HOW TO: Change Transmission Oil (GTS) - HyOctane

[larryd]

If you have clicked on this thread and are reading it now, chances are you are instrested in changing your manual transmssion oil. I have searched high and low when I was trying to change my transmission oil and couldn't find any information, thats why I made this ! I beleive Toyota recommends changing the oil every 30,000 miles, but I prefer to change it every 15,000 as it keeps the shifting very smooth (it's just personal preference). I have made this walk-through for my car - and it may be similar on the GT or other generations. Anyhow as with all walk-throughs or how-tos there is a disclaimer at the bottom of this post. Anyhow.. on with the walk through!

Vehicle: Toyota Celica GT-S (7th Generation)
Engine: 2ZZ-GE
Mileage: 43,2xx miles
Tools needed: 17mm, 10mm and 24 mm ratchet, oil drain pan, gear oil (Red Line MT90), manual oil pump, a jack and (2) jack stands, wheel chocks, and a flat head/common screwdriver.

I am not going to get into the specifics of gear oil, since that topic could take up a whole post ! If you'd like to do research on what other types of oil to use, be my guest ! I suggest that you learn as much as you can before jumping into somthing. I suggest Red Line's MT90. It has the specified weight and viscosity that Toyota says to use. I will, however, tell you to stay way from GL-5 gear oils, as they will deteriorate your syncros ! Lets start out with the first step, shall we ?

Step One: Warm up the transmission and Remove driver's side under engine plastic.
Tools used: 10mm ratchet, flat head screwdriver, jack ,jackstands and wheel chocks.

As the title says, warm up the transmission and engine slightly. The reason is to make the oil less thick and easier to drain. Just drive it around the block and head back to your garage. Don't get your engine too hot, or you will have to wait for it to cool before you work on it. Remove the driver's side under engine plastic. It's really simple.. no need to explain this because if you cannot remove your spash guard you shouldn't be under your car in the first place. You should be on a *level* surface, jack up the front of the car and provide jack stands at the front to give you a little bit more room to manage yourself (Dont forget those chocks) ! All of the bolts that hold on the splash guard are 10mm, and the clips need to be managed with that flat head screwdriver. Once it is out you should have somthing that looks like picture #1 ! If it dosen't... then you have a problem.

Picture One: Under engine plastic


Step Two: Under the car
Tools used: Your eyes

This step is to get you aquainted with the transmission and the locations of the fill and drain plugs. As you can see in picture 2 I have made sure you cannot miss them ! It's pretty self explanatory... on to step 3!

Picture Two: Under the car looking at the transmission


Step Three: Draining the old tranny oil
Tools used: 17 and 24 mm ratchet & oil pan

Once you know what bolt's to remove to accomplish the task, lets get dirty ! First remove the top fill plug - which is the 17 mm bolt. This is to allow air to fill the space of the old oil while it is draining. After it is removed place it and the washer aside in a safe clean place, you'll need it again. Place your oil pan under your drain plug. After you break loose the drain plug (24 mm) you should unscrew it by hand.. you don't want this nasty oil on your tools ! S L O W L Y unscrew the bolt and then remove it.. oil will pour out of the drain VERY quickly, so be prepared. This is why you have your oil pan.. to catch it ! Be carefull, because it will be warm/hot. Place the drain plug and washer aside with your other plug. Let it drain for a while untill all the old oil is out (picture 3). Now isn't that the most foul smelling stuff you can ever imagine ? Not to mention it looks like thick cola.. lol. Once all of the oil is out you should clean up your mess (yes I know you made one !) and move on to step four.

Picture 3: Draining the old transmission oil


Step Four: Fill the transmission !
Tools Used: Oil pump, new transmission oil, 24 & 17 mm ratchet.

Now that you have drained all that nasty smelling oil and cleaned up, it's time to fill it back up ! I have found that one of these $5.00 manual oil pumps works best, I purchased it from Advanced Auto Parts, so Im sure any auto store will have one (see picture 4). You will need 2.4 quarts of oil.. so purchase 3 quarts and you'll be fine (incase you spill some). Picture 5 is the fill plug and the drain plug, along with their respective washers. Be sure to wipe them clean before re-installing them. Now remember the 24 mm bolt ? Back in the drain hole it goes ! Don't forget the washer too. Tighten it up (not too tight ! This is aluminum !) Remove the jack stands so your car is once level again and then get out your oil pump and prepare to fill it back up (see picture 6). Start pumping untill your sure all 2.4 quarts are inside - a sure sign that your transmission is full is when it starts to leak out. After it is full, screw in the fill plug (17 mm) and tighten it down.. again, this is aluminim folks.. do NOT over tighten ! once you have the fill plug back in, your transmission should look like picture 2.

