Changing oil in 5 speed manual transmission
- Thread starter Z71
- Start date
Palmaris
New member
There is a thread that shows all the details. The first thing you will note is that there is no drain plug.
Good luck, some of us have done it.
http://www.sonicownersforum.com/for...ion/7044-f17-1-8-five-speed-fluid-change.html
Good luck, some of us have done it.
http://www.sonicownersforum.com/for...ion/7044-f17-1-8-five-speed-fluid-change.html
Smartdave
Member
I just changed mine this evening. All in all took about 30 minutes. However I deviated a little from the instructions in the mentioned thread.
Yes you have to remove the diff cover, and those 10 bolts do have blue thread locker on them.
My sonic has 154k on the clock and I figured it was time. My shifting has been a little notchy so that was more incentive to do it.
Now since this was a last minute ‘sure I will do it, I drained and had the cover back before I had any replacement fluid
*
So anyway ... first off I loosened the 13mm plug above the drivers side axle output to make sure before I drained everything that I could make sure I could check the level when I filled it.
So the cover removed without much difficulty. Do not use an impact or an air ratchet to remove the screws. Once they are off the cover basically falls off, gasket remained on the tranny side.
Fluid drained. For the mileage is was very clean and still pink in color. Smelled a little bit it is 5 years old.
The level plug does have a magnet on it, mine had the usual metal powder on it.
I cleaned the cover and out everything back together.
Now came the fluid part. The post above mentioned removing the reverse indicator switch. However I was looking at a perfectly good open hole where I removed the level Check plug.
So off to get fluid. Now since this is ‘lifetime fill’ there is very little in detail as to what kind of fluid to use.
It’s GL-4 fluid. So that’s amzoil and redline mt90.
I went to oriles, autozone and advanced auto. No GL-4. Only 5. Or 5/4 compatible. No thanks
I needed my car the next day and it’s now about 4pm.
I find that ford makes an excellent synthetic GL-4 called
Genuine Ford Fluid XT-M5-QS Full Synthetic Manual Transmission Fluid.
I ran to my ford dealer. Bought 2 quarts at $22 a piece [emoji15].
I pumped about 1.5 quarts back in through the level Check plug.
Put the plug back in and took it for a test drive. Amazing how much better it shifts. That fluid is amazing.
So if you are doing this job, it’s not hard at all. Two sockets 13/11 mm will get the job done and plan 60 minutes unless you Hustle the. 20 minutes.
Hope this helps others.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Yes you have to remove the diff cover, and those 10 bolts do have blue thread locker on them.
My sonic has 154k on the clock and I figured it was time. My shifting has been a little notchy so that was more incentive to do it.
Now since this was a last minute ‘sure I will do it, I drained and had the cover back before I had any replacement fluid
*So anyway ... first off I loosened the 13mm plug above the drivers side axle output to make sure before I drained everything that I could make sure I could check the level when I filled it.
So the cover removed without much difficulty. Do not use an impact or an air ratchet to remove the screws. Once they are off the cover basically falls off, gasket remained on the tranny side.
Fluid drained. For the mileage is was very clean and still pink in color. Smelled a little bit it is 5 years old.
The level plug does have a magnet on it, mine had the usual metal powder on it.
I cleaned the cover and out everything back together.
Now came the fluid part. The post above mentioned removing the reverse indicator switch. However I was looking at a perfectly good open hole where I removed the level Check plug.
So off to get fluid. Now since this is ‘lifetime fill’ there is very little in detail as to what kind of fluid to use.
It’s GL-4 fluid. So that’s amzoil and redline mt90.
I went to oriles, autozone and advanced auto. No GL-4. Only 5. Or 5/4 compatible. No thanks
I needed my car the next day and it’s now about 4pm.
I find that ford makes an excellent synthetic GL-4 called
Genuine Ford Fluid XT-M5-QS Full Synthetic Manual Transmission Fluid.
I ran to my ford dealer. Bought 2 quarts at $22 a piece [emoji15].
I pumped about 1.5 quarts back in through the level Check plug.
Put the plug back in and took it for a test drive. Amazing how much better it shifts. That fluid is amazing.
So if you are doing this job, it’s not hard at all. Two sockets 13/11 mm will get the job done and plan 60 minutes unless you Hustle the. 20 minutes.
Hope this helps others.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
FitusMilbarge
New member
ReLine MT85 or MT90
Is it safe to use the Redline MT-90 over the recommended MT-85?
I went to their website and it recommends the 85 and wasn't sure if i should stick with that or if the 90 will be better or do harm.
Is it safe to use the Redline MT-90 over the recommended MT-85?
I went to their website and it recommends the 85 and wasn't sure if i should stick with that or if the 90 will be better or do harm.
YouBeTailsIllBeSonic
Member
Also what about royal purple?
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Not sure if it'll be the same here, but I remember detesting the Royal Purple Syncromax on my old Fiero when I used it for racing. Made the gears quite hard to locate. Went back and used exactly what the one fellow suggested: Ford's manual transmission fluid. Stuff makes for a very nice shift.
YouBeTailsIllBeSonic
Member
I was thinking more gearmax. Only thing I heard negative so far is it's a bit sluggish in the cold....but mine is a summer vehicle so I'm not too worried about that.
Just anything other than the OEM.....it grinds horribly when pushed. I hate it with a passion.
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