Hi,

I am doing preventive maintenance on my Automatic Transmission. I have a few questions:

1. The drain bolt from the casing seems large (my biggest wrenches are only 21 mm and 25 mm). Is it 22-mm, 23-mm or 24-mm wrench that I need?

2. I am "lazy" and do not want to remove the connection between the oil cooler and return hose (labor-intensive as you have to remove battery and battery tray and reconnects etc.); just want to drain ATF from the drain bolt. If I just fill and refill ATF, run the engine and transmission; repeat the drain-refill cycles a few times (draining the ATF out through the drain bolt alone): can this flush out the ATF from the cooler adequately?

Does ATF flow through the cooler ONLY when the ATF is hot or doea it circulate through the cooler all the time? Sorry I do not have a working knowledge of the Auto Transmission as the Haynes manual does not have a diagram of how the AT works.

3. At stop lights, do you shift to neutral (like a manual trans)? I seems to me that if you shift to neutral, you do not have to apply the brake (easier on your R foot) and less wear on the automatic clutch discs.

But shifting in and out of an Automatic Trans: can it cause damage down the road?

Thanks for any advice.

cn

1998 V70