01 transmission fluid & filter change - a couple of tips/tricks/questions

There always seem to be a couple of little hangups that occur every time I do something I haven't done before, and this job was no exception, so I wanted to mention the things that I didn't anticipate or that would've helped me.

This is for an 01 LeSabre, which has the 4T65E tranny.

First of all, the filter o-ring. After finally managing to twist and pull the old filter out of there, the o-ring was still stuck up inside the tranny. I had no clue how to get it out of there without scratching everything to hell. I wasn't psyched about bending the lip down with a screwdriver and trying to pull it out with pliers, and I was even less psyched about trying to jam a pilot bearing puller up inside it, so I said the hell with it and I left the old one in there. Hopefully that will be fine, but if someone can post how they like to remove the old one for future reference, I'd love to hear it.

Secondly, jamming the new filter into the tranny. The filter is simply held in place by the pickup tube being jammed into the o-ring hole. I pushed as hard as I could on this thing and twisted it and everything but it only went in so far. Only when I went to put the pan back on could I tell that it wasn't seated fully. I had to allow the pan itself to push the filter into position as I torqued it back on. as I recall there was a wear mark inside the pan after I took it off, which would imply that whoever put the pan on last (maybe even the factory) did the same thing. Can that possibly be the right way to do it? I didn't want to take a rubber mallet to the thing...

Third, the instructions that come with the filter say that the gasket can be held in place using "a small amount of grease" or something like that. Makes sense, but does it matter what kind of grease? Any grease at all? This is a rubbery foamy gasket that comes with it btw.

Anyway I only did the 7 quarts that came out of the thing and replaced them with supertech dexron vi and everything seems to be fine so far, knock on wood, but I figure it might help some other newbie to read about these issues ahead of time...

Happy thanksgiving everyone!

When I did my tranny fluid/filter change, I had no issues seating the new filter. Is it possible that two rings got jammed in there?

There was an o-ring in the package that I did not install, and the one stuck up in the tranny seemed to be just like that one, so I would say no...

There always seem to be a couple of little hangups that occur every time I do something I haven't done before, and this job was no exception, so I wanted to mention the things that I didn't anticipate or that would've helped me.

This is for an 01 LeSabre, which has the 4T65E tranny.

First of all, the filter o-ring. After finally managing to twist and pull the old filter out of there, the o-ring was still stuck up inside the tranny. I had no clue how to get it out of there without scratching everything to hell. I wasn't psyched about bending the lip down with a screwdriver and trying to pull it out with pliers, and I was even less psyched about trying to jam a pilot bearing puller up inside it, so I said the hell with it and I left the old one in there. Hopefully that will be fine, but if someone can post how they like to remove the old one for future reference, I'd love to hear it.

Secondly, jamming the new filter into the tranny. The filter is simply held in place by the pickup tube being jammed into the o-ring hole. I pushed as hard as I could on this thing and twisted it and everything but it only went in so far. Only when I went to put the pan back on could I tell that it wasn't seated fully. I had to allow the pan itself to push the filter into position as I torqued it back on. as I recall there was a wear mark inside the pan after I took it off, which would imply that whoever put the pan on last (maybe even the factory) did the same thing. Can that possibly be the right way to do it? I didn't want to take a rubber mallet to the thing...

Third, the instructions that come with the filter say that the gasket can be held in place using "a small amount of grease" or something like that. Makes sense, but does it matter what kind of grease? Any grease at all? This is a rubbery foamy gasket that comes with it btw.

Anyway I only did the 7 quarts that came out of the thing and replaced them with supertech dexron vi and everything seems to be fine so far, knock on wood, but I figure it might help some other newbie to read about these issues ahead of time...

Happy thanksgiving everyone!

Not sure what you mean by an o-ring in the hole for the filter. There is a seal that's pressed up into the bore. No o-ring that I'm aware of. To remove the seal, I use a pilot bearing removal tool and with a couple of pulls, it comes right out. To install the filter seal, use a socket the same size as the seal and tap it in with a hammer.

To seat the filter, put a little vaseline or fluid on the neck of the filter and lightly tap it in with a rubber mallet. The gasket sounds like a cheap one whereas the original which is embedded with steel can be reused if not torn, etc. No grease is needed for the gasket.

And you're done!

Thanks for the reply. "Seal" is a better word for it... I had been calling it an o-ring just because that's what the instructions and some people on another forum had called it. I had wanted to use a pilot bearing puller as you suggest but I was worried about scraping up the walls of the hole with it and possibly creating metal shavings. The suggestion of grease for the gasket in the instructions was, I believe, simply to hold the gasket flat on the pan while you reattach it.

I'm not sure how it would have felt going back in with the new seal rather than the old, but they both seemed extremely tight and I think I'd have had to do some real hammering to get it in there... certainly not a light tap! Seems to be the way these things go for me. Bad car karma? Who knows.

I did save the old gasket in case I have leaks with the new one but so far I think it's okay. Thanks again...

I did save the old gasket in case I have leaks with the new one but so far I think it's okay. Thanks again...

The original gasket was designed to be reused. IIRC the originals have a metal piece embedded at the holes for the bolts to help with keeping the pressure from deforming the pan at each screw hole and for heat transfer. The replacement probably was all rubber?

You might want to reuse the original the next time you change the filter or just drop to chnage the oil without a filter change.

BTW, the way I hold the gasket in place is with three pieces of thread. I put the gasket on the pan and tie a piece of thread at three locations to hold it. I put in bolts and then pull on the thread and break it to remove from the hole next to the bolt.

That is a brilliant trick with the thread. I will use that next time. Regarding the old gasket, I don't recall visible metal around the holes but it may have some embedded as it is definitely a tougher gasket. Yes, the new one is all rubber.