Changed manual transmission fluid

[ionlover]

Today I changed manual transmission fluid in my Ion Quad Coupe with 123k miles on it. I used AC Delco Manual Transmission Fluid part 88861800. The car had been driven about an hour previous so the engine was still warm. I removed the fill plug first (to make sure it would come out) - as soon as it cleared the hole fluid started to come out. I didn't measure how much exactly but at least 3 oz. dribbled out before it stopped (no, the car wasn't tilted). After scratching my head I proceeded with the rest of the task.
I'm just curious how they put that much fluid in the tranny and got the plug in before the extra drained out. Is fluid put in when the transmission is assembled? Is there some special method? Or is it because the fluid was warm and it expanded? Just wondering....

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2007 Ion Quad Coupe
1999 SL2
1995 SC2
1993 SL1

[billysvue]

DOn't sweat it, your trans didn't. It's not much compared to the total.

WHen I drained mine( twice, so far, every 30K) a gallon came out. It's supposed to have aprox 1/2 that.

GO figure.

[kevin.st56]

would it be possible to for you to get a pic and circle where the check/fill and drain bolts are on the tranny?
I know its on the driver side, but I haven't been able to find anything obvious.

[billysvue]

remove the driverside wheel and fenderskirts and it will be(obvious.)

[ruley73]

When I changed my fluid, I only removed the drain plug, and let it all drain out. Only 1.5 quarts came out. I put 2 quarts back in and called it a day.

My manual transmission has a filler cap visible under the hood along with the fill & drain plugs. Does anyone else's have a filler cap? I ask because no one else has confirmed/denied this when I've brought it up in the past and I'm pretty sure my 2003 Ion didn't have it either.

[billysvue]

I think 06was the first- my 05 doesn't have it- have to pump it in from the side fill hole.

[ionlover]

@ruley73 - Mine is a 2007 Ion 3 Quad Coup with the 2.2L engine and 5 speed manual transmission. It doesn't have the tranny filler tube like yours.

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2007 Ion Quad Coupe - "Pepper"
1999 SL2
1995 SC2
1993 SL1

[2006 ion2]

My 06 and 07 both lacked the tube. They have instead a full hole on top of the case that had the same style plug as the fill to plug.

[kevin.st56]

Originally Posted by billysvue

remove the driverside wheel and fenderskirts and it will be(obvious.)

ill take another look this weekend.
I only took the wheel off, but didn't remove the fenderskirts

[2006 ion2]

On my car both are accessible by just removing the tire

[ionlover]

Just a note to throw in about the 2007 with the 2.2L - the drain plug is right next to a frame member so a standard 8mm allen wrench won't fit. If you have the ability I suppose you could just shorten an allen wrench. I bought a stubby version off ebay.

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2007 Ion 3 Quad Coupe - "Pepper"
1999 SL2
1995 SC2
1993 SL1

[ruley73]

What I was referring to is not a filler tube. It is just a black, plastic cap that screws on the top of the transmission next to a fill plug that looks the same as the lower fill & drain plugs. I can't believe that every manual transmission that I've seen listed on ebay (and confirmed to be removed from an Ion) has this cap, but yet no one else on here has found it on their car.

I've posted a picture below from one of the many examples found on ebay. This one was removed from a 2005 Ion, but every year from 2003-2007 seemed to be covered among all the donor cars in the listings I looked at. I noticed that on the 2003 examples the cap is red instead of black.

F23_cap_and_plug.JPG

The part number for the cap is 93368573 and according to gmpartsgiant.com, every vehicle that uses the F23 manual transmission also has this cap (no Saturns listed because they don't check applications for Saturns).

It would be nice if someone could post a picture of what their transmission looks like to confirm the cap isn't there.

[kevin.st56]

ill check mine this weekend

[ionlover]

Okay, I looked at my car today - and there is the filler cap!
Thank you ruley73! Now I can add the rest of the 2nd quart of transmission fluid. Thank you.

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2007 Ion 3 Quad Coupe - "Pepper"
1999 SL2
1995 SC2
1993 SL1