F17 (1.8 five speed fluid change)

[$ub$onic]

So I changed the fluid in my f17. I change it to royal purple max gear 75-80 something weight. Here is what I did


Tools needed: 7/8 socket
11,13 socket
2 quarts of gl4 spec oil
Drain pan
Jack,ramps,lift,whatever
Oil resistant silicon on hand
Rubber hammer (maybe)

.

You will be filling it though the reverse light switch. You will need to disconnect the wire and (I used ) use a 7/8 socket. It is just snugged on so a light twist should work

bottom view


Then you will need a 13mm to unscrew the fluid level cap seen here

. It's hard to see but it's very easy to find under the car


Then use a 11mm to unscrew the 10 diff cover bolts


Now listen VERY CLOSLY 1) do this by hand 2)you will get 5-8 turns out on the screw and they will get tight DO NOT FORCE THEM!!!!! Screw them back in alittle then back out. If you force them you will more then likely strip the threads. Take out all but 2. Slowly loosen the last two and the cover should just come off. If you get the two screws a majority of the way out and the cover is still attached hit lightly with a rubber hammer

Beings that its a new car you should not need another gasket but have a oil resistant silicon on hand just in case


Next re apply the cover and torque to 12 foot pounds DO NOT OVER TORQUE!!!! Torque in a star pattern


Then fill with oil through the switch hole till it runs out of the fluid level cap hole

When finished re install all plugs make sure you just snug the reverse switch

Make sure nothing is leaking


Disclaimer: this is how I did it, I am not responsible for your mess up


So far it seems to shift a lot better and I will report more info as I drive more

 

[GeneralZod]

How was the oil?

They all shift better after new oil. The real question is, how long will it shift better?

Also, did you measure how much came out?

Oh yeah, how many miles?

Btw, well done.

 

[$ub$onic]

I was not to impressed with the oil. I have 20k on my sonic. I now know what I have and will more then likely change it again before I'm at 100k.

The only problem I had was a nochy 3rd gear so this was more of a because I can and with going to a slightly thinner oil it works better


Also I used about 1.5 quarts (about) and that is about how much came out.

 

[mitdr774]

I will probably try the Redline MT90 when i change mine. the 1-2 shift grid on a spirited drive irritates me.

 

[$ub$onic]

I stuck with royal purple. Keeping with the same brand as my oil

 

[Preloader]

Nice write up. What a pain it is that there is no drain plug. If you ever needed to remove the trans, you'd have to drop the pan first, unless you wanted to let it drain when you pulled the axles out, but that's usually messy.

 

[$ub$onic]

They make both a alloy (what we got) and a steel cover. I plan on getting the steel and putting a drain plug in it. I would not want to run them bolts in and out to many time with it being a alloy with no heilcoils in it

 

[Leverus]

What a pain it is that there is no drain plug.

Yeah, that makes this a little over what I feel my mechanically inept self feels comfortable doing without screwing something up. I know it's probably not hard at all, but I have my ways of making things worse.

 

[theenico]

Why did you fill it through the switch hole instead of using the fill plug on the side of the diff housing? (It's on the driver's side just aft of where the axle is inserted in the trans.)

2 qts. of oil is a little too much. I doubt that being a little "extra" full will hurt though. FYI, the F17 uses 1.6L (1.7qts.).

 

[$ub$onic]

The instructions I found said to fill trough there and I did not use all 2 quarts

 

[theenico]

Carry on then.

 

[SubSonic]

good write up, i might do this before i move and am embarked on my 1800 mile trip from Phoenix, AZ to Rockford, IL

 

[$ub$onic]

It makes a difference

 

[$ub$onic]

Bump. Anyone else do this ?

 

[attrapereves]

Bump. Anyone else do this ?

Thinking of doing this soon. It's basically as simple as dropping the pan, reattaching the pan, and filling up the fluid?

When you remove the bolts, does fluid immediately begin leaking out of the sides? I had this problem with an AT a few years ago and my arms were covered in ATF.

 

[$ub$onic]

Pretty much. The bolt are loctited so be careful.


It does not really drip till the last 2 bolts

 

[xsonicLTZx]

would you recommend putting a small drop of blue loctite on the bolts again when re installing the pan?

 

[$ub$onic]

It would not hurt. I did not and have had no issues.

I'm changing my fluid again next oil change and I'm going to look into to converting it over to a stud system. That way there is no way to strip the threads out of the trans.

 

[attrapereves]

The fill port, is it really necessary to remove that or can I just put the exact amount of fluid in?

 

[$ub$onic]

The level port just above the diff cover has a magnet on the back that needs cleaned.