oh crap.......now you tell me. i just placed my order. I have to see if I can cancel it quick.

 

Think about it. All you need is a pump to push the oil into tranny from beneath. Assuming you have a bit of room under the car this should be easier than fighting it from above.

One of the MINI techs showed me a fitting that he had made for the same purpose as that made the job so simple. Since there is a stand pipe, any excess will run out and you're done.

 

I think folks are concerned about overfilling. Just letting it drain out is not so simple, because it has to be at temperature as there is definitely a volume change in the fluid based on temps. Mine was overfilled at the factory by 1/2 quart. Releasing the overage has resulted in improved performance as well. I am working on getting a 2nd and 3rd drain fill done soon, and hopefully will be at awesome performance again.

 

For me, accessing the top fill plug was fairly simple, allot easier than getting under the car and trying to pump fluid in.
I drained 4 qts. out the first time so I just filled 4 qts. back in.

 

I tend to agree, pushing the fluid back up in the pan should be easier and without issues if done right. One thing to ensure you have the right amount of fluid is to do the change when the ATF is stone cold, measure what you got out and put the same in. Slightly overfilling isn't going to kill the transmission as long as we are talking about something in the range of at most half a quart.

 

so has anyone found out what the thread size is for the top fill plug?

 

Had it out and took it to Home Depot and Lowes. Could not find a match. It's an M14, but don't know the thread on it. The silver filter from Advance Auto Parts mentioned above works great with no spillage as long as you push it in tight. It's only $3.49. As a side note, Just completed the 3rd drain/fill, and I am about 75% better. My Mini is once again driveable. Going to go with 5 exchanges to get about 93% new ATF in there. 3 exchanges still leaves over 20% old fluid. I tapped out the local stores Mobil 1 that was JWS3309 compatible. For the second exchange I used Valvoline Maxlife (their website says it is JWS3309 compatible and can be mixed with synthetic or other JWS3309 compatible fluids) and for the 3rd I used Royal Purple and topped off with Lubegard Red. I'm planning to use Royal Purple for the 4th and 5th changes. I know some of you don't like additives, but the Lubegard seemed to help (and worked for others on this string). Maybe it was the Royal Purple, and maybe it was just further removing the old fluid, but whatever it is I'm noticing improvement. My Mini was downright undriveable until this. Thanks to Fishbone for the great walkthrough. Last note: DO NOT START THE MINI with the top plug out. Trust me...

 

I've had good luck with Red Line. I'm due for another change so I'll bring the plug my machine shop and see if they can match up the threads.

 

Fortunately, we have options: Valvoline Maxlife, old Mobil 1 (virtually impossible to find), Toyota Type IV, Castrol (has a T-IV compatible ATF, but not sure if it crosses over to cover JWS3309), Amsoil, Red Line and Royal Purple. The nice thing about Royal Purple is it is easy to find if you have an Advance Auto or O'Reilly's in town, because it is one of their standard stock. It is also fully synthetic, and really good so far.

 

3 drain/fills = about 66% new fluid, in case anyone wants a more specific number, assuming you get 2.5qt each time out.

 

Ok so what would 2 fills @ 4 quarts each give me?

 

The system total has about 6 quarts, give or take. I'm too lazy to do the math but I am thinking you're around 80%? I added a little bit of info in my previous post.
Here is my math on 3 drains.
So on first change, 3.5q original, 2.5q new (41.66% new)
On second change, 2.5q fluid is drained, out of which 41.66 is old and 41.66 is new, remember the fluid has mixed. So out of the 2.5 fresh quarts we initially put in, 1.041585 are actually fresh.
Third change, you add 2.5q of fresh fluid, so you have a total of 3.9585 of new fluid total in the system.
The final concentration is 3,9585*100/6 = 65,97% new, 34.03% old.
In my case, I started the car up with no fill plug attached, the car puked a quarts of fluid before I shut it off so really I put in 6 quarts fresh fluid :D I still don't have 100% fresh fluid but I should be darn close.

 

5 Drain Fills. After 4th, 99% better, after 5th started slipping a bit/slammy again but overall 95% better than when I started. I think I added about 250mL too much (overfill) as I compensated for estimated losses (noticed a small drip after the 4th drain/fill). I'll check the level one of these days, but my Mini really has new life again. Royal Purple is great and easy to find, I highly recommend it although it's pricey. As for the crush washer, I got one from the mini dealer for under $2. I got a new drain plug too ($9), because it stripped from so much taking off/putting on. Thanks gents!

 

Jimmy, You should stick to one brand when doing sequential changes. They are all T-IV/JWS3309 compatible, but from different manufacturers with different compositions,/chemistries not all of which may be compatible or synergestic from an additive or chemistry point of view. However your final changes with Royal Purple probably minimized the quantities of Mobil 1 and Valvoline. Good to hear that it revived your transmission. How many miles were on it?

