Please Help With Auto Transmission Change

[shifty1979]

I have a 1993 E34 2ltr 5 series tourer. The auto box seemed to be a bit stiff in 2,3,4 gears so in my infinite and un-mechanicly minded wisdom, I decided to crack on and replace the transmission fluid.

I had no problem finding the sump plug for draining it, which uses a small allan key. I have drained all the fluid from the system. I have studied the diagrams under the Maintenance, Transmission, Life Time Fluid section on this website and believe I am looking at 5HP 18 setup. I understand I have to remove all the bolts and clean the inside with break cleaner and replace the filter, but I'm confused at to how I get the new clean transmission fluid in? I presume it goes in the area marked (2) which appears to be the filler plug, but how do I get this open and how do you fill it up from underneath? I'm baffled and have no idea.

Can someone talk me through it idiot style please.

Regards




Shifty

[calmloki]

Transmission fluid pump. Ahhh! Like a pump for handsoap or some such - buy it at your local cheesy auto parts store. Fill pan before reinstalling, pull plug on side of trans above the pan, pump till full. I used this resource of knowledge:
http://tinyurl.com/ktjq2

[Tiger]

The hole in the middle of the tranny has another allen wrench... which is recessed to a higher point. My 5HP30 used 17mm allen key to remove.

As for filling it... what I did is take a 1/2" clear tube... drill 1/2" hole in the bottle cap... stick the hose all the way down into the bottle (snug fit)... and stick the other hose into the tranny to the side. Squeeze the bottle and the fluiid will go up. You won't be able to squeeze all the fluid in so keep pouring the remainder into another bottle. You only need about 16" of hose at the most.

To fill it up properly, you need to have car level... fill as much as you can... cap the fill hole... start up the car for 20 seconds and shut off... fill more fluid...repeat again until you can't fill anymore. The right way is car on the lift... engine running... fill the tranny until it starts to come back out... tranny must be warm but not hot.... then plug it .

[shifty1979]

I've got a pump which I think will work. I know the hole in the tranny which you are describing. I did'nt realise i needed a large allen key to open. So, after opening the other large, I insert the hose into this opening and begin to pump in the fluid? When it's full the excess will fall back through the hole where the tube is inserted? Is that right?

Shifty

[calmloki]

Do yourself a favor and read through this link: there are quite specific fill directions, and the pictures are good too! That's your trany pictured.
http://tinyurl.com/ktjq2

[shifty1979]

Thats not my tranny. I do not have a side fill hole. I have what "Tiger" is describing.

[calmloki]

Not a USA car? I know OZ and NZ got the 5-speeds rather than the 4 speed GM trannys we got - so sorry if I gave you bad info.

[shifty1979]

No, apologies it is UK spec.

[Tiger]

Exactly... excess will fall back out. Then again... read everything carefully... the tranny will not be full unless the engine is running and you keep filling until it washes back out... This is dangerous for all DIY people due to hot cat converter and using many jacks to bring car level.

[shifty1979]

Just for info, I ended up having to jack the car up no less than 9-10 times on a two week camping holiday in France to perform this job.

Each time I had to loosen the 17mm bolt on the underside of the transmission drain pan, insert a long piece of rubber tube and pump in transmission fluid using a hand held oil can, until transmission fluid started to run back out of the hole indicating it was full, replace bolt, remove jack. I repeated this every 250-300 miles and every couple of days if the vehicle had been stood.

The annoying thing was, having topped the transmission fluid the first time, up I took the car to my local BMW garage in the UK prior to going on holiday, as I wanted the problem sorting. I told them it had been lost approx 1 litre of transmission fluid, but they said they could not find no evidence of any leak! To be on the safe side, I took 4 litres of transmission fluid, my oil gun and tubing on holiday with me – Good thing I did!

In the end I identified the leak myself coming from the transmission cooler unit. It was dripping onto the inside of the front bumper and running off away from the unit and dripping in a totally different are of the car. When the car was running, the radiator fan was blowing the oil onto the road / underside of the car.

When I got back to the UK I presented BMW with receipts for 8 litres of transmission fuel which I had replaced over the last 3000 miles. To my surprise they actually paid up for the transmission fluid, and apologised for their cock up.

BMW in France wanted to rip me off to the tune of £850 to fit a new cooler unit and labour costs. I took it to my local non-BMW dealer and it cost £250 including labour to get the job done.

Anyway, three years or so after the event, I thought I'd update you all! :)