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1997 GP fluid change questions

M

MNGPGT

New member
I just picked up a 97 gt for my girlfriend. Beautiful car and she loves it. I beat the living hell out of it on the test drive and it took it, roasted the tires for 30 feet,took it to 100mph and drove it normally/ a bit spirited from there on. The car shifted normally and with out issue. When I checked the fluid it was red but there was black residue on the stick. The salesman said he had it flushed but that must be a lie.

My questions are 1) Does this have the 4T60E or the 4T65E transmission?

2) The way I described the fluid, is it ok to change fluid and filter, pan drop not flush?

I'm planning on waiting til spring to do this for two reasons, 1) I dont have money for a new trans and 2)its too damn cold out and I dont have the time. I told her to drive it nicely til then.
 


97 GTs have the 4T-60E

Pan drop for filter and fluid will be fine as long as you don't flush.

A little black on the dipstick can mean at some point it was bad, if the fluid is red you'd probably be ok. You may want to clean the dipstick with a good degreaser and check the fluid again in a week and see if its completely red or if it has some black again.
 
Whoa... Hold the presses gents.

Please don't clean the dipstick with any solvents. You don't want to possibly introduce anything except the proper fluids into the trans. Not that a little bit would hurt, but why?

The stick having some black or whatever on it simply means that the fluild in the trans had a little clutch material in it at some point. This is 100% normal. As the clutches wear, the material gets into the fluid and on the metal surfaces in the trans. It's expected.

Wipe the stick, check the fluid again and you shouldn't have much. If you see it again, then it's in the fluid and while it looks red, it's not super clean.

20 bolts stand between you and a filter/fluid change. The whole thing can take 15 minutes to do if you are prepared.

Zip out some bolts and let it drain into a big pan. I use a Steralite storage bin from Walmart 2 foot x 3 foot. If you spill a ton of fluid with that pan, you might not want to think about a career in mechanics. Wipe the pan and magenet clean, I then give them a quick spray with brake clean to get any residue off. Put the bolts into a rag and spray them, clean is good. Pop the old filter out and the new one in. Wipe off the gasket if it has the ridges on it and metal in it (factory lifetime gasket), replace if it's a pos piece of rubber. Refill with 6 quarts of fluid, start and check the level. Add until full.
 


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