there too! ;)

True, adding Swepco can be like trying to polish a turd in certain situations. I always thought of it as damage control.

If there's a better lubie I'm all ears...

However, I will add that most are in agreement that synthetic in a 915 is not advisable.

-BG

let the flames begin!

I have a dying 915 cocktail I put together for my "special needs" transmission.

I'm not saying this is better than swepco, but I was able to procure it locally for a lot less than swepco. since my trans is looking at a rebuild in the near future I'm not too worried about lubricating for long service but rather to "get by"

here it is

1 qt of your favorite 85-90

1 qt of "power punch" or "lucas oil stabilizer" (very thick stuff)

1qt of "power punch high pressure gear additive"

total price $16

1-2 grind... gone
2-3 grind... gone
3-4 grind... never had one

Sweet Old Bruce
 

Paul,
You sure hold a grudge, don't ya?

I think for some 915 trans the hex head socket is 17mm size. VW transcase use the same size hexhead socket.

BG has good advice. You should have a little less than a quart left over. This is basis for my free Swepco scheme. I invite friends over to change their trans fluid and then I keep the left over.... :D
-Chris

Does anyone know of a reason why a 915 (on an '84 Carrera, no LSD afaik) wouldn't accept all 3.x quarts of fluid?
The reason I ask is that I changed my fluid for the first time last night, just how101 Projects and everyone here says to. After fluid started coming out of the filler hole and I closed it up, I realized that my gallon of Valvoline (I'm using it for a week or so as a flush before I switch to swepco) still has 2 quarts of oil in it. I haven't measured the volume of oil that came out yet, but it looked like more than 2 quarts.

Could there have been air pockets hiding somewhere, keeping the fluid from settling inside the transaxle?

The car shifts a little bit better, but not as well as I was hoping. There wasn't any debris on the magnet, aside from those usual super-fine sediment stalagmites.

My '74 915 tranny used almost a full gallon of Swepco.

should be 3.1 qts or so...also I believe its a 17 mm hex...not 19

Oops , nevermind...been posted before...

Yea, mine used almost an entire gallon. Of course some of it ended up on the floor. My '86 uses a 17mm Hex as well.

Hey guys what are we using as a wash cycle......details of the oil that you are using to flush with.

Thanks

It's good to have a race car. I got tired of trying to put fluid in while it's in the car, so I drilled a hole in the rear seat area above the tranny fill hole. I can drop a tube attached to a funnel from inside the car into the tranny and fill it up. :D The problem with synthetic gear lubes is they can be too slick for the 915 synhcros to work properly. I've used Redline 90 MTL (has friction modifiers) in the past, but switched to Swepco. It's worked great for me. YMMV

You will love the consistency of that beautifully blue 201 lube - all the way up to your armpits! :D

IIRC, A famed race car builder told Paul to use Torco in his trans.

Swepco is excellent - use that if easy to get -- it does have a good track record

change the fluid ever 3 years or so if low miles

How necessary is it to do a flush of the transmission (w/ cheaper trans oil) if there isn't any metal debris on your drain plug? Seems that some people do this some don't.. wondering how necessary this really is?

If I were doing it again, I wouldn't bother.

that's what I am leaning towards.... seems like overkill, -especially if everything looks pretty clean.