Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi All

So I'd like to change the gearbox oil and have read the threads and I can see that broadly there are two options

1. Through the gear lever
2. Through the hole on the side

1 can be done without the need for a lift or a pit which I don't have so that's the method I chose, however - how do you loosen the nut - I have small hands but even so there was no way I could get the necessary purchase on the nut! I'm not too keen on drilling a hole in the passenger footwell as I've seen on a few threads.

I've put a few pictures below to show y'all what I think is the drain hole bolt

Any ideas on how to do this would be greatly appreciated!







Cheers
Gareth

Salut Gareth

As you have to drain the oil before filling it up again, I don't see any advantage to re-filling through a removed gear lever - I mean the old oil has almost certainly partially drained into your sweatshirt sleeve so you're going to be mucky and messy - I stay clear of the interior in this state. So, as you're underneath anyway, with oil all over yourself and the floor (or drip tray if you're that way inclined), might as well stay there and re-fill through the normal hole. Use a big syringe or one of those pump-thingies to refill to the correct level.

You could also forward think and fit a drain-valve so that next time you'd actually be clean enough to consider filling through the gear lever.

@+

Vernon

Yup - I agree with Vernon.

You can undo the drain/fill plugs with one of these, there are several available on eBay right now:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Snap-On-1-2-Dri ... 1775462633

1/2" Drive, Double Square (8 point) 9/16" Socket. You may need a breaker bar to get enough leverage. I had no 6/12 point hex socket or spanner/wrench that would even begin to budge the plugs.

Somebody in here once described doing the filling from above the engine with a funnel and hose down to the side filler hole. Works perfectly and makes you feel very clever! I put a 2-3" length of 1/2" copper pipe in the end of my plastic hose so that it locates nicely in the filler hole and doesn't slip out.

Nick

Your pictures show the fill hole bolt on the side of the gearbox, the drain hole bolt is underneath, but I think you were really asking for the location of the fill hole bolt?.



It's a bit fiddly, but quite simple if you use a suction gun to replace the oil drained from the gearbox one of these on ebay will do the trick and for only ?6.95 including postage.




http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OIL-SUCTION-G ... 5d4193ead8

A top tip is always to remove the fill plug first. You don't want to drain the box to find you can't refill it.

If you can't get the fill plug out you still have a box with oil so can drive it somewhere to get them to do it.

Cheers Guys

So breaker bar bought and the socket ordered! Last quick question how do you all get to the nut? Through the engine bay?

Was thinking of the following

- take the car for a run to warm up the fluids
- lift the front of the car and undo the filler plug via the engine bay and breaker bar plus socket
- undo the drain bolt
- lower the car from the stands to empty the rest of the oil
- replace the drain plug
- fill the gearbox (I already have the syringe thingy) till some leaks out (I will be on a level surface etc)
- put the fill plug back in

Take it for a quick spin to see what it's like - have I missed anything?

Cheers
Gareth

Lots of great discussions in here about getting the car off the ground. My technique, limited by space and lack of fancy equipment, is to reverse the car up onto a pair of ramps then jack the front up with a hydraulic jack and lower it on to jack stands placed either under the dampers or the chassis vacuum tank (protected with some thick, solid wood). Then it's off the ground but still level.

Then undo the fill plug from underneath. I don't know if it's possible from the engine bay. Seems unlikely. Since you have the syringe you can do everything else from underneath too.

Nick