Transmission Servicing - Filter and Fluid Chgs

[glend]

Did the transmission fluid and filter service today. This is a 545RFE tranny as in the KJ CRD.


Parts:

K05179267AC FILTER,TRANS.OIL
K05013470AC FILTER,AUTO,-WJ/KJ/WG
K04799681 VALVE,OIL FLOW(DG4)-KJ/WJ
K05103531EA FLUID TRANS x 2

which in laymans terms are: the large flat filter, spin on return cooler line filter, oil pump filter seal, anti-drainback valve, and 8lts of ATF+4.

Drained the tranny pan as described in the Service Manual (front end down):



Pan off exposing the innards. Left this to drain for 1 hour.



The yellow circle below indicates the filter lock screw (this is a Torx screw - standard T25).



This is the old filter after removal:



Pan needs to be cleaned up (old RTV scraped off and wired brushed and wiped clean for new seal), I flushed the pan with turps as well. The magnet in the bottom needs to be removed to clean off the gunk attached to it:



These yellow arrows point to the anit-drain back valve, the spin on cooler return filter and the oil pump filter seal.



The oil pump filter seal is held in a metal surround that is hammered into the oil pump bore, and this is not easy to remove. If your pump seal is in good condition it does not need to be changed. I changed mine because I had a new seal. The new seal is seated by hitting it lightly with a drift (or the handle end of a big screw driver) to evenly apply pressure to the metal surround and bed it into the bore.



New filters and anti-drainback valve in place.



Cleaned up pan with new RTV (good to 260C) ready for install. I installed a second temperature sensor into the pan (already have one in the cooler return line). I am running the pan sensor through a switch (along with the cooler line temp sensor) so I can switch my gauge back and forth to check either temp. The temp sender is from Prosport gauges and is a 1/8NPT which screws into the standard B&M drain mount (and can be removed to drain the fluid without all that mess of dropping the pan end).



This shot shows the magnet location, and interior of the sensor mount.



Pan reinstalled:



I measured the drained fluid and it amounted to just more than 6.5 litres (6 Quarts is the rumoured filter service amount - in US quantity of course). I refilled the tranny with fluid using a small plastic transfer pump that screws nicely into the top of the ATF+4 containers (they sell these at Repco for about $20 and they are worth the investment).

That's all there is to it.

[North Coast Wrangler]

good to see it all went well mate, did you notice any difference in changes after the service? I found my box to be a lot smoother since it's change last week

[glend]

Yes, I was not expecting to notice anything at all, after all what can a filter and a partial fluid change do - but I did notice that the tranny seemed much smoother, shifted better and seemed to pickup off the line better. For the life of me I can't imagine why other than perhaps the pressure is better due to a nice clean filter assembly allowing fluid to flow more freely.

[Arrow]

New fluid and filters will make a differance as there is higher line pressure and the new fluid is more stable without contaminents.

As a note when servicing these transmissions or any for that matter if you notice large amounts of metal and bearing material in the pan you are better off just replacing the drained fluid and having it repaired as new filters and higher pressure may reduce the life of the trans. The 45RFE is not a cheap trans to rebuild and patch ups usualy do not last long. By just replacing the fluid in a suspect trans it will at least give you the time to save up for a possible $6000 bill.

[SAKJ]

Just a heads up for anyone trying this in the future, that lip seal is easy to remove if you place the end of a large flat blade screwdriver just on the inside seal rubber to metal surround interface (best way I can describe it!) and use the anti drain back valve as a lever point.
Seal pops out with no effort. Old fitting trick I learned many years ago.

[JEEPaul]

Good write up. Thanks.
I have an early 3.7 KJ with the 45RFE - I believe the service parts are the same as the 545RFE.
So did you simply drill a hole in the trans pan to fit the temp sensor?

I also wondered if it would be a simple task for a machine shop to fit a drain plug to the pan. Strange it doesn't have one. Might be more inclinded to change the fluid a little more often then..

[glend]

Yes I drilled a 1/2" hole for the drain fitting. You'll need to use a proper drain fitting to make sure it seals ok. I also sealed it up with RTV all around just in case. Rocket Industries have the B&M ones:

http://www.rocketindustries.com.au/d...partno=BM80250

I used that one because the plug is a 1/8NPT thread and that matches with the temp sensor thread from Prosport.

I drilled it into the side to keep it out of the way, and I needed to route the sensor wires up that side.