Change Trans/Gear oil

I want to drain and replace the gear oil in our 2004 Mainship 34T, my problem is the manual says to drain the oil by removing the plug in the back side of the transmission which is about three inches above the bilge, this does not leave enough room for any kind of container to catch the oil. Do most folks just drain into the bilge and then clean up the mess? Any tips on changing the filter?

Thanks Ray

You may have to suck the oil out thru the dipstick hole with a pump. I have two drain plugs in mine so its fairly easy as there is plenty of room under it. I would not let it go into the bilge or the mess will be bigger than you can imagine, at the very least you would throw some diapers down to soak up the or Zorball or something. Pump is the best way. Cant help on the filter.

I have a small diameter copper tube that I use to suck out the oil through the dipstick. It gets almost the entire amount of oil out of my transmissions. I would not let the oil drain into the bilge. It will get into any/every nook and cranny that there is in the bilge and be an ongoing problem.

Ray said:

I want to drain and replace the gear oil in our 2004 Mainship 34T.... Any tips on changing the filter?

Thanks Ray

Click to expand...

Ray
You don't mention tranny make...mine is a ZF... if same see below

I was able to cut a shallow plastic container and drain small batches thru the plug and replaced the plug in between.
You can get most of it thru the filter housing with a pump after removing the cap & filter then drain the any remaining via the plug.
The plug thread is 1\2" NPT and I plan to install a ball valve and hose barb at next change as I have a spare port on my oil change pump and I can use it for tranny as a temp or permanent hook up....TBD

If ZF the filter is a cleanable metal screen... I got a new one so I could change quickly and clean later and have a spare. It's fairly coarse screen and was a quick clean w solvent.
Parts & service manuals should be in the library section of TF.
I'm on the tablet and don't have laptop hooked up... I believe you need to access TF via PC for the library.

Change gear oil

Don

The gear is a ZFE 80-1A, mine has a filter according to the manual which I ordered from a EBAY vender. I liked your ideal of cutting a plastic container to fit under the gear. Now just waiting on the filter to get it done.

Thanks for the help, this forum is great!!!

Ray

Suck out what you can through the dipstick hole. That should get most of it. Then get a 1gal oil jug and cut the side of it out and you should be able to fit it under gear. If not get a 1qt jug. Those make decent funnels and catch pans. Should not be too much left in there at that point.

No need to replace filter, just clean. Do replace the oring seals.

I would not want an EBAY filter in there unless you can verify the quality. Too much crap is sold on EBAY to trust an expensive gears health to.