Picture Four: Red Line MT90 Gear oil and manual oil pump


Picture Five: The fill and drain plugs with washers


Picture Six: Pumping the gear oil into the transmission


Step Five: Putting it all back together!

After completing step four, it is time to put it all back together ! Jack up your car and place your wheel chocks under the back wheels and jack stands underneath the front once again to give yourself more room to work. Clean off the excess oil residue left behind from draining and filling and proceed to reverse engineer the plastic spash guard to place it back on the underside of your car. Once you are sure that you have completed all of the steps correctly, remove the jack stands and lower your car back down and take it out for a spin ! Let the engine and transmission warm up before you begin to shift like a mad-man ! Notice anything.. ? It is much smoother and dosen't whine ! Also, try lubing up your shift linkage with some white lithium grease for extended pleasure (smoother shift). If you have any questions or comments, please post them and I will answer them as soon as I get around to it.. good luck!

*DISCLAIMER*
I am not a certified mechanic but I do consider myself mechanically capable. These directions were meant to be used as a general guidance tool. I will not warranty or certify the work perfomed by you or any other. I accept NO liability for any damages arising as a result of these directions or the misunderstanding of the person performing the work. Perform all work under your own risk ! Also be aware that there are inherit risks while working under a "lifted" vehilce. As always, read and follow all directions for your tools, jack and jackstands.

[ftcustoms5]

Good Job

[WhiteCeli65]

sweet...looking forward to doing this soon

[Buckie58]

Is there any pic's for a the celica GT because I wanted to do it but I dont see where they are at on a GT.

[RTcorolla]

Wow good job thats a really good step by step process with pics.
thanks
How about a shift linkage lube step by step process haha

[TRD-CELICA-GT02]

Does this apply to a GT too or is the setup slightly different?

[83841]

Same for GT as well......

[kortik]

this is awesome no more dealer for me

[casjr69]

Good job brother will have to do mines soon. You save from having a date with weird looking untrusting MIDAS mech's. thanks

[vatik]

I just did this at 103k and I must say, "What a difference that made!" Thanks for the write up, came in handy and saved me $100 from toyota.

[Topshootar]

Your guide is just perfect. I just bought my celica and i had no clue where anything was and didn't want to go to toyota so they can rip me off. thank you and i hope to see more walk through's from you. Great pictures, very helpful

[AusteRWinklE]

you really should do more maitnence guides.. you reazlly now your stuff

[ptsai83]

have a question here though... after you take out the pump, before you put back in the fill plug, wouldnt there be a leak of oil since its full?

[BgLtUsE]

Yes, the gear oil will be leaking and that's when you know its full and now just put the fill plug back in.

[aznxhomes]

so only 3 bottles are needed?

[IndomitableGTS]

This is a great "how to" but when refilling the transmission fluid... Pump it up from the bottom until it comes out of the top hole!! that way you know there are no air pockets in the transmission and it is completely full. you can get a gear lube pump from almost any auto parts store.

[C. Monster]

How in the world would you plan on getting the bottom plug back on afterwards, Indomitable, without spilling gear oil EVERYWHERE?

[camiag16]

very helpful...
thanks

[kortik]

BTW are the washers reusable or do I need to make a trip to a dealer for them?

[deltaB]

Originally Posted by kortik

BTW are the washers reusable or do I need to make a trip to a dealer for them?

I didn't know there were separate washers. I've made three changes, no new washers, no leaks.
dB

[kortik]

ok then I was just making sure. casue I am about to change it

[FLiGGaH82]

alright question guys, i tried doing this, but the nuts were hella tight any suggestions on how to take 'em out? do i need like a power tool for that? or good o'l WD-40 would work just fine?

[WHITEKNIGHT2000]

you need to put a 17 mm wrench on it at with the palm of your hand tap it so the bolt spinst to the left. You kind of have to "break" it loose first.

[ATL-GT]

24" breaker bar works great too

[SickCelica696]

They shouldn't be tight enough to need a breaker bar.. maybe they were installed wrong by last person working on it

[imhotep]

can it be over filled? i mean when i changed mine after the 3rd bottle and some spills when i pull the hose oil goes out so quickly put the nut back. is that okey?

[skalogre]

Originally Posted by TRD-CELICA-GT02

Does this apply to a GT too or is the setup slightly different?

Maybe I am just being dense, but can someone point out where the fill plug is? These pictures are from a 2000 GT.

[deltaB]

Yep.

