Transmission fluid check

Yes the transfercase fluid should be changed once in a while along with the front and rear diffs, especially if you do much offroading and drive through water.

Just what are you wanting to suck from the dipstick?

The transfercase has a drain at the bottom and a fill plug about in the middle.

Sounds like you better just take it and have someone do it for you while you watch to see how it's done.
Sucking from the dip stick might reduce the amount of mess that can happen when draining into the pan correct? I've seen that done. I don't do off roading much. Front and rear axles would be for another day. haha
 
Sucking from the dip stick might reduce the amount of mess that can happen when draining into the pan correct? I've seen that done. I don't do off roading much. Front and rear axles would be for another day. haha

If your sucking from the transmission dipstick you can do that.

Your asking about doing this and i'm telling you how it should be done and how i'd do it. But like I told you before it's your Jeep do whatever you want.
 
If your sucking from the transmission dipstick you can do that.

Your asking about doing this and i'm telling you how it should be done and how i'd do it. But like I told you before it's your Jeep do whatever you want.

I think we re miscommunicating here. I'm talking about doing this to remove some fluid before also removing the bottom pan to reduce the amount of mess
 

I think we re miscommunicating here. I'm talking about doing this to remove some fluid before also removing the bottom pan to reduce the amount of mess

I just drop a corner of the pan just enough to let the fluid run out and then just keep loosening the bolts and dropping the corner to get the most fluid out. Then remove the rest of the bolts and lower the pan down, if you put a big piece of cardboard under the drain pan it will help with the mess.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: mrjp and BigAL07
wait so you can/should do both? how many quarts of fluid would this be haha? so just suck out the fluid from the dip stick and also the drain plug and remove the pan?

Yes , I would suggest to do both.
It takes 2 US quarts. Just fill till starts seeping out fill hole.
There is no dipstick or pan on the transfer case .
It is a separate component behind the transmission .
It’s what allows you to use 4WD.
To access drain plug just unbolt 4 screws that hold on skid plate . Gives complete access to drain plug . Also to fill plug . Just make sure you have a tapered fill attachment for your fill bottles otherwise your looking at a mess .
There are some good uTube videos showing process or as @BLACKJKU suggested bring it in . Let us know how things go.
 
Yes , I would suggest to do both.
It takes 2 US quarts. Just fill till starts seeping out fill hole.
There is no dipstick or pan on the transfer case .
It is a separate component behind the transmission .
It’s what allows you to use 4WD.
To access drain plug just unbolt 4 screws that hold on skid plate . Gives complete access to drain plug . Also to fill plug . Just make sure you have a tapered fill attachment for your fill bottles otherwise your looking at a mess .
There are some good uTube videos showing process or as @BLACKJKU suggested bring it in . Let us know how things go.
Right on guys. Appreciate all this info. I'm a gather all the info as much as I can guy try to cover all the bases before I go at it. I've done a bunch of stuff up to this point and don't make a ton of money so I'm willing to take this on. The only thing I'm curious is reaching those bolts that are under right above a frame piece. One guy I saw jacked up the transmission a few pumps to raise the pan higher to access it easier but that seems a little risky. I can take a picture or link the video if I'm not being clear. Maybe a short swivel head? In guessing they're 10mm
 
Right on guys. Appreciate all this info. I'm a gather all the info as much as I can guy try to cover all the bases before I go at it. I've done a bunch of stuff up to this point and don't make a ton of money so I'm willing to take this on. The only thing I'm curious is reaching those bolts that are under right above a frame piece. One guy I saw jacked up the transmission a few pumps to raise the pan higher to access it easier but that seems a little risky. I can take a picture or link the video if I'm not being clear. Maybe a short swivel head? In guessing they're 10mm
One thing to make sure of is that when you are watching these videos that you ensure that you are watching videos from the same type of Wrangler. Many things are the same, but not all.

If your wrangler is 15 years old, you have a 3.8 engine and a four speed automatic transmission, the 42RLE. The video you linked is about a 2014 Wrangler with a 3.6 and a 5 speed transmission. These are not the same at all. Many of the methods are the same, but it will require a different gasket and bolts are probably going to be in different places.

The 42RLE was used in JKs from 2007 when the JK started through 2011 and was paired with the 3.8 engine.
the 5 speed, that he calls the NAG1 was paired with the 3.6 engine starting in 2012.

Please know what you have before you start. Follow videos with the correct years of jeep.
 
One thing to make sure of is that when you are watching these videos that you ensure that you are watching videos from the same type of Wrangler. Many things are the same, but not all.

If your wrangler is 15 years old, you have a 3.8 engine and a four speed automatic transmission, the 42RLE. The video you linked is about a 2014 Wrangler with a 3.6 and a 5 speed transmission. These are not the same at all. Many of the methods are the same, but it will require a different gasket and bolts are probably going to be in different places.

The 42RLE was used in JKs from 2007 when the JK started through 2011 and was paired with the 3.8 engine.
the 5 speed, that he calls the NAG1 was paired with the 3.6 engine starting in 2012.

Please know what you have before you start. Follow videos with the correct years of jeep.

Yeah I'm following this guy's videos. He's made alot of stuff with the years of jeep that's in line with mine. The other video was just to show the method of drawing out some fluid from the pan so as to minimize mess and have an accurate reading of how much to put back in knowing how much came out
 
  • Like
Reactions: Speartip
The other video was just to show the method of drawing out some fluid from the pan so as to minimize mess and have an accurate reading of how much to put back in knowing how much came out
You're better off draining it properly, from the drain plug. Ideally, even on something like a Wrangler, where you can generally get under them without jacking them up, you should raise the front a little, so the drain plug is the lowest point in the pan.

