How's it going folks?
Today I'm going to show you how to replace the transmission fluid and filter on your
car and also how you can install your new pan gasket, so that you don't have any leaks.
And as always, if you see any tools or products used in this video that peak your interest,
I put links to where you can find them for cheap in the description box, so don't be
afraid to click on them and check them out.
I'm going to be showing you how to do this on this 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 that's also a
4x4 and comes with a 5.2 liter V8 engine, but of course you can use the procedures used
in this video, to replace the transmission fluid out of any automatic transmission.
Alright next, since we don't have a drain bolt on this pan, what I'm going to do, is
to remove these five bolts on this end and then get our catch pan underneath here and
catch all the transmission fluid that's going to drip out of there.
Alright, so I actually removed seven bolts and we're still not getting transmission fluid
to leak out of this.
Now this could be because the transmission fluid may not be filled past the pan line
or that our gasket is doing a good job and we simply need to remove more bolts.
But whatever you do, you don't want to stick a screwdriver or pry-bar between your pan
and the mating surface and try to force it open, because that'll bend the lip of your
pan and then when you go to reinstall this, you're going to have a leak from there.
Now there's a small chance that might actually be your only option if this is stuck to the
mating surface because of RTV.
But actually what we're going to do next, is to loosen more bolts on the side.
But we're going to actually loosen the ones on the back also, but we're going to loosen
these more than the ones on the back, because if you don't loosen the ones in the back,
this is just going to, if there's a lot of liquid in this, it's just going to bend your
pan this way as the fluid is forced to this side because these bolts are getting loose.
But if you loosen the ones in the back also, this is more like, gonna more like tilt, than
bend this way.
Alright, let's see if we can knock it loose with a rubber mallet.
It looks like someone might have used RTV silicone on this gasket and this is exactly
why you don't want to use RTV silicone on your gasket on the transmission side.
So it looks like we're going to have to use a screwdriver to get this loose, which we're
not supposed to.
You can even see our pan bending a little bit, there we go.
Here we go guys, we got it loose.
Alright so after letting this drip for 5 minutes and then cleaning our face, we're going to
remove this pan and we're going to do this by actually leaving two bolts on the sides,
so this is held in place, while we remove the remainder of the bolts.
And of course when it's time to remove it, you want to be very careful because there's
still a ton of fluid left in this pan.
Next I'm going to remove the last remaining two bolts.
The ice cream truck's here.
Yeah, ice cream!
Alright, next I'm going to support this with one hand and then remove the last remaining
two bolts and then hopefully I can maneuver this hand into my catch pan and not onto my
own face, we'll see.
So far so good.
Alright, made it.
Yeah, it looks like they used some type of sealant as you can see here, on the transmission
side, which is probably not going to be fun cleaning up.
So here's a look at our pan.
Here's a look at our gasket on the pan side and this is also stuck to this pan pretty
well.
Here's a look at our magnet.
We got this normal wear and tear, there's no big chunks on this.
So next, here comes the fun part, the clean up.
Alright, next we're going to have to use a scraper or some razor blades and remove as
much of the old gasket material from the pan as you can.
Alright so after removing all the big chunks, I'm going to use my angle grinder with a soft
pad and remove the remaining gasket residue.
If you don't have one of these, you're going to have to keep going at it with some razor
blades or maybe a wire brush and some brake clean.
Alright, 30 minutes later, here's what we have.
We've got some exposed metal that we'll address later but as far as corrosion and rust goes,
this pan is not actually that bad.
Alright, next we'll clean everything up with some brake clean and these blue shop towels.
By the way, these are awesome, I use them inside the house as well.
It's super important the lip of this pan is completely clean and dry.
Especially of any old RTV or transmission fluid, so make as many passes as you need
to.
And next, in order to address the areas where we have some bare metal showing, we're going
to spray those areas with some epoxy paint.
This both works as a primer, paint and at the same time it's heat resistant as well.
I'm going to cover the inside of the pan with this piece of cardboard so we don't get too
much over-spray inside this thing.
And we're going put three coats of this, waiting about 5-10 minutes between each medium coat.
Alright, so here's how things look after our third and final coat.
Next, while we're waiting for this to dry, we're going to go over to our transmission
and do some cleaning there as well.
And here's looking at our transmission filter and this is held in by two bolts that are
going to require T-20 Torx socket to remove.
