Maintenance of Gearbox .... Transmission Fluid Change

[sventchik]

Hi there,

It's comming to make the oil change of the gearbox, as Mitsubishi recommands to make it every 5 years / 100.000 km.

Does anybody already make it ? By himself or in a service centre ? What kind of oil ?


Here some tutorial : http://mmc-manuals.ru/manuals/i-miev/online/Service_Manual_2011_2012/2011/22/html/M122120040001400ENG.HTM

 

[mdbuilder]

No, but that looks pretty simple to do yourself.

 

[siai47]

Pretty sure there is no requirement for any EP (extreme pressure) lube like rear axle oil. I always ran the lowest viscosity oil I could find, like a 0W20 synthetic engine oil. I finally found some quarts of GM EV-1 transaxle oil which has a viscosity about the same as water. Worked just fine--still in the car. The key is lower viscosity = less drag = more range. It's just a straight helical gear speed reducer that's really overbuilt for the car. There is a bottom drain plug and a side fill plug. Warm it up, drain it and refill with what you decide to use. There are no filters but there is a magnet to catch any fine metallic particles. Unfortunately, it cannot be reached to be cleaned or serviced without disassembling the transmission. I think the original fill might have been ATF but don't hold me to that.

 

[Don]

I think the original fill might have been ATF but don't hold me to that.

Pretty sure I read that somewhere too. Unless you live in a really cold climate though, 10W30 motor oil would be a better choice - ATF isn't a great lubricant

Don

 

[mdbuilder]

Anyone bother to read the attachment?

Brand name: Mitsubishi genuine Dia-Queen ATF SP III
Filling amount: 0.75 L

 

[sventchik]

you're right mdbuilder..... but my question was more to find an equivalent for that expensive & rare Mitsubishi oil....

Here in Europe, it's almost impossible to find it, and if, then it's a 4 liter bottle..... when you need just 1 small liter...

 

[JoeS]

you're right mdbuilder..... but my question was more to find an equivalent for that expensive & rare Mitsubishi oil....

svenchik, you're right - at first, I thought, "no problem", let Google do the looking. After unsuccessfully querying many of the major brands for an equivalent, I'm coming to realize that we indeed have a rare (and wonderful) little car, as most of the major brands don't even offer the i-MiEV as a search option. Castrol actually had the i-MiEV listed, but showed nothing... perhaps directly approaching a major brand with a query as to what they carry as an equivalent for the Mitsubishi genuine Dia-Queen ATF SP III?

More searching showed we are not alone, with discussions and suggested solutions on a thread identical to ours:

http://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...ain/522363-diamond-atf-sp-iii-equivalent.html

 

[kiev]

Any Standard Pressure (i.e. not intended for Extreme Pressure) mineral oil based ATF with class III viscosity would work fine, e.g. Mercon III, or for example

Valvoline maxlife ATF,

Suitable!for!use!in:!!
Ford!MERCON®,!MERCON®V,!MERCON®SP!and!MERCON®LV!applications!
GM!DEXRON®@II,!DEXRON®@III!and!DEXRON®@VI!applications!
Nissan/Infiniti!Matic!D,!Matic!J,!Matic!K,!and!Matic!S!applications!
Mitsubishi!Diamond!SP@II!and!SP@III!applications!
Hyundai/!KIA!SP@II,!SP@III,!SP@IV!and!SPH@IV!applications!!
Subaru!ATF!and!ATF@HP!applications!
Toyota/Lexus!Type!T,!T@III,!T@IV!and!WS!
Honda/Acura!ATF@Z1!(except!in!CVTs)!applications!
Allison!C4!and!TES@389!applications!
Mercedes!Benz!NAG1!applications!
Volvo!passenger!car!applications!and!STD!1273.41!
Volkswagen!TL5216

 

[GRynners]

Funnily enough, I just completed this myself on our Citroen C-Zero at about 18,500 miles. In the UK, we have a retailer called Halfords and it cost me £9.99 for 1 litre of ATF SP III specification gearbox oil (ATF is automatic transmission fluid). I spent a couple of pounds on a syringe to refill the gearbox. The box is certainly smoother on take up and it was very easy to complete. I had noticed the box was a little jerky on take up recently. Previous posters are correct, there is no magnet on the sump plug, but I changed the oil after a 30 mile trip and I can't see any signs of metal dwarf. The original gearbox oil was black, but smelt fine.

An easy maintenance action, and as it takes so little oil, it is easy to catch. Am certainly happier knowing it has been done!

 

[JoeS]

... it cost me £9.99 for 1 litre of ATF SP III specification gearbox oil (ATF is automatic transmission fluid) I spent a couple of pounds on a syringe to refill the gearbox. The box is certainly smoother on take up and it was very easy to complete. I had noticed the box was a little jerky on take up recently...

I'm confused: GRynners, are you saying that there was some slop in the geartrain that is now dampened after the oil change, or is there a different meaning to "a little jerky on take up"? Anyone else do the gearbox oil change and notice any difference?

 

[PV1]

Mine was changed by the dealer a couple of years ago, but I don't recall any difference in feel.

