Heres how i did mine.
After the discussion about the SN95 gearbox problem i thought i would pursue changing the auto box fluid and filter.
First problem was locating the oil, its pretty well available in the UK, everyone from Shell to Carplan sell it.
Basically your looking for Mercon ATF [Ford] or Dexron 3 [[GM]spec, its the same fluid as in the manual boxes it seems.
I bought 3x 4.55 ltr [1 gallon] containers from the local trade warehouse, and inc vat still cost me £45.
The handbook says the total required is about 13.6 quarts or 12.9 litres.
I ordered a Fram transmission filter [it comes with a new oil pan gasket] and went about changing it.
First off,get car in the air on stands,front and rear, on as level ground as you can find, [to help drainaige of the oil].
The auto g\box sump has NO drain plug, so make sure the fluid is'nt hot when you start draining, unless you like the smell of cooking flesh !!
Loosen the dozen plus 10mm headed bolts from the sump, i removed most from one side first, having a very large drain tray handy,
and let most of the oil drain out of one side, into the tray. If you do them all at once oil WILL go everywhere !!!
Wizzing round to the front of the car, [so you wait till most of the oil in the pan is out] locate the rubber bung in the bottom of the bellhousing,
directly infront of the oil pan.
Using a 24mm socket, rotate the crankshaft pulley nut, until you see through the hole, an 11mm headed bolt thats sticking out of the Torque Converter.
Dont put fingers in to try and feel it, skin removal may or will ensue, use your eyes and a good torch, its pretty visible.
I read some dont have this plug, but mine certainly does.
Its a taper threaded bolt, so theres no washers to lose. While your undoing it, make sure you have the other big drip tray ready.
A lot of fluid will pour out of here, so be ready.
Going back to the sump, there's still a bit of fluid left in the tray, undo the last few bolts, and carefully pour the remainder into the tray,
as you lower it down slowly,to avoid spillage.
You can now see the filter, a small amount of downward force will pull it out of its fitting, theres no bolts\clips etc to undo.
Undo the two cooling pipes at the radiator junction, where a third tray can collect the small amount that drips out.
Here an airline can be handy to blow through the cooler at the radiator, then to blow through the pipes
The top line on the right side of the transmission is the pump line out to the cooler,
and the bottom line is the return from the cooler to the transmission.
I left everything to drip overnight, but in between then the oil pan wants cleaning out. Theres a magnet inside the oil pan to collect metal particles
and debris, some parrafin etc is handy for giving it a thorough cleansing.
First thing this morning i put a very thin smear [and i mean thin] of Hylomar on the sump only to hold the new gasket in place.
As your lifting it upwards, it means no sliding about of the gasket, dont use anything near the edge of the pan that could squeeze
inside the pan, ie silicone gasket sealer.
Dont forget to push in the new filter carefully !!!
Lift up the oil pan towards the gearbox, using lint free rag first to wipe away any last drips from around the mating surface etc.
Screw all the bolts in finger tight, then tighten evenly,they dont want to be overtight, it will split the gasket if you go beserk !!
You may need a bit of PTFE tape on the 2 pipes at the front radiator cooler joints, to get a good seal, it wont hurt anyway.
Tighten the converter drain plug up, dont swing on it, jusy make sure its tight, dont apply anything to it, and replace the bung.
Then its a case of filling up, and finding a funnel slim enough to go into the dipstick\filler tube located at the passenger side rear.
My method was put in 1 gallon, then start the engine and run for about 30 seconds or less then switch off, and your going to ask me why.
Well if you keep adding it will just build up in the sump till it comes back up out of the dipstick. [ask me how i know].
As the converter will only fill once the gearbox pump is running, this will move a lot of the fluid into the converter, and allow you to add another gallon.
At this point i lowered the vehicle to the floor.
After that its a case of adding until you reach the required level, best done again on level ground, dont forget to move the selector
through all the gears before taking a reading.
Its best done engine hot, leave it in Park, handbrake on, and while the motor is running.
That might help a bit.