And then once again using you're scraper, we're going to have to clean this mating surface
thoroughly.
Alright, once again to thoroughly clean this, I'm going to use my angle grinder.
You're not supposed to, but I'm going to employ the old cardboard technique to protect the
inside of the transmission.
And here's looking at our transmission mating surface after thoroughly being cleaned.
As you can see it's nice, clean and shiny.
Alright, next up our filter.
Make sure you get some transmission fluid on this seal.
Once again, you run these in by hand.
And again, hand tight is fine.
No need to put a lot of torque on these.
Alright now we are ready to install our new gasket and our newly painted transmission
pan.
I think this is where everybody's got questions about RTV or other sealants and how or if
any should be used.
By the way, I forgot to mention, while you're waiting for your transmission to drain, you
should lay out your new gasket like this, so it has time to flatten out.
Alright, so if you're going to be reusing your old pan, the odds are that it's not perfectly
flat and even, therefore, I always use some RTV.
Especially in a case like this, since we had no other option to bend this in order to remove
it from our transmission.
But the key part is to use the right RTV silicone an RTV silicone that's made to be used in
an automatic transmission.
Because additives and detergents in your automatic transmission fluid, will quickly eat away
at other RTV silicones.
And if you have a hard time finding this at your local auto parts store, I'll put links
to where you can buy this online in the description box down below.
And the way that I put RTV silicone is just basically, put a bead down in the center,
go around every bolt hole, all the way around the pan, on the pan side.
And you can smear it with your finger, but you just gotta make sure you have an even
amount all around the pan.
So you never put it on the transmission side because you simply don't need it.
See, this is a thick flat piece of metal here and it's not gonna bend or warp due to the
heat cycles or anything else.
Now if you're going to be using a new high quality pan then your problems are going to
be less.
But I would still use just a tiny amount of RTV around the corners.
That both helps seals it around the corners and it also holds in place our gasket.
Because making sure this gasket is nice and flat on this pan when you go to install this,
is pretty much the most important thing when it comes to trying to avoid leaks.
Also something else you should check before you put RTV silicone on this, is that these
bolt holes, the metal around it, should be completely flat, because sometimes people,
when trying to stop leaks, will over-torque the pan bolts and they will bend the metal
right around the bolt holes.
And if you find out that's the case, you just get something flat underneath it and just
gently tap it in an make it even.
Alright, let's get to it.
Alright, here comes the important part, laying down our new gasket.
And you want to make sure you lay it down nice and flat, well as flat as you can.
You just want to make sure you line up all the bolt holes exactly, that's the most important
thing.
Also, if you have a helper that can help you put this on exactly, you don't really need
to spread the RTV with your finger, you can just lay it down there on just the bead itself.
That might actually even be better.
Alright, now we're ready to put this back on.
So when I put this back on, I'm going to run the two bolts on the sides down just by hand,
so this is held in place.
Now you don't want to run this down all the way that you can't move this, just in case
you need to make adjustments.
Alright next, I'm going to torque these down to about six foot pounds, or 72 inch pounds,
that's the same.
And again, we're going to go from the center out, crisscross manner.
Alright, next I usually like to wait an hour before I torque the bolts down to factory
spec.
And I think the torque spec for these bolts on this car is 13 foot pounds.
And now we do our final torque down.
Again working from the center out.
Alright, next we're just going to wait another two or three hours or better yet, let this
sit overnight and then we're going to refill it with new transmission fluid.
And while we're waiting, we're going to thoroughly clean the bottom of our pan as well.
Why not?
And next we're going to add some transmission fluid.
Now according to the repair manual for this car, when you drop the pan and replace the
fluid and filter, you're only replacing about one and a half quarts of transmission fluid,
so that's how much you would need to add back into this transmission.
Alright, next we get into our car, start the engine and get the car up to operating temperature
and then we run the gear selector through all the gears, waiting about five seconds
between each gear and we do this twice.
After that, we'll check our transmission fluid level and add more transmission fluid if necessary
and then we'll check for leaks around our transmission pan and I don't see any, so we're
good there as well.
And should about wrap it up.
Hope you enjoyed watching this video.
If you did, here some other videos that you might find interesting, I'll probably show
them on the side, that you can click on.
There will also be links on the description box down below, as well.
Alright thanks for watching, I'll see you guys next time.