Kansas City Tdi
& CoolAirVw Repair
01M Filter change
First
of all pull the skid plate.
Then
with an allen wrench remove
the drain plug.
Then
put the allen wrench up in
the hole the drain plug came out of, and remove the stand pipe. This is to drain the pan thoroughly.
This
is what the “stand pipe” looks like after you remove it. The “stand pipe” is orange in this pic.
There
is a bracket to protect the front of the trans pan
that I didn’t get a picture of. It has
four 16mm bolts. Remove it to get
access to the front two pan bolts.
Then
use a 10 mm socket to pull out the 4 pan bolts.
Then
you’ll see the filter. Just grab it and
pull it off. Sometimes you may find it
sitting in the pan. Don’t worry, the pan
holds it in place, and it just fell out when you removed the pan.
When
you pull the filter out, usually the filter seal (orange) will stay inside the
valve body. Pry it out with a
screwdriver.
Don’t
forget to remove your old filter seal or you’ll end up with two of them in
there. This was a valve body someone
shipped to me and whoever serviced it before just shoved the new filter up in
there with the new seal and left the old one in there too.
Make
sure your new filter comes with a filter seal then seat it up in the valve
body. Clean the pan out thoroughly.
In
my hand are the “torque limiters” (spacers) that go inside the holes that the
pan bolts pass through. They limit the
amount of crush on the pan gasket. Some of
the new gaskets do not come with them so you must change them over into the new
gasket. To do this just sit the gasket
on a hard surface, sit the spacer on the hole then shove it in with the handle
end of a screwdriver. A little lube
doesn’t hurt either. If you leave these
out the pan will leak.
Here’s
a new gasket with no spacers in it.
Here’s
one in the pan gasket
Break
open the filter. They are real good at
trapping broken pieces. The pump suction
pulls stuff up in there. So if you don’t
break it open you might be missing some “evidence” of damage. This one the trans
is shot!
Also
take a good look into the pan. Use a
flashlight to look for metal or clutch material. This one has a broken chunk, but notice the fine metal in the bottom where there is no
fluid. This trans
is shot even without the chunk.
Expect the fluid to be dark. This just means it needs changed, but if its
burnt, then you may have some clutch damage inside the
trans. See failure analysis for clutch
damage pics.
Expect
the magnet to have a little fuzz on it.
This trans was Ok, it just needed a little luvin’ on the valve body.
Well
if you get the filter seal out, put a new filter in with a seal on it, put the
torque limiters into the new gasket, seat the gasket on the pan properly
(meaning even), then tighten the pan, by hand.
Understand that over tightening the pan bolts will not crush the gasket
more. All over tightening will do is rip
the threads out of the case which will then necessitate installing a heli-coil in the pan bolt hole. So tighten till the torque limiter is squeezed
then go about 1/8 turn more.
Reassemble
as you took it apart then follow the correct fill sequence.
In
the lower left you see the fill tube. Its accessed from under the car. To get to it you’ll have to have the belly
pan/skid plate off, then remove the protective bracket
at the front of the trans, then break the red cap off. You’ll need a new red cap. Then you’ll need some kind of pump to pump the
fluid up into the fill tube or a funnel with a hose on it to pipe it down to
the fill tube.
All
this is very annoying to me so I fill this trans
through the g38 hole.
To
fill through the G38 hole just remove the breather, then remove the bolt to the
sensor and pull out the G38. No need to uplug it, but don’t yank on the wires. Use a long pair of needle nose or just work
it out gently with your hands.
Then
using a long “transmission style” funnel, then pour in the fluid.
The
battery is out in this pic but it doesn’t need to be.
FILL PROCEDURE
It’s
slightly different than you might find elsewhere. OEM procedure isn’t wrong but it’s confusing
and lots of folks end up slightly low.
With
filter change you’ll need 3 liters but its best to have 4 on hand just in case. With valve body change you’ll probably need 4
liters but its best to have 5 on hand just in case. Quite a bit of the converter fluid will drain
out when the valve body is pulled. Complete fill will empty trans
and empty converter is 5.3 liters according to the “book”. A used trans will
never be empty though. I
1.
Car must be cold,
and level. I do this on the ground.
2.
After pan drop
install filter and stand pipe. Then put
check/drain plug in a few turns by hand.
3.
Pour in 3 liters
4.
Install scan
tool, turn key on and get scan tool communicating with trans
computer.
5.
Start engine
6.
Pull up data for trans temp.
7.
If trans was just replaced then put in another 3 liters. If you just serviced it then pull check plug
and immediately reinstall it. If fluid doesn’t
come out add another 1/2 liter. The pump
will be filling the converter with fluid from the pan and you don’t want the
pan to run dry. I use a small shallow
pan to keep fluid from running on the floor.
8.
When data shows
35 degrees Celsius then pull check plug. Allow fluid to drain out till it is not a
steady stream anymore. Meaning when if
starts “glugging” instead of running out in a steady
stream, then reinstall the plug and tighten it.
#8
is where I think folks go wrong. They
leave the check plug out till fluid stops running out and this makes the trans slightly low.
What you need to understand is that there are fluid pressure exhausts on
the valve body and spinning components in the main body of the trans. Both of these
will throw fluid into the pan making waves and splashes. So the fluid will continue to drip out even
when fluid is low, below the stand pipe.
The waves and splashes make fluid keep coming out. Don’t do
this. Watch for the first “glug” then plug it.
If
you used my method of top filling through the G38 it’s likely you triggered a
MAF code, so clear it and reassemble the top and your done.
Be
sure to see our 01m FAQ