Need advice on doing drain and fill for transmission fluid

368 Views 7 Replies 4 Participants Last post by smark, 4 d ago

Slow_Lane

Discussion Starter · 12 d ago

I have a 2015 500C in Canada with a 1.4 non turbo engine and automatic transmission. I have 83,000 kms on the car. I would like to get my transmission fluid changed at my local mechanic. I have done a bit of research and found out a few things and am confused about others. Any advice would be great.

No pan so planing to just drain what comes outs and then do a fill. What other choice do I have???
Have read that only 1/3 of fluid comes out and one article I read recommended doing drain and fill 3 times. They said fluid was black in 1st 2 drains. Getting this done at a shop 3 times is pretty expensive. But I bet doing it once is better than not doing it at all.

I think there is an access hole at bottom and another higher up in back of tranny to re-fill. I read in some place about removing battery to do re-fill or going in from over top of engine. I am not sure if they are referring to another engine type. So I am confused about that.

I have also read that there may be a metal cross member that must be loosened and moved to access the drain points.

My mechanic of 30 years is very good. I am not sure how much experience he has with the 500 (if any) so I am trying to understand what has to be done in order to provide him as much info as possible.

This procedure is making me a bit nervous.

By the way I will be doing a coolant and oil change at same time.

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fast_dave

· #2 · 12 d ago (Edited)

@Slow_Lane

You'll have to make the call on how/who will do it.

Personally, 60,000 miles is the absolute limit I'd set for the factory fill and then I'd drain & replace it with fresh fluid.

Since you don't get all of the automatic transmission fluid out with just one drain & replace, (i.e. there's no way to drain the Torque Convertor of it's ATF, such as you can on a Mercedes-Benz 7 speed) it's sound thinking doing multiple drain & replacement procedures over the course of a year, to hit the ultimate goal of eventually replacing all of it.

The first time you drain & replace will be the longest - then the learning curve will take over and each time thereafter will take less time & effort. Wind it up with transmission fluid is cheap, transmission's are expensive...

How to change Fiat 500 Automatic Transmission fluid

Here's two links to a couple of write ups on the Fiat 500 USA Forum.

You'll need to join the Fiat 500 USA Forum. in order to to see the pics.

NOTE: @Fabio13 , the author of the first linked thread, is active on both this forum and the Fiat 500 USA forum - so you can ask him any questions you have.

LINK 1: How to change Fiat 500 Automatic Transmission fluid

LINK: 2: Servicing a 500 Automatic Trans, the Aliso Bob way....

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Slow_Lane

Discussion Starter · #3 · 11 d ago

Great info in links. I think I reviewed them before. I understand the benefits of doing this but it is a very intimidating process. Particularly that to do it properly you have to do it multiple times. Having this done at shop is expensive and multiple flushes will lead to require a lot of tranny fluid. I think the valvoline stuff is $50 cdn for 5 liters at walmart. I might need 15 liters to do 3 drain and fills The OEM fluid option for be very costly.

I will talk to my mechanic. Maybe approach I will take is do one drain and fill this year and another drain and fill next year.

Surely even doing just one is going to be of some benefit by adding 3 liters of new stuff.

But if he thinks he can do multiple drain and fills in one visit I might go that route.

Honestly I am little leery of going forward.

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13 pop

· #4 · 11 d ago

Iirc the trans holds 6 qts-- you get 3 qts out for a drain and fill-- so 2x would get most of the old out.

It seems pretty straight forward to me-- no need to take battery box out, you can get to the fill plug with long/swivel extensions and piece of hose on end of funnel to refill from the top. You'll need a thermometer and a "dip stick" to check for proper levels after fill-- the fill level is based off of the trans fluid temp. On the drain-- remove the belly pan cover, remove and swivel the steel brace out of the way-- remove and drain via the 2 drain plugs ( 1 small inside of larger one)-- reverse to reassemble and fill.

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fast_dave

· #5 · 11 d ago (Edited)

Slow_Lane said:
Great info in links. I think I reviewed them before. I understand the benefits of doing this but it is a very intimidating process. Particularly that to do it properly you have to do it multiple times. Having this done at shop is expensive and multiple flushes will lead to require a lot of tranny fluid. I think the valvoline stuff is $50 cdn for 5 liters at walmart. I might need 15 liters to do 3 drain and fills The OEM fluid option for be very costly.

I will talk to my mechanic. Maybe approach I will take is do one drain and fill this year and another drain and fill next year.

Surely even doing just one is going to be of some benefit by adding 3 liters of new stuff.

But if he thinks he can do multiple drain and fills in one visit I might go that route.

Honestly I am little leery of going forward.

At least you're seriously thinking about getting this done before an issue crops up.

The eighty percentile waits until they're having a problem, posts a "help" alert to the forums, and then it's too late.

Good luck whichever route you take - it's great to hear that you're trying to keep your Fiat in good shape.

Hope that helps -

PS: Another important Service Milestone that you're 500 is approaching is two years out = coolant/anti-freeze change (10 years / 150,000 miles service life). Maybe your mechanic can give you a "package" deal?!

Link: How the heck do I drain the coolant?? - Page 2

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Slow_Lane

Discussion Starter · #6 · 11 d ago

Yes this is my wife's dream car. She is Italian and loves small cars. She wanted something as cute as I am. So this Fiat came close. Ha ha.....😁 Anyways we were limited in buying as Canada stop selling them in 2017. Then my wife only wanted the light green one. Hard to find but were thrilled to find one after a year long search with 1957 retro package. She loves it!!!! So now we will try and keep it going for many many years to come. Stored every winter.

So bottom line is we want to do everything (within limits) we can to keep this car in top shape.

I generally look for cars with great reliability ratings so getting this car was a real stretch for me. There is a lot unique about this the car. There are known issues and this car has had some of the minor ones like failing door handle hinges (replace both sides), temperature sensor in passenger side mirror (mirror replaced) and failure of rear trunk handle (replaced). Luckily all done by previous owners. I have only replace passenger door handle hinge.

That being said I tend to overly maintain all the cars I own so this is not that unusual. I do all my own detailing and minor work like cabin air filters, air filters, battery replacements and tire change overs. Plus a lot of other minor things. But things like this are beyond my scope.

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fast_dave

· #7 · 11 d ago (Edited)

@Slow_Lane

Important Closing Note on "other" known issues:
For longevity of the Multi-Air Intake Valve Actuating "Brick", and the Aluminum Head Intake Valve Guides, long time owners and forum enthusiasts have found it super important to keep a 3,000 - 5,000 mile synthetic oil & oil filter change schedule, as opposed to what's listed in the Owner's Manual!

Stretching out oil & filter changes is just rolling the dice.

Remember, there's only 4 quarts TOTAL in there with the filter.

Good Luck!

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smark

· #8 · 4 d ago

Automatic Transmission, in the dinosaur age. It was recommended to change the fluid and filter, every 30,000 miles. We owned lots of Honda in the past. They recommended around 60K miles. We own a couple cars with CVT’s We have them serviced at 60K. What bad about the Fiat, it doesn’t even have a Transmission filter to change. Most new car manufacturers, are recommending up to 100k servicing now. I personally shoot for around 60 K Miles Change the fluid there’s no guarantee of a transmission failure.

We owned a 90-92 Accord, both had premature transmission failures. Around 45k miles. Honda was aware of the transmission failures. They replaced the transmissions at no cost. My brother had the same issue with their Accord.

Change you transmission fluid, take out an extended warranty. Those modern unit can cost up to $4K to replaced.

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Need advice on doing drain and fill for transmission fluid

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