There's no mess if you're careful. If you're sloppy, get something like THIS. It's pretty easy to be neat when the hose reaches nearly to your drain pan. I use them on all our vehicles. Not for neatness so much as because it makes oil changes faster. You don't need any tools to drain the oil. If that's not neat enough, add THIS for a totally sealed drain. You'd have to try really hard to make a mess.

Knowing how much you drained does not tell you how much to replace. Engines leak (Jeeps are marking their territory) and burn oil. Look it up. Add that amount. Run the engine to fill the filter. Check the level and add more if needed.
 
You're better off draining it properly, from the drain plug. Ideally, even on something like a Wrangler, where you can generally get under them without jacking them up, you should raise the front a little, so the drain plug is the lowest point in the pan.

There's no mess if you're careful. If you're sloppy, get something like THIS. It's pretty easy to be neat when the hose reaches nearly to your drain pan. I use them on all our vehicles. Not for neatness so much as because it makes oil changes faster. You don't need any tools to drain the oil. If that's not neat enough, add THIS for a totally sealed drain. You'd have to try really hard to make a mess.

Knowing how much you drained does not tell you how much to replace. Engines leak (Jeeps are marking their territory) and burn oil. Look it up. Add that amount. Run the engine to fill the filter. Check the level and add more if needed.


The 42RLE trans doesn’t come from factory with a drain plug. Don’t think most auto transmissions come with a drain plug. So most crack a corner of pan seal to drain bulk of fluid .

OP. The fluid capacity of the transmission is 8.8 quarts or
8.3 Litres.
It’s a much better idea as @Dirtydog mentioned to go by
specs for fluid capacity rather than what comes out. As heat will burn some off over time .

Edit
Should note 8.3 litres is dry capacity or complete fluid flush.
It’s closer to 4 Quarts if doing a pan drop as oil will remain in Torque Converter / cooler & other parts .
So would suggest to add 4 quarts after draining pan and top up after warmed up .
 
Last edited:
The 42RLE trans doesn’t come from factory with a drain plug. Don’t think most auto transmissions come with a drain plug. So most crack a corner of pan seal to drain bulk of fluid .
Apologies. My eye saw "transmission" but my brain thought "oil". I'm going to blame it on chemo brain, but it was probably just old and stupid. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: mrjp and Speartip
The 42RLE trans doesn’t come from factory with a drain plug. Don’t think most auto transmissions come with a drain plug. So most crack a corner of pan seal to drain bulk of fluid .

OP. The fluid capacity of the transmission is 8.8 quarts or
8.3 Litres.
It’s a much better idea as @Dirtydog mentioned to go by
specs for fluid capacity rather than what comes out. As heat will burn some off over time .
Never use how much fluid came out of a vehicle to judge how much to put back in. As stated there can be burn off, leakage, over filling, underfilling, etc. If you don't know how much it takes, you look it up. The manual should have a page dedicated to how much various fluids it takes.

With regards to the suction technique shown above, I suppose you could do it that way if you have the tools, and the space to store such tools when you are down with it.

Well... after looking the prices up, I found this pump, that I may get myself for it just being handy for various things.
12 Volt Oil Pump I can't speak to the quality, but it is about $100 less than many of the manual ones. (I'd just deal with the mess rather than hand pump a whole transmission worth of oil) The powered ones like you saw in the video are much more $. You would still need to drop the pan, but I can see the benefits of getting most of the oil out with a cheap pump like this.
 
Never use how much fluid came out of a vehicle to judge how much to put back in. As stated there can be burn off, leakage, over filling, underfilling, etc. If you don't know how much it takes, you look it up. The manual should have a page dedicated to how much various fluids it takes.

With regards to the suction technique shown above, I suppose you could do it that way if you have the tools, and the space to store such tools when you are down with it.

Well... after looking the prices up, I found this pump, that I may get myself for it just being handy for various things.
12 Volt Oil Pump I can't speak to the quality, but it is about $100 less than many of the manual ones. (I'd just deal with the mess rather than hand pump a whole transmission worth of oil) The powered ones like you saw in the video are much more $. You would still need to drop the pan, but I can see the benefits of getting most of the oil out with a cheap pump like this.
Yeah 30 bucks is totally worth it. We'll have many uses for it. Gonna grab a wix filter too and start gathering the stuff to hit this in a couple weeks. Will also give the lube locker a try. I think going with the permatex has a risk of going wrong with too much of a bead etc. I'll get some in case the lube locker doesn't work. I will Def update!
 
Did my transmission fluid change this weekend finally!! Other than breaking a bolt on the skid plate (had to ask thr local mechanic to get that out for me. I would have died on that hill and he even broke the welded nut getting it out that's how bad it was. ) I changed the transfer case fluid too. Little corrosion on those 2 10mm hex screws which took a little convincing to get out. When removing the pan there wasn't any big curly metal bits just some fuzz on the magnet which I took as a positive sign. But if you're looking on content and advice look up this video

ESPECIALLY the part about jacking up the transfer case to get at the back 3 bolts with the exhaust pipe in the way. I used a long 10mm swivel socket and that did the trick jacking up that section an inch or so. I used lube locker gasket which so far seems to be working great

20230505_174948.jpg


20230505_160239.jpg


20230505_174945.jpg