I'm planning to do my 2013 with 110k miles tomorrow. I had to buy a new jack because my old one decided it was time to retire after almost 20 years and wouldn't lift anything. For some reason I'm extra nervous about this fluid change. I think it's stressing me out thinking I won't be able to get the pan rail level and I'll be on my own racing the clock towards the end to avoid the fluid getting to hot. I also worry about spinning the wheels to 2nd gear with it on jack stands. I bought some wheel chocks but with the back end up so high will they still be safe to use?
I'm also worried about what the fluid will look like coming out.
You will be fine. The worst part is the getting up and down if you are doing this yourself.
Crack the fill plug loose
BEFORE you drain the trans. I had no problem getting an 8mm hex key on the fill plug, and I did use a small length of pipe as a cheater for leverage. I did cut down the short side of a 10mm hex key to loosen the drain plug, there is not much room between the pan and the crossover pipe.
You can rest the level on the pan screws, that should get you close, and you can recheck level of the trans once the pan is removed.
Approximately 5-1/2 quarts of fluid is what you will take on a drain and fill with OE style pan, I think ~2 quarts more with a PPE pan.
If you have a cheapy inch-lb torque wrench,
be careful as the pan screws only need ~88 in-lb, which is not very much past snug. I always check my torque wrench on a different bolt thats already tight (like a 10mm elsewhere on the truck), just to get the feel for the wrench
(I have seen and experienced snapped bolts from a non-working torque wrench). I
always set my wrench to minimum torque after use.
I tightened my pan bolts in 2 steps, first to 50 in-lbs, then to 88 in-lbs.
Once the pan is replaced, it should take ~3 quarts on the initial fill, then 2 quarts or so after starting the engine.
