So when I bought my car, under my hood was a tinfoil cover over the trans-dipstick tube. I didn't really think anything of it until today when I went to install my new dipstick. It went in about 3/4's of the way and then just stopped. After putting the bird on stands I soon found out why.

So it looks like I need a new transmission fill tube as well
The good news is the bolt is off the mount so I can pull the tube out, but some fluid comes out. I didn't try to pull it all the way out since Dexron was spilling and I don't have a part for it anyway.
So how hard is this going to be? Simple swap out swap in? It looks like I can fish the old tube out through the top, and then possibly have someone fish the new one down to me while guiding it in place Suggestions please!

 

Far as I know its just replacing the tube.

 

That's what I assumed, I just wanted to make sure my assumption was correct. I was just looking around for info and I've heard horror stories of one person having to pull a head, and another having to drop the trans because they forgot to reinstall it when they reinstalled their built transmission... blah blah I just bought a used tube from e-bay so I guess I'll find out soon enough and probably bribe one of buddies with beer for an hour or two

 

how did it go? I'm having issues putting my tube in.

 

The dipstick is a bastard. I will never, ever, ever unbolt that sombitch from the head again. It was seriously a friggin nightmare. I would suggest getting a flexible one...I had my intake off and the trans on a jack and it took most of a day and 3 languages worth of cuss words. Good luck..............

 

Yeah I never tried it at home before, I heard its a pain in the ***!

 

I haven't gotten the part yet...it was in NC when I bought it on the internet, last time I tracked the package it went down to SC?? Maybe there's a hub down there, idk. Anyway I will update when I try.
Sounds like a fun time...and here I was thinking this would've been one of the easier repairs...fml
My car never came with the tube bolted up, it just kinda sits in the grommet and was zip-tied to the fuel rail...now I know why! How did you end up getting to the bolt if I decide to try and replace the bolt? Even though its a 15mm I still don't know the thread size (coarse or fine) or the length since it wasn't on the car when I got it?

 

hey guys I cut an inch off of my tube and it slips right in. the grommet still seals as long as you don't cut too far up. just grab the grommet out of a transmission slip it on the tube and cut below it. I have no adverse effects.

 

^^^^^^This is a good idea, bolts are all the same in my heads, I think its m10x1.0.but double check me thats an old memory.

Forgotvto add I also had my headers off. Honestly I cant remember what I did in the end. If you can run without it thats what id do now...maybe slot the boss on the stick so it will slip on the bolt with the bolt installed first so you have more room.

 

Not a bad idea about the slot. I was also debating removing my exhaust for some more room. That'll be more of a last resort option

(...still waiting on parts will attempt the first weekend following delivery)

 

Got the part in yesterday, if the weather gets better I will be attempting this tomorrow (19 and snowing with 20mph winds ) Still debating on reattaching the bolt vs ziptying, but leaning towards the later after reading most comments I've seen.

 

So I understand why it took therabidweasel three languages of cuss words to replace the tube. I'm on 2 languages just removing it from the car and I had some assistance. For 2 hours we tried getting this tube out. Finally we caught a break, after bending it and trying to work the dipstick out, the tube broke around the crimp. After that, it came right out.

Needless to say we were exhausted after that, so we put in a faint effort to reinstall the new tube, but decided it would be much less hassle to go with the flexible stainless one. So I think I'll be doing that.

 

I have a LS2 and 4L60E swapped into an '81 Camaro and might not have the same dipstick tube as you.
However, I could never figure out exactly where to mount it; I first mounted it with a bunch of washers to the back of the cylinder head. Since I experiment with frequent trans swaps, that position was a real pain and difficult to reach. I bet it is even tighter on a Gen IV.
Therefore I modified it. I bent the mounting bracket around the tube by about 270 degrees. I then took a 1" by 2" by 1/16" piece of steel, and drilled two holes in it. One connects to the hole in the bracket. The other now mounts to the front of my cylinder head just below the #7 header, where there is an accessory hole. It now takes me 30 seconds to remove or install the trans tube. This might not work if you have an exhaust manifold, but I have headers.
I have no idea if this would help you; unfortunately my car is in storage for the winter and I cannot include a picture.