Finally, T-IV is JWS3309. It is all made by Exxon/Mobil and rebottled for the various manufacturers that use Aisin transmissions, such as MINI, VW, Ford, Mazda, Volvo and Toyota (which owns Aisin). JWS3309 is basically Dexron III with more long life additives. That is why so many mulit-vehicle synthetics work as a substitute.

 

Clutchless,
Completely agree, I planned to just do Mobil 1, but after draining the 2nd time, I ran out to the Advanced Auto to get more and realized I had bought the last of the compatible Mobil 1 ATF. I checked no less than 10 auto parts stores in town, and there was none left (the new Mobil 1 ATF is no longer JWS3309 compatible). In a panic, I went with Valvoline Maxlife that day as I needed the Mini for work. I used Royal Purple for the last few drain/fills. If I had to do it all over again, I would just use Royal Purple for all the swaps. Anyhow, I had 93K when I started and now have 99K. I believe I'll swap out 3 times every 30K from here on out.

 

I know, I bought out the local entire stock of the old Mobil 1 and have a stash of 12 quarts. I also have about 5 quarts of T-IV but am reluctant to use it since synthetic is superior and changing the ATF such a PITA.

 

Give the transmission some time to re-adapt to the new fluid characteristics. Mine was smooth as butter at first, almost too smooth, then it firmed up.

 

Found another suitable synthetic ATF. Made by Liqui-Moly in Germany (AKA Lubro-Moly). Found a seller at Amazon for $11.95 a litre bottle.
LIQUI MOLY introduces Top Tec ATF 1200 and ATF 1600 in the U.S.

The German oil specialist LIQUI MOLY has introduced two premium transmission oils in the United States: Top Tec ATF 1200 and Top Tec ATF 1600. The latter is a Mercedes oil, the former a real all-rounder.

The all-rounder Top Tec ATF 1200 is based on synthetic HC-based oils in combination with the latest high-performance additives. This ensures optimum stability with respect to aging, excellent protection against wear and good friction properties. Top Tec ATF 1200 conforms to the requirements of many unit and vehicle manufacturers and guarantees perfect operation of the units even under extreme operating conditions and temperature fluctuations.

LIQUI MOLY Top Tec 1200 is suited for a multitude of car models. It is officially approved by General Motors (Dexron IIIH, also suited for Dexron VI), Ford (Mercon V), Toyota (Type T-II / T-IV), Allison (C4, TES 295), Nissan (Matic Fluid, D, J, K), Kia, Mitsubishi and Hyundai (all SP II / SP III), Mazda (ATF M III / ATF M V) and Honda (ATF Z1 (without CVT´s)). Furthermore, it is also suited for JWS 3309 (Aisin Warner), Chrysler (ATF +3, +4), Mercedes (MB 236.1, 236.2, 236.5, 236.6, 236.7, 236.9, 236.10, 236.11), BMW (LT 71141, LA 2634, 7045 E, 8072-B), Volkswagen (VW G 052 162, VW G 055 025), Volvo (97340 / 97341) and Subaru (ATF). It is also suited for a number of commercial vehicles: Daimler (NAG-1), MAN (339 type Z1, Z2 and 339 type V1, V2), ZF (TE-ML 02F, 03D, 04D, 05L, 09, 11A, 11B, 14A, 14B, 16L, 17C), and Voith H 55 6336.xx).

“This wide range of applications makes our ATF 1200 a valuable item for retailers and garages,” said Gary Boyd, Sales Manager at LIQUI MOLY. “You don't need to keep dozens of different transmission oil types in stock. With just one you are able to cover a significant portion of all vehicles on the road.”

 

Did my first drain and fill today. got almost 2 1/2qts out. Hardest part was getting the fill plug back in, not much room for fingers. At 77000 miles, I'm thinking I should have done this sooner. Next week round two.
And thanks to all who contributed to this thread!!

 

My trick for getting the fill plug out and back in is to put t piece of masking tape over the end of the Torx bit and jam it into the fill plug. It creates just enough friction to hold the plug onto the torx bit whil you lower it down onto the fill hole.

 

Having just performed a filter and fluid transmission service on the Aisin 6 speed, I thought I would add my two cents to this thread. Thanks to all for the info.

Here are my notes on the job.

Lay out a painting tarp under the car. This will catch any drops of fluid. You WILL get messy doing this.

