How to check transmission fluid?

mob said:

I guess this is a a dumb question but you can realy just pour the fluid through the top of the shifter opening? Anyone know what kind of fluid the t5 takes. Do you have to lower the tranny to get to the bolts?

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The owners manual calls for Mercon. Yes you can fill it through the shifter opening but it takes forever and a day. IIRC its just a 3/8" square plug that you can fit a ratchet on for the fill and drain bolts; and I don't think you have to lower the trans any to get to them.

I actually pull the whole shifter out of the trans. Pull the trim ring and boot, then pull the rubber "weather sealing boot", for lack of the proper term. Then unbolt the shifter and pull it out of the trans and fill the trans. T-5 takes 2.8 quarts so get 3 and call it a day.

RYC CUKR said:

I actually pull the whole shifter out of the trans. Pull the trim ring and boot, then pull the rubber "weather sealing boot", for lack of the proper term. Then unbolt the shifter and pull it out of the trans and fill the trans. T-5 takes 2.8 quarts so get 3 and call it a day.

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x2
by far the easiest way to go about it!

Ya its a pain to fill it through the actual fill hole. I had to use a little squirt bottle because its all I had at the time and it only did like 1/6 of a quart at a time.. took forever and cramped my hand like no other doing all those little squirts

+1 on the above. totally remove the shifter and fill through there. If it takes 15 minutes for a small amount to go in, something isnt right. Whatever you do, DO NOT dump gear lube in there, shifting will grind and generally suck after that. I bought a car with a T5 full of 90W once, I thought the trans was bad till I drained the fluid and was like WTF?? I changed the fluid 3 times and it shifted better, though never perfect by any stretch.

There's two ways I fill it depending on which car I'm working on. In my 90 GT, I simply take out the fill plug, take off the shifter, and pour in a quart at a time through the shifter opening, and stop occasionally during that third quart to keep an eye on the fill hole. When I'm done I just put the shifter back on, and insert the fill plug into it's proper place.


On my 68 coupe (with a T5 swap), the hole in the trans tunnel is not big enough for me to pull the shifter (yes, if I want to change the shifter or pull it, I have to pull the trans). In this case I use a siphon pump that you can get from Autozone for like 12$. I put one hose into the trans fluid, and the other hose into the trans where the fill plug is. Then all I have to do is pump the fluid in (it has a hand pump). I actually almost prefer this method, and sometimes use it on my 90. There's less potential for a mess.