Hey Guys, I am brand new to this site so forgive me if my question has been answered elsewhere. I just picked up a 1997 LT one week ago and I have been doing some maintenance on it. Does anyone know the ins and outs for doing a transmission service to this vehicle? I plan on changing the fluid and filter and I don't really want to break a bolt or forget to pick up a gasket- is there any little quirks with doing this maintenance? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

A transmission service is fairly easy on most of our trucks. The rear bolts on the pan can be interesting to remove, but shouldn't be too difficult. I know on the '98+ trucks, you do not have to remove the transmission cross member to pull the transmission pan, but on some others (I think they were pre-96 models), it was VERY difficult to pull the pan without pulling the transmission cross member.

Prepare by crawling under your truck and taking a look at the pan. The shallow pan should measure out to be 2-1/4" from rail to bottom while the deep pan should measure around 3". One thing that I suggest if you don't know for sure is to purchase both filter kits and take the wrong one back. You'll want to make sure that you have atleast 6 quarts of trans fluid, but I just buy a case (12 qts). Once you get everything back, take the gasket out of the box and lay it out flat on a clean work bench, out of the way from where you will be working. This will give the gasket a chance to flatten out while you work.

Start by removing the bolts at the front of the pan. Then loosen the 1st bolt from the front on each side of the pan, then work your way down the sides removing the rest of the side bolts. Loosen the rear corner bolts and remove the bolts in the center of the rear rail of the pan. Put your drain pan under the pan and loosen the bolts left in the front until there is approximately 1/4" to 3/8" between the pan and the bolt head. Then pry the pan loose. Be aware that the fluid will come pouring out! So be prepared! Once the fluid has stopped flowing out of the pan, you can loosen the bolts even more allowing more of the fluid to flow out. Once the front bolts are loose, but not out, you can then loosen the rear bolts more which will allow the pan to tilt further.

When you are comfortable with the amount of fluid left in the pan, lift it back up and remove the last 4 bolts. With the pan off, clean the pan and the magnet located in the bottom of the pan of any remaining fluid and debris.

Remove the filter and feel up into the seal in the bottom of the transmission. The seal should feel smooth and consistent. The new filter will come with a new seal, however it is very difficult to remove the seal from the transmission case. You can replace it if you would like, but if the seal feels nice and smooth inside, there really is no reason. Take some new transmission fluid and coat the neck of the new filter with it. Then push the new filter into place.

Reinstall the transmission pan w/ new gasket and tighten the bolts to 97inlbs.

Pour 4 qts of transmission fluid into the dipstick under hood and start the vehicle and allow it to come up to operating temperatures. With the engine running and the vehicle a flat level surface, check the fluid level and add as necessary. You should have to add atleast 1 qt.

Hope this helps!

 

That response couldn't have been any better- thanks alot Kyle- I'll be doing it this weekend!

Marty

 

Hey Guys, I finished changing my transmission fluid and filter last night. Everything went well for doing it on my back- however, I noticed when I was putting the pan back on that I must have hit what looks like some sort of sensor when I dropped the pan. I am hoping that I did not do any major damage because I really do not know what it is for. There are two of them which are box shaped at the back of the transmission and they are near the crossmember. They have two wires running to them andI would guess that they are sensors.I was hoping that someone might know what they are and if it is going to cause me any problems now that one of them is slightly loose. Thanks!

 

They are solenoids and yes, they are always slightly loose.