You can flush or change the fluid without opening it up since there's a drainplug in the tranny pan, but in your case I think it would be wise to pull the pan to check/clean the filter screen and do a visual inspection just to be safe.

Even if there wasn't a drain plug in the pan, you can still change the fluid without pulling the pan. Just remove the soft line from the fluid cooler that leads back to the transmission and stick it in a big bucket, then run the engine and add new fluid through the dipstick tube until you've pumped through ten-ish quarts. Hopefully you can pour in at about the same rate it comes out the tube, and the better way might be to have an assistant change the gearshifter (chock the wheels/set the brake first) while it's happening. You are able to almost completely change all the fluid that way - better than just draining it.

Bonus points for pulling the pan, cleaning the screen then replacing the pan first, though.

John B.

Thanks for the great advice guys. Got the kids under wing now. I'm going to try this Monday or maybe Sunday night. Will report back.



I've refilled fluids without putting the drain plug back in more than once!

Update:

Dug into this a bit more. New check of level showed low, and fluid is brown. I found that the banjo bolt on the underside of the cooler is weeping. It was pouring rain and the Monty won't fit in the garage with the racks so I just emptied the pan and filled with new fluid for now, as I was headed out of town and wife will need it for the next few days.

Hoping it was low fluid level that caused the overheat. Also noticed radiator fluid was a little low...added water wetter so engine cooling system can maybe pitch in by a few more degrees (engine cooling system DOES interact with tranny doesn't it?).

Fingers crossed she behaves for the wife <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cyclops.gif" alt="" />!

I'll do the full flush when I return.

Thx again!

Yes, the transmission fluid flows first through the bottom of the radiator (isolated fluid loop) and then to the air-to-fluid cooler, then back to the transmission. Making sure your radiator is clean will always help.

Fluid level is important, but don't overfill it. If it's brown, get at least 7 quarts, more like nine, and flush it out.

John B.

Thx Johnny B. Well, she behaved for my wife. Will do this flush this week. Drove it yesterday for a good while, no temp issues. But fluid is def brown and needs to be replaced. Really want to get to that filter too...

You can also do the "lazy flush". simple unplug and drain got about 4 liters out. refilled 4 liters of new fluid and drove around 3 days then repeated.

did a total of 3 drains within 2 weeks, total of 12 qtrs of synthetic fluid but never disconnected anything and each drain took about 10mins tops.

150 miles after the 3rd drain fluid is still extremely red. a bit more expensive method but the easiest.