Dragon02GT

OK, so I changed my tranyn fluid the other day and I had to install one of CobraBob's shifter gaskets on the shifter so I just filled the tranny up through the hole wher the shifter was when I had it off. Ford calls for 4 quarts of tranyn fluid to be used. I used 4 quarts of fluid to fill it up,but I am know that there is a fill plug somewhere on the side of the tranny that you are supposed to use to fill it up, and I know you are supposed to fill it until the fluid is up to the level of the fill plug. The only problem is I didn;t see the fil plug underneath the car on the tranny. I looked, and looked, and I am not dumb when it comes to cars but I can;t seem to find the damn thing. Can anyone tell me where it is at on my 3650? Is it on the drivers side, pasenger side of the tranny; at the shifter end of the tranny, clutch end of the tranny, middle of the tranny? Please help. Thanks ahead of time.

Dragon02GT

Also, if anyone just happened to have a pic of it that would be awesome.

White2000GT

Sorry, I don't have any information for you, but I am in need of having mine changed too. I called the auto shop here on base a few weeks back to schedule it, and they told me that I had to have a filter and a gasket. I thought only the auto tranny's have filters and gaskets? I hope someone posts some answers to your questions soon, because it looks like I am gonna have to change the fluid myself.

The Great Cornholio

Dragon02GT,
I understand that 4 quarts overfills the Tremec 3650 according to the manufacturer. They came out with a recommendation a few years ago to drain the factory fill and replace with 3.0L (3.2 quarts) of DEXRON III. I did so when I installed a short throw shifter about 30,000 miles ago and have had no transmission problems. I believe the fill plug is about midway along and toward the top on the passenger side, but I could be wrong since I re-filled mine through the open shifter mounting hole like you did.

White2000GT,
I don't know of any manual transmission that uses a filter. The auto shop you mentioned probably (mistakenly) assumed you have an automatic. Your transmission is also not a Tremec 3650 (which is probably a good thing) since they were not used until 2001.

White2000GT

Yes, I know the 2000 year models have the T-45 tranny. Would you recommend filling it the way you did or trying to do so through the fill plug? Also, is there a seperate plug for drainage?

The Great Cornholio

I would re-fill it through the fill plug unless you will have the shifter out to, say, install an aftermarket one. It's just that it's easier to use the open shifter mounting hole if you already have the shifter out because you can re-fill from inside the car and dont have snake any tubing into the filler hole. The T-45 transmission for model year 2000 is listed to have a re-fill capacity of 6.5 pints. The drain plug will be on the bottom of transmission and can be easily removed with a (I believe 3/8") ratchet. Mine is near the tail shaft end of the transmission.

blk40th

the fill plug is on the passenger side but its stuck between the tranny hump. its pretty much impossible to get a bottle up there past the crossmember (or exhaust i forget which one was in the way) without spilling it or even being able to pour it in there. i know some people used a hand pump but it really is so much easier to take off the shifter it takes like 10 min and you stay clean. the 3650 takes almost 4 quarts. like 3.75 quarts.

White2000GT

Thanks for the information!

clarehills

I used to have a 2003 GT and remember seeing threads about a Tremec 3650 TSB about using less fluid (3qts instead of 4qts) to prevent stress on the gears (it was described as trying to run through knee high water if that makes sense). Anyway, here is a link to a page where someone talks about this issue at length:

http://www.bullittarchive.com/1023.htm

I tried to find a link to the actual TSB but couldn't find it. Hope that helps.

clarehills

Whoops! I just posted in the wrong forum! I meant to put this in the mach 1 forum for a thread with a similar title - sorry