Changing Transmission Lubricant...

["David Anderson" <anderson@msai.mea.com>]

...Finally got to change my transmission oil to Red Line this weekend.  Thought
I'd post a little about it, since different people have mentioned varying
thoughts on the issue....

According to Bentley's, our 02A transmission takes 2.1 quarts.  So, I bought 3
quarts (since they come in quart-size bottles).  Used Red Line MT-90.

A few people have mentioned that it was difficult to fill the tranny at the
plug in the front of the tranny housing.  I found a funnel at Wal-Mart for $3
that did the job nicely!  It's basically just a funnel, with a foot-long piece
of tubing on the end.  I could set the funnel between the engine and the
battery (under the hood, directly over the tranny fill-hole), and route the
tubing down to the fill hole.  Worked great!

Some people had mentioned that after draining, they could only get about 1.5
quarts before it started spilling out.  I assumed maybe this was because there
was still some residual oil in the tranny, and the location of the drain hole
wouldn't allow all of the oil to drain out.  So, since I had some "extra" (you
know, 3 quarts....), I decided to "flush" my transmission with the extra oil.
 The original oil draining out was tea-like in color.  The Red Line is pink.
 So, after opening the drain plug, and letting it all drain out, I began
pouring in the Red Line, with the drain plug still open.  The Red Line going in
was pink, but what was coming out was still brownish.  So, there WAS some
residual left.  After a little more than half a quart of Red Line, the stuff
coming out of the drain hole was pink as well.  Guess I used about 3/4 of the
first quart for "flushing".  Then, I plugged up the drain hole, and began
filling.

It took the rest (1/4) of the first quart, and all of the second quart, but
then began spilling out of the fill-hole.  For some reason, I was convinced
that I needed to put more in.  So, I jacked the front of the car up a slight
amount, and put in about 3/4 of the last quart, till again it started spilling
out.  I'm assuming that I now have around 2.1 quarts.  I put in 2.75 quarts,
but between half and 3/4 of one quart was for flushing....

Haven't noticed a huge difference, at least not immediately.  But, it's been a
consistent 90 degrees here in N.C., and most people say that the biggest
difference can be felt when cold....

Just wanted to share!...

Dave

P.S.  I couldn't find a torque-spec on how tight to tighten the drain and fill
plugs in the tranny.  Anybody have any idea? ....