 

[d3matt]

So is changing the gearbox oil what is referred to as "Drain the reducer" in the Peugeot iOn servicing book? If so, this should be done every 5 years/62.500 miles.

And I've just had a look underneath the iOn. Is this the gearbox drain and fill plugs?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZajqyxI2ag7NQlsC3

 

[DBMandrake]

Any Standard Pressure (i.e. not intended for Extreme Pressure) mineral oil based ATF with class III viscosity would work fine, e.g. Mercon III, or for example

Valvoline maxlife ATF,

Is an ATF the right thing to use in what is essentially a single speed manual transmission and differential ?

The properties of a typical ATF - which is designed to work with wet friction clutches, a torque converter, and act as a high pressure hydraulic fluid for a valve control block are not even remotely similar to the properties of a typical 75w-90 manual gearbox oil, which is much, much thicker, primarily due to there being no pumped oil flow in most manual gearboxes. (So the oil has to be sticky enough to cling to the gears)

Not saying you're wrong, but I find it an odd choice if they did use a standard, thin ATF fluid in this application...

 

[Don]

75W-90 Hypoid Gear Oil is usually only called for in differentials which have hypoid gears, where the teeth 'wipe' across each other which cause a shearing action of the oil. Modern manual transmissions don't call for it's use anymore

Guess what Dodge called for as lubricant in a 5 speed manual transmission in a one ton diesel dually truck? Yup - ATF. Like you, we thought many other lubricants would be better for that application, so we used 10W-30 motor oil in ours with success

Don

 

[d3matt]

See https://youtu.be/NW6liZWTBgo
Oil for the gearbox is ATF SP III, such as TRIPLE QX ATF Plus Transmission Fluid

 

[Aerowhatt]

I'm confused: GRynners, are you saying that there was some slop in the geartrain that is now dampened after the oil change, or is there a different meaning to "a little jerky on take up"? Anyone else do the gearbox oil change and notice any difference?

I just recently changed it on both of our cars. Could not tell a difference in drive-ability or sound. Interesting that the Ion, etc., is calling for a much different frequency for changing it than here in the US with the NA iMiev?

I was able to get the Mitsu brand oil from White Bear Mitsubishi online parts store (on amazon) for $12.88 per quart with free shipping

Aerowhatt

 

[GdB]

I just noticed this link is dead:

...
Here some tutorial : http://mmc-manuals.ru/manuals/i-miev/online/Service_Manual_2011_2012/2011/22/html/M122120040001400ENG.HTM

A few years ago I had downloaded the 2012 manual from that link using wget, and fixed it to work from a local hard drive.
So as a token of appreciation to all the useful resources from users on http://myimiev.com, here it is (zipped):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SSpZZTD0z7mwrOF9jJ4OsD1Fl-MStTLs/view?usp=sharing

 

[drcat]

Hello strangers and happy new year
Castrol recomends the following for i-miev:
Reduction gearbox F1FE1A:
-Castrol Transmax ATF Dexron VI-Mercon LV Multivehicle
-Castrol Transmax ATF Dex/Merc Multivehicle
-Castrol Transmax ATF Z
-Castrol Transmax CVT

For ABS/Brakes, Castrol REACT Performance DOT 4

For c-zero it has no advices on the https://applications.castrol.com/oilselector/en_gb/c/recommendation?vehicleType=cars&manufacturer=mitsubishi-(eu)&model=i-miev-ha-(2009-)&modelType=i-miev-(2009-)

but if you'll change it to ru-ru region, you'll see only Castrol Transmax CVT fits it.

 

[Don]

I guess it's no surprise that Castrol recommends a Castrol lubricant for just about every vehicle made - What is surprising here though is that they recommend four very different ATF's for our gearbox . . . . which might lead you to believe that any ATF made would be suitable for the job. But, bear in mind that Mitsubishi doesn't recommend any of those four, probably so they can sell you a $3 bottle of 'Mitsu approved' ATF for $12.88

Nothing against Castrol - I have their Transmax in the one vehicle I own that has an automatic transmission, mostly because it took several drain and refills to get near a 90% change and the Transmax I used *is* Ford approved, *and* since I needed 16 quarts of it, the $5 per quart price was much, much cheaper than Ford Mercon LV at about $12 per quart

My thinking is, you probably could use most any ATF in the gearbox, because it's not an automatic transmission . . . . it's just a gearbox with a few seals which need lubrication and a new bottle of anything is probably better than the 8 year old stuff most of us still have in our cars. But, is saving 8 or 9 bucks once every 8 years really a good enough reason to not buy the bottle of Mitsu approved stuff? For me, I don't think so

Don

 

[michael8554]

Changed the transmission fluid on my 2011 55K miler.

Bought 1 litre of Febi 29934 ATF.

Spec "Mitsubishi SPII/III / Special ATF / Dia Queen ATF J2"

Black stuff drained out, red stuff went in, 750ml.

Used a 250ml syringe with a long plastic tube to fill while the car was level.

Also checked the two Shift Position switches for correct orientation in Neutral.