1998 Civic LX - Can't get the tranny fluid bolt to move - Thoughts on how to getit to move - Inserted a 3/8 inch ratchet and that didn't work,tried rust-buster and that didn'twork , any other ideas

I'm assuming I have to correct bolt:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...TrannyBolt.jpg

 

I'd try an 18" breaker bar... a little ratchet isn't going to help you much

 

He's right - the longerthehandle of the toolyou can use, the more torque available to move the bolt. You'll need at least the 3/8" breaker bar (if that's the size the bolt requires - I thought 1/2" was common on those applications), but then, slide about 2 feet of sturdy pipe over it to make your 'small breaker bar' bigger, if you don't have the larger tool handy.

Don't use any ratchet extensions during the breaking of the bolt - you'll lose lots of torque through the torsion flex of the ratchet extensions.

And don't try it with a ratcheteither - the internals could grenade and you might get hurt when it does.

And please - never go 'cheap' with your tools if you can afford it. I've had decent 'name-brand' tools explode on me before - there's no way I'd trust the crap from the Dollar-Store.

 

What I did was used the pipe from my 3 ton jack (the handle part) and slide it over the breaker bar to get more leverage. You will be amaze how little effort you will have to apply with longer handles like the breaker bar vs box wrench.

 

dito..... tho it looks like in that picture that the bolt is starting to be striping the head off... BE SURE you have that break bar in thier ALL THE WAY..... with mine i had to dig a small screw driver all inside thier to dirt and road grim out of that hole to get my wrench all the way in the bolt.

 

Thanks for the ideas - When replacing the new fluid, can I just add it through the ATF dipstick?

Thanks

 

if a automatic.... ya just add it thru the dip stick area with a small funnel, but if a manual then you have to fill it thru a higher bolt on the side of the trany..

 

You should get a new bolt to be on the safe side. It is cheap and you may never get it off next time.

 

I had planned ongetting another boltsince the current bolt is starting to 'round-out'.

I also plan on doing a drain & re-fill, driving the car for 10 minutes, then doing another drain & re-fill to try to replace as much ATF as possible - Any thoughts on the procedure

 

You don't need to go to all that trouble. If you want all of the old ATF gone, then take it to a Oil/Lube Shop - they'll disconnect the transmission cooler lines and pump new ATF into one line through the system until nothing but new fluid comes out through the other side. This gets the fluid that pools up in the torque converter, pump, and valve-body that gravity draining can't get to.

You'll also need to tell them to change the filter as well - as part of full-transmission servicing involves that. The only way to do that is to drop the tranny pan, swap out the filter, button it all back up, then refill. You might consider picking up a new filter and pan gasket from a parts store (or the stealership, if it's cheaper... ) and take it with you. That way they won't charge you their mark-up, make you wait even longer while they track one down (because they won't have your car's filter in-stock... they never do), or put some junk in you didn't want. Watch them do the job also, if you can.

The best way to ensure the cleanest fluid when it's all said and done is to have it flushed, then the filter changed - otherwise, if you change the filter first, you'll be starting with a dirty filter (they know that already - make them show you the pan and magnet during the process, and then old filter when it's done - to make sure they didn't just jam it back in). It can get expensive though, but there's no better way to ensure ALL of the tranny fluid is changed.