A couple of weeks ago when checking my fliud levels, I noticed that my ATF was looking
pretty brown. So I decided that a fluid and filter change was needed.
The information below pertains to the 3 speed trimatic TH-180 automatic transmissions found in
early SWB Vitaras.
Sorry about the low quality phone pics.
Things you'll Need:
TH-180 gasket and filter kit.
17mm Spanners and or socket.
12mm Socket wrench.
3 litres of Dextron 3 Automatic Transmission Fluid.
Several clean rags.
Jack and Stands.
Somewhere clean to work.
Time Taken: 1.5 hours
Total Cost: About $40
Warning. Keep It Clean.
When working on any automatic transmission you must keep dirt and grit from getting into
your transmission. So either change the oil inside your garage, or if you must do it outside, choose a calm day.
The last thing you want is dirt and grit being blown into the exposed valve body of your transmission.
Warning. Automatic Transmission Fluid gets VERY HOT.
As you will be working right under the the pan of your transmission, exercise extreme care when draining the fluid or severe burns my result!
Ok. Let's get started.
First you need to warm up your transmission. A 10 to 15 minute drive should do it.
Jack up the car and put jack stands under each side near the end of the chassis rails behind the front wheels.
Some of the things you'll need.
Using two 17mm spanners (or a spanner and a socket), remove the 4 bolts that attach the front jackshaft to the diff. Drop the jackshaft down and move it out of the way. I also recommend removing the catalytic converter. I didn't and it made the job MUCH harder. Some of the bolts are very hard to get at with the cat in place.
Next take a rag and clean all around the edges of the transmissions pan. Use degreaser or kerosene if needed.
Once the pan is clean, start loosening the 12mm bolts down each side and at the rear of the pan.
Do not loosen the two front bolts yet.
Gradually remove the side bolts from the pan starting at the front and working your way down to the two bolts at the back. Be careful as fluid should start to leak at this point.
Remove the two rear bolts.
Gradually loosen the two top bolts a little at a time and the pan will start to drop allowing the fluid to drain over the sides. Keep doing this until the bolts are removed.
Once the pan has been drained and removed, take a 12mm socket and remove centre bolt on the filter. Then loosen the two rear 12mm bolts on the filter. Allow to drain and remove.
The filter is on the bottom right of this photo.
Once the filter is removed take clean lint free cloth and clean all the gunk of the internal surfaces.
This one was coated in black muck.
Starting to look a little better. Don't forget to remove the filter gasket.
Once it's all clean (it will continue to drip fluid), it's time to fit the new filter and gasket. The gasket that came with my kit wasn't a very good fit.
Bolt the new filter into the valve body.
Before putting it all back together, give the pan a good clean and remove the gasket.
Remove the magnetic ring and clean of the gunk. Check for small bits of metal stuck to the magnet as it could indicate a problem. Mine was fine.
Replace the magnet and put the new gasket on the pan. I used a very thin smear of gasket goo around the lip of the pan to hod it in place.
Bolt the pan back onto the transmission using a circular pattern to tighten the bolts. Don't over tighten them!
Reinstall the jackshaft and catalytic converter if you removed it.
Time to refill!!
Let the car down off the stands and fill the transmission through the dipstick tube. A funnel makes it easy.
My manual says that it takes 3 quarts to fill. The interwebs tell me that's 2.8 litres.
Start off by putting in two litres. I bought 5 litres and have plenty left.
Start the car and allow it to warm up to operating temperature while working through all the gears. Keep your foot on the brake!!!
Check the level again and top up if needed. Then check for leaks.
Take it for a drive and enjoy the smoothness of the shifts.
Well I hope this helps others to have a go at this. I'm a hopeless mechanic and I managed to do it with no problems.
Thanks to the Auszookers community without whom I would have never had the confidence to try something like this.
Oh and here's the old fluid... More black than red!
Cheers
Fritter
