How to change manual transmission fluid

[KuroNekko]

KuroNekko, Thanks for this detailed writeup. I'm going to change my trans oil tomorrow or Thursday and as I reviewed this I realized I did not have a 8mm hex socket. Nothing is more annoying than jacking up the car taking things apart and finding out you need to stop everything and get a tool. I went to get a hex socket today and found the funnel you used. It seems to be a handy funnel with the shut off. So I got myself one.

No problem on the write-up. Glad it already came to use about alerting you that you need a 8mm hex socket.
Given you will use the funnel and tube method instead of a pump, you'll want to remove the air filter box like I did in this tutorial. Otherwise, there is really not much space to have the funnel and tube in a vertical position for decent fluid flow to the transmission.

[KuroNekko]

Oh, I forgot to add:
If you want to bleed your clutch fluid as Murcod did and strongly advises, the bleeder nipple location is circled below in the photo. I have not done this yet, but noticed the bleeder location when I removed the air box.

Clutch Bleeder Location.jpg (356.74 KiB) Viewed 16523 times

[redmed]

Thanks, I wondered where the clutch bleeder is.

[murcod]

Yes, that's it. Dead easy to access once the air filter box is removed.

[KuroNekko]

Yes, that's it. Dead easy to access once the air filter box is removed.

Thanks for confirming.
I was pretty sure that was it given the bleeder nipple dust cap and the rubber hydraulic hose going to the base of it. Both components are found on brake calipers so it was rather easy to point out on the transmission.

[redmed]

KuroNekko, Changed the manual trans oil today. Used the same funnel you used but found the hose to be a tight fit. When you said you used almost 3qts when specs show 2.5 qts I wondered if you overfilled due to the tight hose not allowing the overfill to come out. I inserted a smaller tube inside the hose and it worked well with no spill. But like you it took almost the full 3qts. I had only 1/4 inch of oil left in the bottle when I was done. As you can see all that was not in the trans or bottle was the small amount in the bowl from the overspill when the trans was full.

[murcod]

The factory spec is 2.5 litres - which is 2.64 Quarts (so that accounts for a little bit of the extra fluid.)

Was the vehicle front end raised as well - so not perfectly level? That would also allow over filling.

[redmed]

The factory spec is 2.5 litres - which is 2.64 Quarts (so that accounts for a little bit of the extra fluid.)

Was the vehicle front end raised as well - so not perfectly level? That would also allow over filling.

I had not thought of that! I had the car lifted on the drivers side. So it is overfilled. I will take out the fill plug again while the car is level. Thanks

[KuroNekko]

I wouldn't worry too much about overfilling these kinds of things. I find that many components that use gear oil such as transfer cases, differentials, and manual transmissions have their fill holes near or at their maximum fluid capacity level. In essence, it's hard to overfill because if you do, it will just leak out of the fill hole.

I will admit that I had my car on ramps so the vehicle was not level. I also used a hose that fit snugly into the fill hole as you observed, Redmed. However, when I pulled it out, some fluid dribbled out. This was how I knew I had it about right.

I checked the owner's manual on this process and it even explicitly states that you fill until it leaks out of the fill hole for the manual transmission.
Here's the excerpt from the 2010 Owner's Manual:

Capture.JPG (18.62 KiB) Viewed 16453 times

This is why I wasn't too keen on measuring the amount of fluid going in. It's not like it can be easily overfilled by a significant amount like motor oil in the crankcase. Regardless, I did see that approximately the correct amount of fluid went into the transmission based on how much fluid I had left.

That being said, yes, it's best to have the car perfectly level and measure the amount of fluid going in. However, I (and I imagine most other DIYers) don't own a lift nor four jack stands so I really can't be too exacting on something like this. After all, it's hard to significantly overfill something that will pour out of a hole when at max level.

[KuroNekko]

The factory spec is 2.5 litres - which is 2.64 Quarts (so that accounts for a little bit of the extra fluid.)

Yes, you're right about 2.5 liters. My write-up wrote 2.5 quarts. I'll change that up as liters are greater in quantity than quarts.