 

Man I feel for you, it seems so trivial, but its harder to get in than nun panties.

I do remember that I crushed the tube in the already crushed area and jacked trans as high as I could to open up the tight spot by the firewall. ..thats just to get the tube in place. I used a piece of chord wrapped in a fishermans knot to pull the tube into thetrans grommet.

Just be sure to disconnect your air lid and not to crush the tube so much you cant get the dipstick in...that still doesnt get the bolt in though.

Good luck on the flex stainless, was really hoping youd tell me where I went wrong. Seriously, ive gotta go drop my trans and fear I might need the info.

Ted it sounds like you must have a lot more space than the gen iv stuff you lucky dog.

 

Yeah they seriously did not make the gen IV easy to work on... I haven't tried lowering my trans yet. Did you guys drop the tube in from the top or bring it up through the bottom? I tried both but it seemed I was almost there by bringing it up from the bottom. When I mean "almost" I'm talking about 1.5 inch away from where it looked like it would clear and slide up...which when your working on it, might as well be a mile away. Again I wasn't trying to screw up my good tube either.

Unfortunately I have manifolds on the car, if I was swapping to headers right now and had the passenger side off I might be able to get lucky with the extra room. I'll try again before the Superbowl before I drop $90 on a stainless flex tube after I already spent $50 for the tube and dipstick. Its just hard to rationalize $90 for a flex tube that looks no different than a $10 stainless dishwasher flexible waterline at home depot.

Speaking of the dishwasher waterline, it crossed my mind of buying one and cutting off the connections and cutting up my old tube and using band clamps to mount the top and bottom fittings (I hope that made sense?). But I don't know if the line would hold up to under hood temps... I just hate leaving a project unfinished so my creativity runs wild to fix it.

 

It's a bitch man! When I did my head swap, I had mine off. I ended up taking the intake back off and cut around 3/4" off the bottom where the tube enters the pan and it slid right in coming up from the bottom. I did bend one during the process though and had to order another one..

 

Have one person under the car holding the bottom to put it in the hole... When it is lined up the person above pushes...

Takes about 5-10 minutes this way. Twisting helps the removal a TON and the install a little bit.

It is a bitch but doable.

 

Yes, I know that. I often consider getting a Gen IV as another project car, but looking at how tight the engine compartment is, gives me pause. And having to remove the engine from under the car really give me pause. I sure would like a better handling car though.

Did I mention that I can even easily remove the 12 O-Clock trans-to-engine bolt from within the engine compartment.

Seriously, good luck. Lemons12 is very experienced; I would follow his advice.

Ted.

 

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to do anything today but I'll heed the advice everyone gave me when I try again.

 

Well I'm happy to say I finally got the dipstick installed!!! I bought a flexible one and replacement stock one. I lined up the flexible stainless one and I was not impressed with where I would have to mount it (it was hard to reach to fill and check). So I decided to go with the replacement. I ended up cutting off the bracket that mounts to the head, in order to help it slide down behind the engine. I also removed some air/egr tubes, wires and the coil packs off the valve covers to give me some extra clearance. Then with the help of a friend, he slid the tube down from the top while I was underneath. It kept getting caught on the firewall so I found a very long screwdriver and placed it through the bottom of the tube and convinced it around the obstacles (without actually bending it). Then I took out the grommet in the transmission (because I didn't want to pinch/tear it) and placed it on the end of the tube and tried to line up the tube with the hole. Once you get the tube in the hole, slide the grommet down into the transmission. Then have your friend push down with you guiding it into place (like Lemon suggested ). Since I cut off the bracket, I zip-tied the dipstick to the fuel rail to keep some downward pressure on it. Then I re-installed my new dipstick and took a picture! I know my engine bay is dirty and I need to hide some cables but I was excited to get this done!!


In total this project took me about 5.5 hours over three days and I lost 1 quart of transmission fluid. I also found out my engine bay was green at one point.