Thanks to the morons at GM I got a Dexron VI shower and a nightmare of a transmission fluid change.
I had planned to drain most of the fluid through the dipstick tube prior to dropping the pan.
Nope, The dipstick tube is so long none of my hoses for the fluid extractor were long enough to reach the pan.
So I slowly dropped the rear of the pan and got some out. However that is the shallow end of the pan that rests on the exhaust crossover and the deep sump is in the front so still a bunch of fluid in there.
Was trying to carefully get the pan off, which is a gigantic pain because of the exhaust. While I was trying to wiggle it out I knocked the filter out which splashed a bunch on my face which caused me to drop the pan.
The a ton of fluid showered me. This is why we were safety glasses however still got covered and a bunch in my mouth. Got out from under the car and ran to the shower (think I will now add an eye wash to my utility tub in the shop).
Came back down after cleaning up and fought with the pan FOREVER and jacked up the reusable gasket in the process so had to run to the dealership!
$40 for the flipping gasket but ohh well.
Pan was pretty nasty, no silver metal chunks but a film of grey goo and the magnet was covered. Fought with the pan for hours again to get it back on.
Man, probably the worst vehicle maintenance job I have ever done. Will never need to do it again so that is a plus.
Fluid only has 60k miles on it and it was black as night, not even a hint of red. Suburban has 120k miles on it records show last owner had the dealer do it at 60k.
So, 6 quarts of LiquiMoly Top Tec 1800 (their Dexron VI equivalent), new filter, clean pan. Hope we can squeak as much mileage out of this thing. At 120k we’re already on borrowed time for these craptastic 6L80s.



Have I ever mentioned I absolutely HATE THIS VEHICLE with a passion! Worst vehicle I have ever owned!

GM truck transmission changes are not my favorite job, and they're always messy but I've never gotten a full dousing like you did. FWIW the 4L80 in my truck does have a drain plug, but it's absolutely useless because it has been seized in there since long before I owned the truck, to the point that the torque necessary to get it out will almost certainly destroy the pan, so I still have to do the full pan balancing act to get it changed.

I've found the best technique is to leave a few bolts partially in and let one side of the pan droop to drain as much of the fluid as possible, then remove the remaining bolts and lower a pan that only has a quart or two left in it.

I've always gotten a few threaded rods of the same thread pitch as the pan bolts, but about 4" long.

Set them in the side you want to drain the fluid from and let it/them lower the pan as it drains.



Changing oil today. Seems to get tricky when it is more than two gallons.

At least you didn't have to take the transmission out and take the case apart to change the filter.

You'll need a 6T40 to do that.

Yeah, these vehicles with lifetime fluids (I'm looking at you, Ford) are a pain in the ass. I changed my pan to one with a drain plug, just in case I have to do that crap again.

Except for the Allison behind the Duramax diesel, no GM transmission pan ever had a drain plug. Few other makes have one either. At least you have a dipstick and a tube to fill through.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Except for the Allison behind the Duramax diesel, no GM transmission pan ever had a drain plug. Few other makes have one either. At least you have a dipstick and a tube to fill through.

They have screwed this up now as well. The plug that is in the current 10 speed Allison is pretty much useless because it isn't anywhere near the lowest point in the pan. The engineers also must have decided that the easy to change external spin-on filter was entirely to easy to change. It's now internal only as well.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Except for the Allison behind the Duramax diesel, no GM transmission pan ever had a drain plug. Few other makes have one either. At least you have a dipstick and a tube to fill through.

They exist. I'm not sure how common they are, but my truck (2001 Silverado 2500HD w/ 4L80E) has one. They're just useless because they seize. I've only ever had experience with my own, but my FIL has been wrenching professionally his whole life and told me that pretty much every one he's ever encountered has been seized as bad as mine (I've definitely bitched about it to him before, lol), so he usually has to drop the pan to drain it. Not sure if GM used materials that didn't play well together or what, but the execution was definitely poor.

