Quote Originally Posted by Riff Raff View Post
MIKEMOL--- In item #6 of the instructions, it says to continue to add fresh AT fluid until it overflows out of the fill hole, which at that point the fluid level will be at the full mark. Just make damn sure your vehicle is on "level ground" (very important).

If you want to see what color the old/existing AT fluid is you have two(2) options:

A: Loosen the drain plug and slowly dribble some old AT fluid into a catch-can (coffee-can). This method might be kinda' messy with over-spatter.

B: For a less messy method (although a bit more time-consuming and tedious); you can get a "Syringe-Pump" from an Auto Parts Store which has a long narrow tube attached to it for sucking up fluids (also known as a manual "Oil Pump" for extracting oil from dipstick tubes). Put the long narrow tube into the fill hole and manually pump out a small sample of old AT fluid into a catch-can (coffee-can). Note: It is possible to "pump-out" the entire fluid contents with the Syringe-Pump without ever having to use the drain hole, thereby keeping the drain hole gasket unmolested (if you so desire).
Here is what I just did and that was before I read your reply.

I went under the truck. Since it says in step 2 that the engine must be running at idle I started the truck. I went under the truck to unscrew that fill screw and no fluid came out. I got a wire from coat hanger and wanted to put it in there to see the color that fluid would leave on it. I wasn't sure if there are any moving parts in it so I didn't want the transmission to catch on this metal wire so I decided to stop the the engine. Once I did that and was going to get back under it - I noticed that the fluid started pouring out of the overfill screw. At first I thought it was just some extra fluid but it wasn't anywhere close to stopping so I realized that as it was circulating through the transmission and then I suddenly stopped the engine it probably kept moving my enertia. Pretty soon I had a huge puddle of it on my garage floor. I have just finished whiping it off and since half of it was already lost I decided to unscrew the drain screw and drain it all.

The gaskets that I found on the screws it were not made of copper and look more like regular metal or nickel gaskets and I can see a little of silicone there between the screw and the gasket - I guess they were not too tight on the screw. Should I replace them with copper instead?

Also I don't have a torque wrench, if I just use a regular drive with a 19 socket should I be afraid of overtightening it or ruining the thread by tightining it too much?

Would I use the Syringe-Pump you mentioned to put new fluid back in? What do people use to pump it in?

Also do I use regular Dextron III or is there such a thing as Fully Synthetic Dextron III or anything else that would be better to put in?