*HOW TO: Change Manual Transmission Fluid* (Video)

boardkat said:

yep, 2.7qt was my understanding too. in contrast to the transmission, there is little tolerance for overfill in the diff - made that mistake once and ended up with unexpected reduced grip on the RR at an event. became pretty obvious why when i saw fluid coating the wheel well!

i change and test all my fluids frequently. surprisingly, transmission rarely shows any breakdown/contamination. the same can't be said for my engine, diff and brakes!

Click to expand...

Cool, Thanks for the feedback! :cheers:

[MENTION=7150]boardkat[/MENTION] Whats your take on Friction Modifier on the Torsen? This seems to be an grey area to most on the forum.

One guy here says no to its use on Torsen. My Red Line Oil Rep says no as well. Thoughts?

Also If I delete the 4 oz needed(theres no notes on it in the manual) I would need to replace that with fluid correct?

Thanks!

2morrow said:

[MENTION=7150]boardkat[/MENTION] Whats your take on Friction Modifier on the Torsen? This seems to be an grey area to most on the forum.

One guy here says no to its use on Torsen. My Red Line Oil Rep says no as well. Thoughts?

Also If I delete the 4 oz needed(theres no notes on it in the manual) I would need to replace that with fluid correct?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

haven't used a torsen on this car since halfway through the 2015 season (and only because i was waiting for my diff to get prototyped in japan) - i run a metric shit-ton of clutches in my os giken with the thickest fluid (80w250) you'll ever see. beats the shit out of the T2R, especially once you start introducing a lot of power on uneven surfaces. you can also modify lockup characteristics, which comes in particularly handy for corner entry/exit (off/on throttle) based on desired behavior.

when i have in the past though, i didn't bother with friction modifier - it's only really for NVH purposes in my opinion (i.e., noise/chatter reduction at low speeds).

edit: and yes, the friction modifier deletion requires additional diff fluid. but if you add too much, it'll self-resolve through the vent ;)

2morrow said:

[MENTION=7150]boardkat[/MENTION] Whats your take on Friction Modifier on the Torsen? This seems to be an grey area to most on the forum.

One guy here says no to its use on Torsen. My Red Line Oil Rep says no as well. Thoughts?

Also If I delete the 4 oz needed(theres no notes on it in the manual) I would need to replace that with fluid correct?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Ford says friction modifier.

Long story short based on info gathered over the decades. Some synthetic gear oils such as normal Redline include friction modifier. Others such as Redline NS (no slip) do not. Therefore for "normal use" you need to determine whether the gear oil you intend to use includes friction modifier. My "guess" is that Ford's does not since they say to use fm in all the diffs.

FYI for anyone who has never smelled Ford Friction modifier it STINKS. I have a bottle left over from at least 10 years ago that I keep in a metal "paint" can and the smell still gets out.

Note that Redline NS was, and may still be, a useful way to get less "slip" from a Traction-Lok diff if used with no friction modifier. It needed to be well warmed to make a difference.

I changed mine last years and it's greAt but I do feel it regressing, how often should I change it? Likely has 8k more miles since last change

On a non-tracked car, every 30K. It's not regressing...

Can this be done with just the front tires on ramps? Or does it need to be level.

I just did this on my PP GT. I have a decent amount of fluid left in my 2.8L synco mesh container. Little concerned about that.

I should have taken the car out to warm it up. I did the change with the trans cold.

I also started with only the front on race ramps... realized I should level it out. So I put the rear on jack stands pretty level with the front. Was able to pump a little more fluid in but not much. It kept oozing out the full hole.

Not sure if there was leftover fluid that hadn’t drained or what. I wanna say 8oz remaining.

So the car needs to be warm before changing it? I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on this and just want to make sure I've got everything right.

sub'd for future reference. Thanks!

cheapest place for some bg II?