How To Change Manual-Transmission Fluid

What you need:
  1. 3, 1 quart (946ml) bottles of 75W-90 gear oil
  2. 3 feet of 1/2 inch clear plastic tubing
  3. Ratchet (not a wrench) with a 23mm socket (24mm will also work but it'll be a bit loose)
  4. A bucket for collecting the old oil
  5. 2 jack stands and a jack (hydraulic or the emergency one)
  6. A sidewalk

Instructions:
  1. Run the car for about 10 minutes to get the transmission oil warmed up (it's more fluid when it's warm)
  2. Park one side of the car on a sidewalk
  3. Use a jack to raise the car so that it's level then lower it onto the jackstands
  4. Get under the car and spray the drain and fill plugs with WD-40 or PB blaster
  5. Loosen the fill bolt (if you can't, STOP HERE)
  6. Place a bucket under the drain bolt
  7. Remove the drain bolt and let the oil empty into the bucket
  8. Once the transmission is empty, screw the drain bolt back in and tighten it
  9. Remove the fill bolt and run the tube from the top of the engine down into the fill hole of the transmission
  10. Open one of the gear oil bottles and attach the tube to the end of the bottle
  11. Stab a hole into the bottom of the oil bottle and let the oil flow!
  12. Do this for the second and third bottle
  13. On the third bottle you'll need someone under the car to let you know when the transmission is full (it'll start leaking out the fill hole)
  14. Screw the fill bolt back in and tighten
  15. Lower the car and enjoy!

See pages 05–15A–1 and 05–15A–2 of the service manual for help locating the drain and fill bolts. They are attached for your convenience as well as a picture from the underside of my car.

Thanks to all the guys who helped me in my original thread.
 

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What's the point of parking on the sidewalk?

Maybe if you park the passenger side on the sidewalk more of the fluid drains out? Idk... he doesn't specify a side anyways, and that would probably be negated as soon as you jack the car up... (shrug)
 
That's what I was thinking too...?

I plan on changing my fluid this week and was just curious about the benefit of parking on a sidewalk. heh-heh. I've got 4 jack stands and a flat driveway so if I need to tilt the front end up more to drain, I'll just raise the jack stands up.

Otherwise it's a good write up!(cool)
 
That's what I was thinking too...?

I plan on changing my fluid this week and was just curious about the benefit of parking on a sidewalk. heh-heh. I've got 4 jack stands and a flat driveway so if I need to tilt the front end up more to drain, I'll just raise the jack stands up.

Otherwise it's a good write up!(cool)

I just put the front on jack stands when I do it.
 
which screw is the drain plug? lol stupid question i know but just curious cause im about to see if this works a little on my gears sticking. I took my car to jiffy lube and they told me i should replace my rear main seal. not sure if i should pull the tranny apart..
 
The bolt on the bottom. (lol2) The one on the top right of the last pic.
 
thats what common sense was telling me lol thanks. Now i gotta go buy a 23 mm socket.. Is mobile 1 synthetic 75/90 ok to use im not boosted or anything prob better then whats in there now. Im over 100 k and doubt its ever been changed.
 
thats what common sense was telling me lol thanks. Now i gotta go buy a 23 mm socket.. Is mobile 1 synthetic 75/90 ok to use im not boosted or anything prob better then whats in there now. Im over 100 k and doubt its ever been changed.

Its the trans... not the engine and what does that have to do with anything with the trans fluid? boosted or not it wont have any affect and syn fluid is always better boosted or not.
 
Its the trans... not the engine and what does that have to do with anything with the trans fluid? boosted or not it wont have any affect and syn fluid is always better boosted or not.

Hey guess what. Sorry i dont know everything about cars. thats what this site is for right?

I was just asking because they make the royal purple and redline stuff.
Im using the mobile 1 syn.

Answer your question?
And its "gear oil" not trans fluid..
 
I think he may have just came across a little harsh. This is a good community we have here and it's always okay to ask questions.

I went with the Redline when I changed mine last month. It's expensive, but I'll probably only change it once a year so I don't mind spending the couple of extra bucks. I have owned my P5 for 2-1/2 years and never changed it so I was expecting a dramatic improvement like everyone posts. Meh- feels the exact same to me. Haha! But it's nice to know it's fresh fluid.
 
Hey guess what. Sorry i dont know everything about cars. thats what this site is for right?

I was just asking because they make the royal purple and redline stuff.
Im using the mobile 1 syn.

Answer your question?
And its "gear oil" not trans fluid..

Gear oil is also referred to as manual transmission fluid and manual transaxle fluid as well spanky. Also With this being a thread about a standard transmission one would assume the reader would have common sense enough to know I wasn't talking about automatic transmission fluid. Anyways royal purple, redline, and mobile one are all good fluids. Some will say one is better then the other, but bottom line is they are all better then standard "gear oil" none the less.


Edit: The original post was not intended to come off as harsh but I just dont see the logic in his statement.
 
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Hey, what manual transmission fluid would you all suggest? I typed in the weight into the Amazon search engine and was faced with at least 5 different brands. Is there anything special to look for? I was looking at this
https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

But I need more advice before I purchase. I just want to know if I can use any brand as long as the weight is correct.
 
That's what I went with and many other members agree to use. Some say to use GM Syncromesh too.
 
That's what I went with and many other members agree to use. Some say to use GM Syncromesh too.

Thanks dude! Just wanted to make sure I was ordering the right thing. I have 140K on the car and the fluid has never been changed, can't wait to do it.
 
For anyone new reading this (As I was confused originally as well). He parked on the sidewalk to jack up the right or left half of the car and then used a jack and jack-stands to meet that hieght. You do not need the sidewalk, if you have 4 jackstands. The car must be level to get the amount of fluid in the trans-axle correct. The sidewalk does NOT affect getting more fluid out (in fact, being unlevel might hinder the draining). It is simply to level the car while it is raised, because he only had two jack-stands.
 
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Sorry if this is a newb question, but where the hell is the fill bolt? Can someone take a pic?
 
The car could be upside-down, but as long as you put in the 2.9 (3) quarts it calls for you'll have the correct amount.

So I put my manual Protege5 on 4 jack stands to a level.
Drained transmission fluid.
Added 3 Quarts and I didn't see it overfill yet?
I thought you fill until it starts draining out in the fill hole so you know you have enough Trans Fluid in there?
So, it's more like 3.5qrts. when it starts draining out of the fill hole.
 
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