I called my dealership and they want to charge $200 to do this...

Sorry if I overlooked this info but can someone tell me again what the bolt sizes are for the fill and drain plugs?

I'm guessing I have to buy a few new sockets.

ransmission drain plug (24mm)
transmission fill plug (24mm)
differential drain plug (24mm)
differential fill plug (23mm)

Per The DIY
I Just did these. If you don't have a 24MM on hand, you can use a 15/16.... carefully.

Exactly how much diff & trans fluid do I need to buy to do the change out? I've looked through my owner's manual and quite a few pages on here. I'm trying to decide if I should order 2 bottles of each of the Redline or 3 of each incase 2 quarts each doesn't quite fill it up.

capacities from 2004 Service Manual:
MT: 1.85 US quarts
Differential: 1.3-1.4 US quarts

Two bottles of each will be enough. If car is level, add each fluid until it starts flowing out the filler hole.

the capacities are in the manual and what rx8cited posted is correct.


I ordered 3qts for tranny and 2qts for diff... Ordering 3qts for tranny came in quite handy because I had some spillage from using a cheap ass siphon. Make sure you have a decent siphon tool to use for refilling. Also REMOVE FILL PLUG FIRST to be certain you can get fluid back in once drained.

I took a look at the rear diff in preparation for oil change. It seems that the filler hole for the rear diff is really tight. How would you go about in filling the oil? I was thinking to use a turkey baster as I did with my previous cars. But I don't think it will work for this car. Grr....

Also how do you get underneath it when the car is warmed up? The muffler is right there!

the local autoparts store said they have some type of pump for $8 that does it.

Yea just don't get the cheap $5 one that has like a line with w squeeze ball to create vacuum... problem with the cheap on is the oil is so heavy, that the siphon doesn't create enough vacuum to pull the thick oil through. Get one that just attaches to your oil bottle like a soap dispenser and use some small clear tubing to feed it to your filler hole. This worked great for me. There may be better ones out there.

This is probably what most folks will find locally for cheap. Stay away from the squeeze ball turkey baster style.

This is the style pump I used. Stick the tube in the bottle, pull up on the plunger to suck fluid in, stick the tube in the fill hole, push plunger to force out fluid.

If you're adding AMSOIL, they have a hand pump for $11:
http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/g2039.aspx

I used it for trans and diff, and it worked great.

Yea the first one is exactly like the one I used. It's the cheapest one that WORKS.

Sounds like this pump might do the trick.

http://www.princessauto.com/engines/...p?keyword=pump

Since I will be using the same pump for the transmission and the differential - any tips for cleaning out the pumps? Is cross contamination a concern?

Very carefully! Much better to pick up a 24mm hex socket; and you may need a short (18") breaker bar as well.

Much better to drain the fluids (vs. siphon pump) and use an inexpensive quart jug pump, as pictured early on in this thread, or the Amsoil one above.

Remember to loosen the upper filler plug before you drain your fluids, just in case. You don't want to drain your fluid only to discover you can't then get the filler plug out!

Don't worry about [Redline] MT90 - 75w90 hand pump "cross contamination." There won't be enough to have any impact.

ps: although I had spare washers, my existing, at 20k miles, were AOK so I just reused them. I didn't bother with thread grease either - a good idea in general, but not absolutely necessary (as it is with sparkplugs).

I changed to redline earlier today. My garage floor is level so all i did was jack up the driver side and fill and then lowered it back down flat and let the excess run out. However i spilled some of the fluid and i pump in the rest and when i lowered it i believe i saw a few small drips come out of it (so i guess i just barely had enough after spilling). The rear dif was super easy and had enough fluid that it was coming out as i filled it while it was jacked up and tilted. I can really feel the difference however i still have pretty bad gear noise which makes me think that maybe im still a little low on the trans fluid. I ordered one more quart of MT-90 just to top off the transmission in case it is a little low. My question is, will i be ok running my car for a week with only about 1.6-1.7 quarts in the tranny? (honestly i could just be real paranoid and the tranny may be full but i just want to make sure).

Both procedures are identical for Trans and Diff oil replacement, you obviously Drain all fluids first, don't forget to also remove filler pugs while draining, then put in Cleaned magnetic drain plugs.

It is important to fill when car is as LEVEL as possible, you add enough oil so that it starts to overfill and slowly run out of the filler hole, then THAT IS ALL you put in.

Put the filler plug in, and clean up...recheck all 4 plugs are tightened.

BTW: If oil is running out when car is on a flat and level surface then both casings are FULL, you can't really overfill...if it is not slightly running out then you need more oil, best to fill and check when oil has cooled down or cold.

I know my dif was full because i clearly saw it coming out but with my trans i could see like two slight drips coming from the bottom so i didnt physically see any coming out of the hole and i maybe spilled a quarter of a quart before adding it so its possible im slightly low and will add some more in a week when another quart comes in so i can make sure its full and i think ill add .1 quarts more through the shifter after filling it up all the way as i think that would cure my trans noise and .1 more really couldnt hurt anything.

Subscribed as I'm getting close to doing this.

Does the gear noise happen everytime you shift? And for every gear? I know some of us have a little grinding problem going into 2nd gear when the engine is cold, which is kinda one of those things you have to deal with.

I had some grinding problems shifting to 3rd or 4th gear when I was using royal p. I switched to redline and the noise disappeared. :-)

I had AMSOIL in at my 30K servicing recently. Wow - what a big difference. The car drivetrain/transmission is so much smoother and quieter now. It is like having a different car.

From a reputable mechanic, I got charged labor $35.70 for the trans and $23.80 for the diff and $3.44 for 4 crush washers. So don't let a stealership charge you $200 bucks if you provide the fluids.

My trans is silent at speed and shifts amazing now that i have switched to redline but i still have that noise at idle when you let the car idle in neutral and it goes away when you push the clutch in. (basically its just the normal trans gear sound but its on the loud side right now most likely because my trans is a lil low on fluid).

Just get 2 for the diff and 3 for the tranny.

I bought pump at the part store that was made for a one gallon jug that looked the same as that. Just another option if someone doesn't want to order online.

Huh?

Manual Transmission capacity = 1.8 US Qt (1.75L)

Differential capacity = 1.4 US Qt (1.3L)

You don't need 3 quarts for the tranny.

The Quart pump is readily available at Pep Boys and Bass Pro shop (the latter the same one as used for outboard motor gear oil). Autozone only has the gallon pump.