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Manual Transmission Check Bolt

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Old 03-30-2018, 04:13 PM
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Manual Transmission Check Bolt

My car just hit 60k and I decided it was time to change out the MTF and transfer case fluid. The transfer case fluid went by without any problems, the MTF, not so much because it took me an hour to find the check bolt.

So my fellow 6MT drivers, I decided to post pictures of the check bolt to help you out if you're going to be changing your MTF soon!






I have a few tips, some are obvious, but I always say the more information the better
-Make sure you can open your fill bolt before draining your fluid, it would suck to drain your fluid only to find out you can't refill it.
-The fill bolt is pretty hard to take off, even with a breaker bar, so you might wanna have a beaker bar to take the fill bolt off.
-The directions for changing the MTF states you have to remove the splash guard... I found this to be true, otherwise you're not getting to the check bolt and you'll potentially get MTF all over your splash guard when you're draining it. I know that it sucks to have to remove 4 bolts and like 10+ of those fucking clips that never seem to want to come off, but yes, the splash guard needs to be removed.
-Make sure your car is level when you remove your check bolt to ensure an accurate reading.

If you're curious about the type of fluid I used, for my transfer case I used Mobil 1 70w90 gear oil and for the MTF I used ACDelco Synchromesh p/n 10-4014.

Anyway, that's how my morning went, enjoy your weekend everyone!

Last edited by VanyDotK; 03-30-2018 at 04:16 PM.
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meowmeows (11-14-2018)
Old 03-30-2018, 09:31 PM
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Nice write up. I was considering changing my own fluids on my 6mt. But i have to do some research bc i dont know what a check bolt is!! Thanks to you at least i know where to find it. I just flipped 21k today so i have some time to figure it out!!
Old 03-31-2018, 02:47 PM
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The check bolt is what you use to make sure your MTF is at the right level.

I'm surprised you have such low mileage! Are you running factory Honda MTF? I heard a lot of people have 3rd gear popping out issues with the factory fluid.
Old 04-01-2018, 02:30 PM
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I unfortunately/fortunately have about a one mile
commute. Ive only used Acura for the few services ive needed so I should have Honda Mtf. Probably should look into changing it soon. Thanx for the help
Old 04-01-2018, 02:30 PM
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And i have NoT had issue with gears popping out.
Old 04-02-2018, 06:46 PM
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Thank you. Please post an update on how the synchromesh feels.after you've had time to asses
Old 04-02-2018, 10:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Rancher2005
Thank you. Please post an update on how the synchromesh feels.after you've had time to asses
I had about 19k when I purchased this car and I'm pretty sure it already had synchromesh from the original owner, I never had any 3rd gear pop out issues and for the most part my shift have been pretty smooth (up until more recently).

With that being said, my gears shifts are noticeably smoother now. More recently I would sometime not be able to shift into 1st gear and I would have to shift into 2nd then 1st. I am able to shift into 1st just fine now. I probably shouldn't have waited so long to change my fluid but I was kind of waiting for the MID to tell me when to change it (it still hasn't btw). At this point I think I'm just going to do a drain and fill yearly.
Old 04-03-2018, 01:04 AM
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Wish I saw this a month ago

that bolt was relatively hard to find! Wish I saw this a month ago when I did it.

i put the synchromesh in mine, but since I bought the car used at 130k miles, i don’t know if it had been changed before. Shifts much smoother now
Old 04-03-2018, 10:48 AM
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Originally Posted by napalmandsillyputty
that bolt was relatively hard to find! Wish I saw this a month ago when I did it.

i put the synchromesh in mine, but since I bought the car used at 130k miles, i don’t know if it had been changed before. Shifts much smoother now
How much fluid did you end up using? I know the manual says 2.2 quarts, but I found it was closer to 2.4 almost 2.5.
Old 04-03-2018, 12:03 PM
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Originally Posted by VanyDotK
How much fluid did you end up using? I know the manual says 2.2 quarts, but I found it was closer to 2.4 almost 2.5.
i cant remember exactly how much came out of the overfill bolt... seems like I started with 2.2, but when no fluid came out of the overfill bolt, I added a little more 2 or 3 times before it finally started coming out...
Old 04-03-2018, 12:37 PM
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Originally Posted by napalmandsillyputty


i cant remember exactly how much came out of the overfill bolt... seems like I started with 2.2, but when no fluid came out of the overfill bolt, I added a little more 2 or 3 times before it finally started coming out...
Good to know, I took a look at the service manual recently posted and it says for a manual transmission fluid change, it should take 2.1L or 2.2 qts, I looked at left over bottle I have and it's down to about 550L so I was wondering why I used so much.
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