04-06 RA Trans Fluid Change - Helper Pics

BlackRaven · May 29, 2009, 12:46 AM

Hey everyone-

It was Christmas in May at my house, and I got around to changing my tranny fluid this afternoon. I'd looked for the threads outlining the directions, and the one posted at Evo Motorsports is great:
http://www.evomoto.com/tech_info.php?tech_id=26

However, I thought I'd throw up a few pics I took while doing it, maybe help a fellow RA owner out. Use these pictures in conjunction with the directions at the Evo Moto link.

I love this sight as I pull in my driveway...the top box was from Buschur Racing and had 3 qts of BG Synchroshift II.

The fill plug is located on the front side of the transmission and is labelled "Oil". Here, I have the bolt out and some hose I used to fill 'er up:

from above:

The drain plug is on the driver side of the transmission, more toward the back of the car. The pictures on the Evo Moto link above show a magnetic drain plug...from the factory, ours are not magnetic. The 24mm bolt has a rather shallow head. Here's two pics of the drain hole:

closer...

This truly is an easy thing to do. Just be careful; when that drain plug comes off, the old tranny fluid shoots outta there, so get your catch pan ready. After I was all done (including the obligatory I-just-worked-on-my-car cigarette), the BG Synchroshift II felt great...I should have done this 10,000 miles ago

Hope this helps!

**otter** · May 29, 2009, 07:01 AM

You're beyond due on flushing your brake fluid.

BlackRaven · May 29, 2009, 08:09 AM

It's an optical illusion, I swear...

BTW, Otter, could you change the main thread title? It of course should read "Trans Fluid"...note to self, don't start threads between the hours of 12am and 4am

asplodzor · Jul 21, 2009, 11:23 AM

Just to make sure we're all on the same page, this is for a manual transmission, not an automatic, right? Also, any difference between fluid amounts and types between the manual transmissions in different years and series? ('02-'09, and ES, RA, Evo for instance)

insomniac_evo · Jul 22, 2009, 08:57 PM

a few questions here:
how do you know its at the correct level when its full? i heard its bad to overfill the trans fluid
is the car on jacks or on the ground? when filling it up i mean.

thanks

joeyj · Jul 23, 2009, 02:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by insomniac_evo

a few questions here:
how do you know its at the correct level when its full? i heard its bad to overfill the trans fluid
is the car on jacks or on the ground? when filling it up i mean.

thanks

you want to fill it till it is level with the bottom of the hole that you fill it in.

from service manual;

"Fill with gear oil API classification GL-4 SAE 75W - 85W or 75W - 90 until the level comes to the lower portion of filler plug hole. " (about 2.3 quarts)

doesnt matter if its on jacks, as long as it is level and not at an angle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by asplodzor

Just to make sure we're all on the same page, this is for a manual transmission, not an automatic, right? Also, any difference between fluid amounts and types between the manual transmissions in different years and series? ('02-'09, and ES, RA, Evo for instance)

i know the aforementioned amounts and specs are good for all 04-06 RA's, if it is the same for the es, then it will be the same for the 02-07 models, granted im not sure, but I would bet the evo's i gonna be different.

AdamRA · Jul 25, 2009, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by insomniac_evo

a few questions here:
how do you know its at the correct level when its full? i heard its bad to overfill the trans fluid
is the car on jacks or on the ground? when filling it up i mean.

thanks

If you over fill it will not get up to the proper temperature and will cause grinding. I know from experience. Didn't pay attention to how much was going in.

**otter** · Jul 25, 2009, 08:31 PM

You can't overfill the manual trans if the car is sitting level (stock ride height) when you fill it. Just keep pouring fluid in until it overflows back out the hole.

JPxM0Dz · Aug 19, 2009, 12:46 PM

Nice!

deathsythe99 · Sep 11, 2009, 12:27 PM

i know this is kinda dumb but does it matter what kind of oil we use? because im thinking of putting in the eneos 75w-90 gear oil pls reply

**otter** · Sep 11, 2009, 02:23 PM

Haven't heard of anyone using Eneos oil in our trans. That stuff is fairly new/uncommon in the US (I had never even seen it before until last month.) People generally go with OEM, BG, Redline, Amsoil, or GM Synchromesh. In theory, any GL-4 oil should be fine, but our trans tends to feel finicky. I've used OEM, BG, and Amsoil. I prefer BG of those 3.