Transmission Filter And Oil Change

[fandabby]

Hi

This post regards a Chrysler Grand Voyager 2.8 CRD2008


@@SpAwNtoHell


OMGoodness, what a right mare we have had with this.



We began Saturday late afternoon for about 3 hours and then from Sunday 10ish right through to 8.30pm and still not complete.  Luckily still have our old Astra to run kids around.



First observation, the pan was already having a slight leakage at one side, so this job needed to happen.




So my husband unbolted and carefully using the spatula (wallpaper scraper), slowly tried to release the pan - the oil actually burst out of the sides of the pan and then the pan landed in the oil pan catcher with my husband hands holding it to stop it from getting damaged, was covered, literally an oil bath.

Cleaned up, removed old silicone etc, degreased with the brake cleaner away from the car naturally.
 

 

We took our time and did not rush so was super careful with every process.

 

First attempt:
We used that Grenville Gasket sealer and followed technique for putting pan back.
Didn't look like any leaks initially, but when we topped up with the new oil and then worked the gears - following the instruction which came with the dipstick - it started to leak in the same place where we noticed before starting this job.

Obviously couldn't carry on, at this point already put in about 3.5l of oil.


Removed pan carefully, he left two bolts loose this time so it didn't come away sharply like first removal.

We caught all the oil in a clean pan as no room for error only bought in what you linked.



Second attempt:

Cleaned up as before, degreased and dry surfaces to work with.

This time we only used the rubber gasket which came with the filter kit.

We put the caught oil back in through a cloth muslin strainer to catch all the bits which were airbourne landing in the pan - this worked well and we saw this technique on youtube when someone had a similar problem.

Again waited, followed instruction for dipstick and within minutes the oil was weeping through a different side of the pan



Third attempt.

Removed, cleaned and used the silicone and gently placed the rubber gasket over and then fitted pan - so far so good doesn't seem to be leaking, will need to check again tonight though to be sure.



So the amount of oil to use ?


We bottled up in 2l pop bottles the old oil which came out and that filled 2 x 2l bottles and an inch in another, bearing in mind floor and hubby got covered too - so we thinking it drained out a lot to at least 4.5l.


We have put back in 4.5l as this is what we think came out.


Warmed engine, worked gears and did the dipstick.


Confusion sets in here :
The engine was on half way temperature as we did leave engine running, hubby drove for 5 mins up the road, came home and we dip sticked which came out about 20mm.

However, we have no idea temperature of the oil - the pan underneath felt hot and the engine was boiling (burn hot) so had to be careful with the dipstick testing.

We don't know how to interpret how much more to put in.

Do we buy a tool to somehow measure the temperature of the transmission oil ?  If so, do you know please which tool we need ?

Any other technique that can help us determine how much more we put in ?


Many thanks

[SpAwNtoHell]

Hello, i did say is messy at some point... and yes, is right mare sealing that sump ( i need to redo my one again, i can only assume was bent previously just a tiny bit)

 

Your level sounds low to me.

 

With engine cold, temperature that is outside ( around 20 celsius now) start engine apply brakes ( service and hand brake) move from park to drive, slowly release service brake (pedal) the hand brake should hold it not to slip fwd, cycle the leaver through pnrd and back about 2 minutes( make sure is not moving with hand brake on...) rest it in park or neutral with hand brake still firmly on. Open bonnet ( leave engine running) remove cap measure oil level, should be just under 20mm (18-19mm) at 25 celsius for maximum and 3mm for minimum... and this is cold level.

 

On hot, the car needs to be driven from cold in gear till engine gets to operating temperature ( not parked till engine gets warm) when the temperature gauge gets to half that is 87-89 celsius mark transmission then will be 10 celsius lower... park on level ground, leave engine running and measure oil level again ( pay atention not to get burn or have clothing getting trapped in the fan as is dengerous) i used a long sleve jumper, thick one to be covered in order to remove cap at this stage. Gearbox oil on the dipstick should be 45-46mm for maximum and 30mm for minimum.

 

Note the warm hot gearbox oil level is just for double checking that the first measurement on cold was right to begin with. Ideally you want to be as closest to maximum but not over and under no circumstances under minimum.

 

This worked and prove pretty accurate now that i can read temperature transmission temperature i checked again and i could prove that is right. You have to know that transmission oil as it gets hot level is rising in the end it is a hidraulic oil...special atention needs to be paid to leaks on transmission as running low/dry will kill it so any leaks need to be put right.

 

Hope this helps,

 

 

As for tool to read temperature i have a few but only with the computer based one i could read the transmission temperature ( on top of all other 28 modules in this car, check the topic with the diagnostic last post) the other option would be probably a infrared temp reading tool or a probe based tool like fluke k temp but none are really justified to buy if only for this job.

 

Checking gearbox oil on this is weird, as they could of simply put a dipstik in there with min max cold marks on one side and min max hot on the other side... i am in the process of making such a dipstik as getting the oil right for sure was a bit of a adventure first time till i concluded the above...

[fandabby]

Thanks for this @@SpAwNtoHell


Been working a lot today and only just back home so will look at doing this tomorrow night when my husband gets home.

Good idea about a custom dipstick, sure would make things a lot easier.

Will let you know how we get on.

Thanks

[fandabby]

We added extra oil in, so now roughly 5.2l went in.

Followed your instructions @@SpAwNtoHell and testing on hot after a good 20 mins drive came in around 38-40 so hopefully this job is done now.

Checked sump pan and doesn't look like it's leaking now so third time luckily I guess.

Thanks for guidance.

On to the next job now.