OK - in a real bad mood with the cab

[grinder]

its silly it really is

not sure why they thought it was a good idea not to add a drain plug !!

Just seems iffy trying to remove a sump with 4+ litres of oil with no way to drain it first ( and there is a total of about 7 litres in the sump and box )

plan is to get the sump off , have a look , refil with clean oil and just see what happens .. if at that point its a no-goer .. its back to a rethink

[grinder]

and thanks for the link about the manuals .. already got a copy here on the PC at work

[grinder]

Humm just wondering now ....

1 - i lost first gear last friday .. was this a cause of the oil getting low ?
2 - at this point has crap been drawn into the filter and blocked it ?
3 - so even though i put about 400-450ml of ATF in .. it wouldnt matter as the filter is blocked

Hummmmmmmmmmm ?

[TiddlesRX7]

Sounds plausible mate. Fingers crossed for you and an easy fix. I like them!

[shaunwil]

Can you suck most of the fluid out of the fill point ? Might make less of a mess !

Shaun

[m1tch]

Its a proper pre ford-infected Mazda, so it was built properly, so it might be something uber simple

[festa]

I think you use a big syringe type thing with a plastic hose on the end to suck it out of the full tube,I\'m sure you can get them at machine mart.
Cheers

[Brett Single]

hi
The best way is to jack and support the front of the car. start taking out the sump pins from the rear of the sump and work your way to the front of the sump leaving two pins in at the front , oil should start running out of the back of the sump ,You may need to tap it with a hammer to break the gaskets seal then slowly undo the two front pins to let most of it drain. there should only be 4 or 5 ltr in the pan the rest is held in the converter and cooler.
to refil put 5ltr in box start engine select r n d then back to p then top up to level with engine running.
looking at whats in side the sump and your old oil is a good indication on the condition of your auto box
if your oil level is ok you have drive but you have lost reverse totaly
its most likely gota come out to be fixed, sorry.

[grinder]

Hummm not really the answer i wanted .. but you could be right .. who knows

the dip stick has to be the worst idea ever .. when you dip it - it just smears oil everywhere , so it could be over full , just on the stick etc... - its really is a dark art trying to get a accurate figure

if the box is coming out .. then it wont be going back in - i can tell you that for a fact

But if it does come out .. what the hell do i put in its place ( well a gallon of petrol and a match is my first idea that comes to mind ! )

Brett Single ... have you worked on a FC auto box before ??

[Brett Single]

hi
it will be easy to set the level when its warm ,it is harder to get a good mark when its cold plus it expands when its warm so if you get it bang on when its cold it will be over the mark when its warm.
i have not worked on a auto in a FC but on the same box which was also fitted to a fairway taxi cab but with a different bell housing.
im pretty sure your box is a JATCO 4L71A or B  have a look on the side of the box there will be a tag on it.
Don\'t feel to bad having the same unit as a taxi the skyline 34GT uses the same auto unit as a LTI tx1 tx2 taxi cabs

[grinder]

Hiya Brett ,

i dont feel bad , dont worry about that bit !! LOL

i have always checked the oil when its warm .. still a pain to do though

Car is still sat on the drive at the mo - not worked up enough courage to get it jacked up yet ! LOL

[shaunwil]

How hard is it to change the filter? you could pull the fluid out from there and replace with fresh !

Shaun

[grinder]

filter is rumoured to be in the sump .. so thats not easy either ! LOL

[bumpstart]

the REV thing sounds like its still in neutral
,, i would be taking off the selector rod and physically trying each position on the gearbox with the T bar disconnected

methinks the selector may just need adjusting,, it may be that gearbox mount has sagged and it is pulling on the adjustment

else these boxes ( jatco 4n71B ,, s4 ) sometimes get issues with the pressure modulation solenoid
,, or issues with the vac kickdown solenoid hose filling with fuel,,, or tranny fluid ( busted solenoid )

the usual issues i have seen with these boxes it has been selector adjust,, or holding 2nd gear ( holding out drive,, not 1st )
and flairing under HP above 4000 rpm

[Brett Single]

ok if its still hard to get a mark try cleaning up the end of dip stick with some sand paper, you will find that either side of the dipstick will have a different level just go off the lowest 1
If you want to check what jumpstart says about the selector cable position just put your ignition on select reverse and check your reverse lights are on if they are the selector shaft is in the correct position
If you want to have a go at it then as soon as you remove the pan the filter is there at the bottom but its not that easy to change!
one of the pins on the filter goes all the way through the valve body and has a nut the other side so if you take it out you wont get it back in with out removing the valve body.
if you leave the pin out you will also have a lose nut left in your box so you have to remove the valve body to change or clean the filter(if its blocked)
if you remove the valve body you have to take out the vac modulator on the side of box first, this has a small pin which goes in to the valve body to work a valve.
so remove vac mod and pin then you can remove valve body to work on filter.
still feel up to it?