[skalogre]

Originally Posted by deltaB

Yep.

Thank you very much, deltaB. Was not entirely certain and did not want to take any chances.

Naturally I took those pictures right after I also realised I could not find a 24mm socket anywhere! I could have sworn I had one with my tools - apparently I was wrong.

[deltaB]

Originally Posted by skalogre

..Naturally I took those pictures right after I also realised I could not find a 24mm socket anywhere! I could have sworn I had one with my tools - apparently I was wrong.

That's OK. I went out and bought 22mm sockets just for that job. (I said I should write that stuff down when I go to sears) I was able to make something SAE sized work.

[T-tecH_101]

just a little advise if you guys are planning to drain and re-fill your trans fluid, make sure
the the fill-plug would back out. before draining the trans. find that out the hard way.

[tttp5]

i have a question about the draining part. how do i know that draining the transmission oil out will drain out everything in the transmission and not just in the pan itself?

I would like to swtich to MT-90 from whatever the dealer has been using regularly so does this mean i need to do a flush instead of just a drain and refill?

[ExNihilo]

Lol, nice thread. Its been over a year since I've changed my tranny oil and I was just ckecking to see if there was a topic on it. Thanks!

[GTS DR1VER]

is it possible to over fill the tranny???

[deltaB]

Originally Posted by GTS DR1VER

is it possible to over fill the tranny???

I'm going to guess NO.

The full point is to the bottom of the filler hole. One you get to that point, it will start to drain out at the rate that you put it in. When it starts to make a mess, it's full. Stop then and put the filler plug back in.
dB

[Greener]

My owner's manual says my 2000 GT takes just 2 quarts of MT oil. Can someone confirm that for me? Also, are there any additional supplements anyone recommends? I've heard Lubeguard is a good product...

?e

[wnanna]

Nice guide. I did it last week and I couldn't be happier. It shifts so much smoother now! Thanks

[icebreakerz]

i have a small question, is it really worth flushing the tranny oil? cause i just purchased 3 bottles of redline mt90 and i heard flushing requires about 14 quarts. Should i go on with the drain+fill? or should i order 11 more quarts and flush my tranny oil? has anyone not flushed their tranny oil and have no problem with their celica? i need some opinions on this!

[deltaB]

Originally Posted by icebreakerz

i have a small question, is it really worth flushing the tranny oil? cause i just purchased 3 bottles of redline mt90 and i heard flushing requires about 14 quarts.

Flushing is reserved for automatics for when you don't want to pull the pan and change the filter and clean the magnets. For the MT, it's a drain and refill, much like engine oil. If you really want to do a flush, do a drain and refill now and another at the next oil change.
dB

[Greener]

When I was using the pump to put the new oil in the tranny, it seemed like I was pushing a fair amount of air into the tranny with the oil. Would that be a bad thing?

[blackceli00GTS]

Nah, The transmission will not hold the pressure or anything. Once you stopped pumping, the air that you pumped in would have escaped.

[wingnutcz]

Just a little tip to avoid a huge mess while draining:

Remove the drain plug FIRST. Then back out the fill plug slowly. That allows air in gradually and keeps the gear oil from splashing all over everything under there.

[Automaton]

Originally Posted by wingnutcz

Just a little tip to avoid a huge mess while draining:

Remove the drain plug FIRST. Then back out the fill plug slowly. That allows air in gradually and keeps the gear oil from splashing all over everything under there.

Exactly. Do NOT remove the fill plug before the drain plug or the oil will come out so fast that it gets all over the place. You want it to pour out slowly in a slow and controlled way.

[.2002SilverGT]

Nice write up!

[Celica maniac]

found it

[tk1138]

Excelent guide. Using a pump makes this 10x easier.
The torque spec for the drain and fill plugs are each 29 ft/lbs on both the GT and GT-S (according to the manual).
A 15/16" Socket is VERY close to 24mm if you don't have a metric socket in that size.

[Gohan587]

are these steps basically the same for an auto GT-s? .. i dont think my tranny fluid has ever been changed!.. previous owner didnt give a shlt about this car.

[Greener]

I believe an auto is a different and probably easier process. Plus there's probably a filter involved.

?e

[bunkkaws84]

Just did this with Redline MT-90

Only have 33k on my 03' GT, however MAN can I feel the difference.

Highly recommended to all manual owners.

[bunkkaws84]

Only difference that I notices is that mine looked like skalogre pictures.

The GT Tranny uses 24mm for both the drain and the full plug. Also the fill plug is located on the left side of whatever that hose is, and the GTS is located on the right with a 17mm bolt instead.