06BaltCoupeLT

Alright after replacing my driver cv axle twice already I was worried about the gear oil for the front diff being low but couldn't find anywhere to drain/fill. I thought the front diff was seperate from the ATF and used a seperate oil. Is only ATF used to lube the front diff and tranny? If that's true how do you check the ATF or fill/drain without dropping the pan???

majourpain

As far as i know its a dextron atf. what one i cant rember, but to fill there is a bolt on the tranny somewheres that you put the fluid in and when it starts to leak back out from that hole its full. of course you have to do this while the car is level.

06BaltCoupeLT

Thanks for replying....after talking to some people I found out auto's don't require gear oil in the front like manual trans do. I've looked for the bolt but never could find it...do you know where it is appoximately???

08SSTCRD

Manuals don't either. Transaxles are all one unit, with the final drive integrated into the case. This applies to both FWD and RWD transaxles.

If you're looking for the check bolt, its an 11mm hex bolt on the trans case parallel to the right side axle. It should stand out because its slightly different than the other bolts. This bolt is used to check the fluid level. Fluid should drip out slowly with the bolt removed.

To fill the transmission, there should be a red plastic cap on the top of the trans, next to the engine. Remove that to add fluid.

To drain the fluid, you must drop the transmission pan, which means removing the perimiter bolts on the pan, draining the fluid, and installing a new gasket.

06BaltCoupeLT

???....manual's do require gear oil...both times I've replaced the cv axle on two fwd cars that were manual trans 2wd and had to add gear oil that came out. I was under the impression that an auto fwd used two seperate fluids in the front.

08SSTCRD

You do not understand.

There is no separate gear oil part of the transaxle. The gear oil that came out when you pulled the axle was the transmission lubricant. It lubricates the entire inside of the transmission, from the bearings to the differential.

Different transmissions require different lubricants. Some use gear oil, some use synchromesh, some use ATF.

06BaltCoupeLT

..No it was specifically gear oil that came out (multi viscosity 75w-90) on the two vehicles that I was working on. Thanks for the location of the trans fill bolt and fill cap i'll try to locate them.

06BaltCoupeLT

The bolt I found on the pass side above the drive axle isn't 11mm its not even a hex bolt. The head on the bolt is a rectangle shape with 1/4" or 6mm width. I tried with an adjustable wrench to get it off but the thing wont budge...the brand new wrench I used even has groves from the head of the bolt trying to get it off.....Is this the right bolt?? My car a 2.2L auto 2dr.

Spanky's Monkey

iTrader: (6)

don't use an adjustable wrench. use a socket and make sure the car is running when you pull that bolt out. the fill cap is a little black cap on top of the trans and real hard to miss unless your blind. you should vent the cap before you pull the check plug.

06BaltCoupeLT

....the service guy at the Chevy dealer & at the pars store told me it was above pass axle so I was pulling on the wrong bolt...it's below the axle. 08sstcrd was right it's an 11mm hex bolt. Here's an image for anyone else that might need it.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...Number=1385038

08SSTCRD

What kind of FWD vehicles were you working on that you are claiming have separate differential and transmission fluids??

06BaltCoupeLT

I never claimed the 2 fwd vehicles that I worked on had seperate diff and trans fluid only that they specifically required gear oil. I was under the impression that all manuals used gear oil in the front....

Quote:
Originally Posted by 06BaltCoupeLT
Thanks for replying....after talking to some people I found out auto's don't require gear oil in the front like manual trans do. I've looked for the bolt but never could find it...do you know where it is appoximately???

Manuals don't either. Transaxles are all one unit, with the final drive integrated into the case. This applies to both FWD and RWD transaxles.

If you're looking for the check bolt, its an 11mm hex bolt on the trans case parallel to the right side axle. It should stand out because its slightly different than the other bolts. This bolt is used to check the fluid level. Fluid should drip out slowly with the bolt removed.

To fill the transmission, there should be a red plastic cap on the top of the trans, next to the engine. Remove that to add fluid.

To drain the fluid, you must drop the transmission pan, which means removing the perimiter bolts on the pan, draining the fluid, and installing a new gasket.

.....then you replied "Manuals don't either" (which is completely untrue cause as your later post indicated they require some type of "transmission lubricant"). My entire post was whether an auto fwd used two different fluids to lubricate the transmission up front, which was really my lack of understanding of what a transaxle was.