transmission oil

[rice]

how often does the transmission oil need to be drained and replaced? and how do i check the transmission oil level, i have the 7afe engine 5-speed and someone told me i have to look under the engine for the plug, but no dipstick? how do i check the level then?

[PPW-546]

have the car raised in a service bay and have them check the level of tranny fluid you have left. i change my tranny fluid once a year dunno if this is advisable though.

[94_Rolla_Guy]

they say every 24,000kms, i use synthetic and extend that to around 50

[rs97ap]

This might be a stupid question but do we need to change transmission oil on manual transmission cars?

[Hook]

^^^ u don't.....there's no tranny fluid in manual cars, only gear oil which is used only for lubrication

auto trannies use ATF to actually move the car and as a result, it gets hot...but the constant heating from driving and cooling down when it's parked breaks down the ATF so that's y it's recommended that u change fluid every 25,000Km

[Limnos]

Originally Posted by Hook

^^^ u don't.....there's no tranny fluid in manual cars, only gear oil which is used only for lubrication

Yeah, we have a mixture of replies here from people who have automatics and manuals and it's a bit confusing. The original post looks like he was asking about a manual (5-speed).

If you have a manual you have gear oil. On my car (and probably lots of others) you check it when the car is off the ground by undoing a plug on the gearbox and sticking your finger in the hole. The maintenance interval is in the owner's manual but this stuff can last a really long time unless you have a leak. It's one of those things that theoretically needs changing but if you don't then it may almost last the life of the car.

If you have an automatic you have transmission fluid and somebody already talked about that. This needs more frequent checking and replacement and if you don't you're asking for major trouble$. For my car it's every 20,000 miles and you check the level with a separate dipstick. If you pull out a dipstick and see red fluid then it's probably the transmission fluid (if you know it's transmission fluid and it looks like oil, you better not drive it another mile, and expect to spend over two grand at least).

[Flashmn]

You definately have to change it, it wouldnt be bad to change it every year if you wanted to. The oil is there for few reasons. Lubricate the gearbox under operation and keep the synchros alive. Synchros are made of brass usually or another soft metal and they wear down quite fast if they're dry or have bad oil in them. Not to mention the misshifting tendency.
Some of you probably have heard the famous "Just put ATF into the manual box, it makes it easier to shift" That will absolutely kill the synchros and gear box. Manual box needs oils with different characteristics, one of them is that the oil has to have a higher surface tension as the distribution of oil is quite different. In the manual box the oil just slushes around with the sprockets.