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Automatic Transmission Fluid


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Hello Everyone,

Today, I went to get the oil for my pajero 120k service....I went to the agency for the AT fluid and I was suggested ATF SP III. I got a 5 Litres because the salesperson said I require 4-5L...I also asked 3 different mechanics about the quantity of AT Fluid required and I received similar reply 4-5L...

I am a bit confused because according to the Owner's manual the refill capacity is 9.7 litres, which is twice the amount I am being adviced. I have the feeling that garages are draining 4 Litres of fluid and replaced it with fresh 4 Litres.

I want to replace the coolant as well. The agency salesperson and mechanics are advising to take a 4L is enough when the refill capacity in the manual is 10.5 litres.

Can you please shed some light with this issue... looking forward for your recommendations

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2 hours ago, Anish S said:

Hello Everyone,

Today, I went to get the oil for my pajero 120k service....I went to the agency for the AT fluid and I was suggested ATF SP III. I got a 5 Litres because the salesperson said I require 4-5L...I also asked 3 different mechanics about the quantity of AT Fluid required and I received similar reply 4-5L...

I am a bit confused because according to the Owner's manual the refill capacity is 9.7 litres, which is twice the amount I am being adviced. I have the feeling that garages are draining 4 Litres of fluid and replaced it with fresh 4 Litres.

I want to replace the coolant as well. The agency salesperson and mechanics are advising to take a 4L is enough when the refill capacity in the manual is 10.5 litres.

Can you please shed some light with this issue... looking forward for your recommendations

You and the garages are both correct regarding the amount. The difference lays in just draining the fluids or flushing and renewing. 

If you have the service manual and you follow the instructions for the service intervals, most probably you will only drain and add fresh fluid. 

If you are going to flush (for any reason, like a mix up of different fluids and you want it homogeneous again), then you have to renew the whole system.

The Pajero guys and girls will help you and shed more light on it.

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The 4.5-5 litres is what is in the transmission oil pan. I.e. to remove the bung, drain the oil, change the filter and refill to max on the dipstick. This is what you will do during a normal transmission service.

9.7 litres is total capacity. There will be oil in your torque convertor, oil cooler, pipes, valves etc that you do not change during regular service. The only time you will need to add this amount of oil is after a transmission rebuild and there is a special process to do it.

To do a complete transmission system flush, you may need up to 20 litres, depending on how much water, dirt, contamination etc is in the system. This is rarely necessary unless you have had some sort of problem.

 

10.5 litres of coolant is what the garage should be changing if they are doing the job properly. If they are only changing 4 litres, then they are not doing it properly and just draining the radiator and refilling it. There will still be 6.5 litres of coolant inside your engine, pipes, heater matrix etc which will not have been changed. It can be time consuming to do this properly and some people are just lazy so they just drain and refill the radiator.

 

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@Barry nailed it perfectly with technical explanations. Well done.

@anish if you didnt had any A/T issue then normal transmission service is more than enough for your case.

The first telltale sign of ageing A/T fluid is jerk while shifting especially from 1st to 2nd gear and then in off-road A/T light will keep coming quiet frequently. Occasional A/T light occurrence are acceptable when you push your car too much in cross tracks, it really heats up A/T oil on cross tracks.

So if you don't have these issues at the moment normal 5 liter OEM fluid is plenty for your transmission service.

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Let's root for each other & watch each other grow.

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