Yeah, I know it's not for everybody, but after several PITA drain and refills, I decided the next one will be much easier.

I'll be cutting an opening in the floor that's large enough to get my 90* needlenose pliers through to R&R the plug and insert a 1/2" hose with funnel. (or maybe just a long necked funnel) Of course, I'll make a patch to cover the hole when I'm done.

Here's a couple pics of the location where the scribe sticking up is directly above the fill plug.

 

Seems like the hard way around if you have a trans cooler.

Hence with a trans cooler, you need the car up off the ground so you can start to fill the trans, then let the trans free wheel to push fluid into the cooler and back, then finish topping the trans off with fluid.

With the filler in the car, then you are up/down to get it topped off, and still not a fan of venting any fluid volumes into cabin, much less taking a chance of spilling fluid into the cabin to funk up the cabin as well.

P.S, what are you using the car for that you are having to change the fluids that much, and why??? If the fluid is getting burnt, then it's time for a better trans cooler instead.

 

Takes me 10 minutes if I am not in a hurray. Plugs accessible from the rt side bottom. Reach up, release the plug, wiggle, remove. As for adding. Go down to the local parts store and buy a pump that screws onto a bottle of trans fluid. Screw pump onto bottle of fluid. Put hose into hole in trans and pump. No reason to cut up your car for this!!

Gary

 

A pic of that pump would be Nice.

 

 

Swapping TC's 3 times and a bit shorter maintenance schedule due to racing and higher than stock stall speeds is why it's been changed 5 times in 126K miles. With the TC swaps, I drain the entire system and add nearly 14 quarts that include both the internal radiator cooler and the external cooler. The other changes are dropping the pan and then it only takes about 6 quarts.

Got the pump a loooong time ago and it's sort of a pain pumping 6 quarts at about 1/2 ounce per pump after a normal change by dropping the pan. But 14 quarts is a major killer, especially when part way through you have to get out and start the car to circulate fluid to fill the pump and get more space for the rest of the fluid. It ain't so easy anymore when you're in your 70's.

Cutting up the car a bit already happened a few years ago when I installed a rollbar. The last two times I needed to deal with fluid (14 and 6 quarts), I've used a longer hose through the rollbar hole, but I still had the hassle of R&Ring the plug and feeding in the hose. Pouring fluid from above is sooooo much easier than laying on the floor and pumping it. It's nowhere near as messy either.

After I cut the hole, I'll never have to get under to fill again.
I'm planning on removing the external cooler and the connections to the radiator cooler this Fall. I'll be adding dual external coolers and a 180* inline T-stat in it's place. Of course, I'll need to replace lost fluid, so that's when the hole gets opened up.

Maybe I'll video the hole cutting and new access method.

 

I may have said this t oyou before but ...
70! You're my damn HERO! I want to be you in about 30 years
70 ... and still turn your own wrenches

 

Thanks for the kudos.
I think what worked for me is keeping weight in check, keeping active, and especially keeping a "can do" attitude. Geezers rule.

I've really slowed down though. I'll be 74 in two weeks and the desert heat is bothering me more this year than ever before. It's why I'm waiting a couple months before I swap out the trans coolers.

In my 20's, I once pulled a manual trans, replaced a syncro ring, put the trans back in, and back to the staging lanes at the drags in 30 minutes. Now the same deal would take 3 days.

 

...............still wrenching here at 53 and hope to be around a few more years. Unfortunately, nature is not going to allow that for me................

 

Great outlook!

 

FYI Lokar makes a few differnt dipsticks for the A6. I believe its designed to go where the small plug is at the top of the case. I havent tried this mod yet but it seems like a nice way to check and fill the fluid

 

For adding fluids under the car, I made up an oil bottle cap with two tubes so that I could use compressed air to pump the fluid up and in. Takes 20 seconds to pump a quart and gives pretty good control also. One tube goes to the bottom of the bottle and the other stays near the top, both sealed to the cap with some silicone...works great.

 

Best pump you can buy!

http://www.hrpworld.com/store/defaul...d-defense.html

 

It might be fine for a Camaro, but not for a Vette. The "dipstick" portion is useless, since that's not how to check fluid levels, so $100 is awfully pricey for a long fill tube extension.

 

Another way is what i did... I bought a garden sprayer(pump up style) and cut the spray tip off so it was higher volume an walah.... Pump it up before and just hold the trigger... Worth the 20 bucks!!!!

 

hey Norm, good to see you again.

 

I've been around here a little bit here and there. This new project is running now but it sure does not like transmissions

 

There is a hole on the top of the transmission with a solid plug - this is supposed to fit into that. The way youd check fluid is by doing the first fill the normal way (getting the fluid to temp and checkingthat its not overdone), then checking where the fluid line is on the dipstick so youd have a reference point.

Next go around you can just use that instead of ever having to get under the car to do the drip test.

 

Tom's a hellova nice guy too.

He doesn't often speak of how he got 126k miles on his Vette...but THAT's what I want to do when I retire!!! Think Route 66....

 

This is a great idea, also, for priming any engine without a distributor.