Tranny Fluid

[DSPTurtle]

Hmm... My transmission fill hole did not show enough fluid until I emptied 3 quarts of Mobil 1 in the tranny. I thought it was only supposed to be 2 quarts. Now that I think about it, the car was not flat as I had jacked up only the rear. Should I only put two quarts in or is the 3 quarts correct. It is a standard side shifter (901)in a 74 1.8L.
Thanks in advance guys!!!

[TimW]

According to our friends at Haynes, 2.6 US quarts is what’s called for. There is no difference between years, engines, ss/ts, etc.

[SummerSledSix]

JB, I just went through a little tranny education myself with regard to filling the thing properly. I used Swepco on mine, don't know how it compares to the flavor of Mobil 1 you are using, but it is very viscous.

I filled my tranny up while it was on a level surface until the Swepco just started to "drool" back out of the filler hole. A week later, I noticed the stuff had begun to leak out the main input shaft seal, and the tranny had just been rebuilt. After replacing the seal, I refilled it again, same procedure, and the leak reappeared.

Make a long story short, I was counseled to let the tranny "drool" for a good half hour (in the car, on a level surface) before I plugged the filler hole for good. This stuff is so viscous that you can overfill it and not know it. Even after I filled it (properly, I thought), and some of it had leaked out, an additional quarter cup of Swepco came out of the thing when I let it vent as described.

[SummerSledSix]

Jim,
Not a dumb question, that filler hole is in an awkward spot!

First, just resign yourself to the fact that things may get a bit sloppy, and prepare accordingly.

The technique I used was to find one of those squeeze bottles with the sliding cap that I could get into the available space, ie a dish detergent bottle. Transfer tranny fluid to it that so you can squirt the stuff into the filler hole. Pry that little cap thingy off the top and cut the center tip off so you get good flow, or you'll be there all day. If you use one of those clear water bottles, be careful not to squeeze too hard, I don't know how strong those things are. It also helps to heat up the tranny fluid by letting its container sit in a bucket of hot water for awhile.

In between squeezes, look into the filler hole and check the level. When it's even with the bottom of the filler hole, you're done filling. Let the tranny sit with the filler plug open for about a half hour to let any overfill ooze it's way back out.

[RustyWa]

About the plastic water bottles and containers with the push/pull to open/close caps. Take the push/pull part off the caps. A few years ago I used a plastic water bottle to fill the transfer case on my Jeep.

Long story short, the sliding cap popped off and fell into my transfer case. I dumped all the fluid and fished for at least an hour before I got it out of there.

Not much fun.

[Will98D]

for a few bucks at KMart or West Marine, you can buy a small manual pump that fits on marine outdrive lube bottles but will also work well on differential oil. I've used mine many times for diffs and manual trans oil and it simplifies things a lot! I think it's made by Lubrimatic.