Here's the Delco replacement part: https://www.amazon.com/ACDelco...3391abd111097aa1b9b8

Haha! Been there, dude.

Glad you got it done. That's a nice feeling.

Now that I’m older, I have quit getting under our automobiles. I take it to the dealership or a qualified mechanic and let them mess with it.

I have had too many issues and don’t wish to relive them.

I had a WRX. It was tuned and had a new catted downpipe on it. Had been running this setup for around 9 months. I ordered and received a catback exhaust. Should have been a really quick and easy install. Only issue is that the factory exhaust connected with a swivel gasket. The new exhaust was a direct bolt on. So the holes on the downpipe needed to be drilled out.
The plate was 5/16” and had been heated and cooled from the cats many, many times. It was a little less hard than a diamond, and drilled out about the same as armor plating. Destroyed every shitty bit that I had, so I needed to make a trip to Home Depot… without an exhaust on a tuned WRX. It was deafening and I certainly received a lot of stares.
Got some bits, started drilling and the Mormon Missionaries arrived. I politely told them I was busy, and without further ado, they ditched their jackets and got under the car to help me. So an hour later we had it installed. Their help was invaluable at the time.

I invited them to come back the next evening for dinner. I cooked some homemade pizzas and had some decaf soda and sparkling waters for them. They were pretty good kids. They didn’t convert me to Mormonism, but they did enjoy dinner.

That was one of the times that added up with a few more, that changed me from working on cars.

Yep. Even for oil changes, nowadays I'll provide the supplies, but I take it to a shop. It's worth the ~$30 for their labor/lift/disposal, to save myself the hassle.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Yep. Even for oil changes, nowadays I'll provide the supplies, but I take it to a shop. It's worth the ~$30 for their labor/lift/disposal, to save myself the hassle.

Thankfully oil changes are quick and easy. Fumoto valve on each vehicle makes life so simple.
Oil is $15 to ship the old oil back for its replacement and oil filters are still under $10.
No disposal of the oil just ship it back for the replacement refund.

Even with the added pain of the change on this transmission I still saved a couple hundred dollars.
Still worth my afternoon at this point.

The Tundra transmission fluid changes are simple. Thanks to the drain plug. Worst part of the job is booking it up to the scanner and waiting for it to get to that 10* temperature to pull the check plug.

Recently changed the fluid/filter on my Expedition. Thankfully, a YouTube video showed a guy using a big piece of foil to cover the cross member and allow the fluid to drain on that and then act like a huge funnel into the pan, while working the pan down and forward. Worked great, would have made a massive mess without that trick. I did spring for the $45 Dorman replacement pan that has a plug.

Not just GM. Most manufacturers do not have a dipstick or drain plug. Ram 1500 have a filter that is integral part of the pan. Fords also have no drain plug or dipstick. Most of them has plastic pans that need to be replaced upon a service. We switch the ones that we service to PPE aluminum pans. Have made servicing transmissions a lot easier.

quote:

Originally posted by simmy952:
Not just GM. Most manufacturers do not have a dipstick or drain plug. Ram 1500 have a filter that is integral part of the pan. Fords also have no drain plug or dipstick. Most of them has plastic pans that need to be replaced upon a service. We switch the ones that we service to PPE aluminum pans. Have made servicing transmissions a lot easier.

Did exactly this on my explorer st. Cheap plastic pan that fails often replaced with PPE aluminum. Not only does it have a drain plug but it holds 2 qts more fluid.

Oh, and I’ve received a few face fulls of trans fluid over my life haha.

I have a 2018 Silverado and I drained most of the fluid out with a simple hand pump extractor. I then unbolted the pan and made a slight turn of the pan and it slipped right out. It was just as easy to put back in.
I had read about it being a big pain in the ass to get off, but it wasn't. I was surprised, to say the least. Now, pulling the pan off of my 2009 Ram definitely was a giant pain. I struggled for nearly an hour, off and back on.