What do we think of the state of this?

[Ferret]

What do we think guys?

Doing the whole flying car impersonation and dropping off the gearbox sump,
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Ferret101/054f91f4.jpg

The valve body looks clean, no buildup.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Ferret101/bcb7b5ff.jpg

The sump looked relatively clean, one or two tiny grey particles in there:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Ferret101/4c0f54f6.jpg
Ignore the clear spots, they're where the snow landed in the pan while I was bringing it into the house to go in the dishwasher...

The magnet had about 3mm of extremely fine, powdery swarf on it, is this normal for a 150k box?
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Ferret101/cba412ae.jpg

The fluid itself looked brown but reasonably intact, doesnt smell particularly burned, just smelled like old oil!

Now... to mitigate the bollocking I'm going to get for putting that sump through the dishwasher >.<

[whiskychaser]

The ATF ideally should look red. I usually put a bit on some kitchen roll to get an idea of what the colour is really like. A small amount of very fine swarf should be ok - thats why they have the magnets in there;) Thats one hell of a filter! Watch you dont get soaked when you drop it. Dont know about a bollocking for using the dishwasher - you need one for doing that on a hill!

[BigKriss]

looks okay i guess, had the trans fluid been changed before?

[bubba966]

Looks ok to me. That small amount of shavings on the magnet is fairly normal. And yeah, brown oil isn't great, but if it's not smelling burnt then it's not gone too far yet. Certainly a good idea to drain & refill now before it's too late.

[Ferret]

I dont think the filter/oil has been done before - but I think I've just caught it on the turning point before it started to cause trouble...

Whisky - it's not on a hill, just the odd angle of camera :)

I've accidentally managed to overfill it again, but it doesnt matter that much, I've been out and driven it 10 miles slowly and carefully, I'm dropping the fluid again tomorrow to complete the service.

Doing the gearbox mounts at the same time to try and take the pendulum effect out of the car that others have reported. Once the gearbox breaks free of its mountings it tends to cause a bit of a riot making the car veer all over the place >.<

[Golgade]

Its looks exactly like my fluid I just did a week or so ago. It had never been changed at 160k. Very Brown, but not burnt. So far after 100 miles, I have no ill effects to the change, and a little better shifting........hopfully ill be able to do it again in 10k.......

[BigKriss]

when i serviced my trans at 200,000kms the fluid was black and smelt burnt, but at 260,000kms (now), its still going alright.

i put some Ireland engineering mounts that are urethane on the e34, they seem to be good also.

[Ross]

The fluid looks a little brown but I don't see clutch material in the pan and what is on the magnets is nominal.
Look on the old filter for a date code to answer your question about prior servicing.

[ryan roopnarine]

That's nothing. The fluid is a bit old, though.
Next time, try acetone, if that isn't banned for straight sale in Aus. That'll clean the bottom to your satisfaction, most likely.

[whiskychaser]

The roofline in the pic makes it look a bit wonky. At least its not up on bricks;) I didnt know you had emigrated though?

[Ferret]

The roofline in the pic makes it look a bit wonky. At least its not up on bricks;) I didnt know you had emigrated though?

Haha, yeah it was slightly lopsided when I took that photo - it's a nightmare to get it up to that height as you have to run side to side lifting it on the stands :(

[BigKriss]

acetone straight is completely legal here and awesome for cleaning crud off car parts.


That's nothing. The fluid is a bit old, though.
Next time, try acetone, if that isn't banned for straight sale in Aus. That'll clean the bottom to your satisfaction, most likely.