1. The key to the whole job is temperature.
2. get an infrared pyrometer and let the car idle until you get the fluid to 95-113 deg.
3. remove inspection plug and overflow tube, let tranny drain.
4. You'll have to lower the front subframe to access the bolts that hold the pan on.
5. Remove pan and clean the inside as well as the magnets on the pan.
6. Replace filter. Removing the old filter will probably drain more fluid.
7. put pan back on with new gasket and bolt subframe back up.
8. Refit overflow tube back into pan.
9. Heat up the new fluid in the bathtub til it's at 95-113 deg.
10. Remove T55 plug on top of transmission.
11. Attach fill hose in the top of tranny. I used a small hard plastic coupling trimmed down to fit in the hole. I wrapped the coupling in electrical tape to seal it in the hole. I then used some clear plastic tubing to a funnel.
12. Fill transmission with correct fluid. This will take time. Use the pyrometer to check temp of fluid. submerge in bathtub again if needed.
13. Wait for fluid to pour out of the overflow.
14. Now, make sure you put the T55 plug back in the top of the tranny. You'll need to run the transmission through the gears to circulate the fluid. if you DONT put the plug back, you will have a GEYSER of transmission fluid shooting out.
15. Run through each gear for 5 seconds. Shut car off and remove T55 plug.
16. Fill with fluid (again) check temp (again)..
17. Wait for fluid to pour out of overflow. When it stops, re-fit the inspection plug and T55 plug.

The car I'm working on ran terribly before. Jerky and slipping. Now it runs great.

 

I SO wish I knew all this several t=years ago. My '05 S conv. has 144k on it now. For the last 50k or so it would slam into 4th when downshifting manually or in D. Also occasionally the revs would build high as if the car was in neutral and then slam into 4th when upshifting. This was much more likely to happen in D when upshifting into 4th but not so much in manual mode. Oddly it never happened if I changed up to 4th manually above 3,000 rpm.

Two Mini dealers here in GA told me the fix was simple...just a gazillion dollars for them to put in a new transmisison! I always wondered if the fluid could be a culprit in this but of they also both told me "No way!" because the fluid is "lifetime".

I drained out 2.5qts yesterday and replaced it with Royal Purple which was the only fluid that met specs I could find. At $14 a qt believe me I checked!

Here's my problem and question: I took out the bottom plug and standpipe and emptied out what I could. I then put them both back in and began filling (Damn, I think I just figured out the answer as I was typing)...ARRHGH!!!

Well, anyway, what I found was that when I tried to use a funnel (bought 5 different ones) and put about 3 oz in the funnel the fluid just sat there and barely drained in. I mean I stood there for 15 minutes and I don't think it moved. I poured in 5 more oz into the funnel and marked it with felt pen. An hour later the level in the funnel had gone down about 4mm!!! That's it!

I sucked it all out of the funnel and then for the next THREE HOURS I used a 1oz syringe and a 14 gauge needle to suck up fluid and slowly inject it into the top hole. THREE HOURS!

My question was what am I doing wrong?! Now as I type this I wonder if the answer is that as a sealed system the fluid couldn't go in from the funnel because the air it was displacing inside the tranny couldn't come out.

My thought is to measure how much I get out with the bottom bolt removed but the standpipe still installed (amount "A"). Then measure what I get out when the standpipe is removed(amount "B"). Then I could refill amount "B" with the standpipe reinstalled and only have to do the needle nightmare with amount "A". That should cut my putting the fluid back in by a heck of a lot.

Am I missing something here with the reinstall of the fluid? I just can't imagine spending another 3 hours putting 2.5 qts back in!!!!

Sorry if I ran on a bit. just wanted to explain what I was experiencing.

Ron B.

 

Air pressure is not the issue as the tranny has a pressure relief air port. It is the tiny hole. The VW version has a fill port, they actually believe in preventive maintenance unlike BMW/MINI. You could get the VW tool for inserting fluid in thru the drain hole. ASM-ATF105VW Filler Adapter M10 X 1.0 1 $18.83
Shipping: UPS Ground: $9.30
Sales Tax: $0.00

Total: $28.13

I bought one and plan to try it on my next fluid change in 1000 miles. You measure the amount of fluid drained before and also after removing the overflow tube. Then you can screw the VW adaptor to the drain plug and using a basic fluid (oil/differential lube) pump, pump that amount in that drained after removing the overflow tube. Then you only have to insert from the top the additonal amount that drained before you removed the overflow tube. At least that is my theory and I hope it works. I recall it took about 1/2 an hour to drain a quart in thru the very old funnel I had which was a long tube with a small reservoir at the top. None of the new funnels I bought worked as well.

 

anyone use valvloine maxlife longterm in this transmission yet? i have about 15 quarts that i got from advanced auto parts cheap and wanted to try it in my mini.

 

Check the back of the bottle, the label will list the fluids it is recommended to replace. If it is recommended for Toyota T-IV or JWS 3309 fluid, then it will work. Otherwise, I would not use it.