Originally Posted by mbeach
probably to keep dirt or stuff out of the tranny....?? tats wat i always thought
________
Web Shows
Super VXer
probably to keep dirt or stuff out of the tranny....?? tats wat i always thought
________
Web Shows
Last edited by MZ-N10 : 09/05/2011 at 05:09 PM
Super VXer
If that were the case, all automatic cars would not have dipsticks.
Heck, my WRX had a dipstick on a manual transmission -and that car was built for rally.
I'm sure that there's some bureaucratic reasoning at work here, no engineer worth his calculator would design a transmission that was impossible for the user to check the condition of.
Super VXer
...Or maybe it's because of where the tranny came from...
Isuzu uses the 4L30E type transmission built by GM of France
I guess they figured "If you have one...you are one"
John
VXer in the Sky
I think it is the French trying to stick it to us again....
Super VXer
LOL...
Fransmission
Seriously, do we share a pan configuration with another 4L30E car/truck. I'm all for swapping it out when I do my next service.
Super VXer
Check a bmw z3, same tranny in there.
Super VXer
Don't get your hopes up: the dipstick doesn't mount to the pan. The dipstick mounts through a hole in the top of the cast section of transmission that the pan mounts to.
http://tad.grosvenor.org/gallery/94TrooperMods/CIMG1427
Looking at that photo you'll see the output for the transmission cooler at the front of the middle section of the transmission. If you look at the 1994 transmission behind it, you'll see an oil black hole there. That's where the dipstick connects to the transmission body. The newer (1999) transmission doesn't even have a non-drilled depression there. So the best that you could do is to remove the transmission, drill the case and hope that it seals. There also might be a difference in the valve body inside the pan there as well, I don't remember that part.
Be sure to keep the later non-dipstick pan too. The earlier pans didn't have a drain, so changing the fluid was very messy. I ended up sucking the fluid out with a topsider instead of trying to lower a pan full of fluid.
-Tad
Super VXer
Actually, I was told by a couple mechanics and oil change places that the 4L30E is supposed a sealed transmission. Read non-serviceable. Which is why most won't touch it. My argument always is, if was non-serviceable, why does the manual list service intervals?
Go figure.
RichD
------------------------------------------------
...because vinyl just sounds better!
Super VXer
I think it is the French trying to stick it to us again....
...Or NOT (dip) sticking it to us.
Besides the Beemer cover(which would probably set you back a year's salary) are there any other options?????
Getting real close to doing the trans service and would love to swap the cover for one with a dipstick.
John
Super VXer
I should've known this, but the Bimmer version of the 4L30E is sealed as well. Google it and read the list of compaints on the same subject.
Tad made a good point about the pre-96 transmission, and the fact that it's dipstick tube does not enter at the pan.
I suppose that I could weld a tube into the pan, bend it appropriately and bolt it up. This wouldn't be so much for checking the fluid level (my driveway helps me do this -no spots = good level), but for checking fluid condition easily. But then again, I don't rough up the vehicle(s) too often, and after I do, I always crawl underneath and look for damage. I can just check the fluid through the fill holes when I'm down there.
Also, there have been problems with tranny fluid blowing past the dipsticks in some vehicles (GMs in particular). I don't want to have to deal with some cobbled up dipstick lock either.
I suppose that I'm just stuck with this silly sealed transmission until I get the funds together for the Ascender 5.3/4L60E engine/tranny swap...
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote