Installation of engine and trans bypass on a 2003 Montana(many pics)

[olympic]

I did another engine/trans bypass filter installation on the newest van in my fleet(2003 Montana w/37,000km). I documented the process for those who may be interested in doing something similar. Here we go

First things first, pour in a bottle of Amsoil engine flush and run at high idle for 20 minutes.

Next, drain the engine oil, remove the filter and remove the tranny pan and filter. While that's draining, remove the bumper.

Here's what the tranny pan, filter and magnet looked like upon removal. Kinda disturbing for a vehichle only half way through the warranty period. This is why I am no longer a fan of "power flushes". All this stuff could get stirred up and sucked into the transmission.

I took the pan and magnet over to the parts washer and gave them a good cleaning followed by a final rinse with brake cleaner to remove and remaining residue.

Next we install an Amsoil BMK-13 dual remote filter mount along with BE-90 and SDF-15 filters. I made a "T" shaped bracket out of angle iron and flat iron. It attaches to the frame with 2 large self tapping screws and one 1/4" bolt up through the lip on the battery tray. I also modified one of the brackets Amsoil provides to work the way I needed.

Here are the oil lines and spin-on adapter assembled and ready to go in. Everything is a little dirty since I salvaged this system from one of my Vibes.

While the tranny pan is still off, I drilled a hole in the dip stick tube and welded in a piece of 1/4" steel tubing to act as the return port for the trans bypass. After it had cooled off, I flushed the tube with brake cleaner and then blew it out with compressed air.

[ October 08, 2004, 05:03 AM: Message edited by: olympic ]

 

[olympic]

Time to re-install the drain plug, tranny pan and new trans filter and pour in a bunch of fluids. 6L of Esso XD-3 0w30 and 10 quarts of Amsoil ATF.

The owners manual states that a pan drop will remove 7L of ATF and the entire trans holds 12.7L. I measured the recovered ATF to make sure...close enough for me

So that means ~6L of ATF remains trapped up in the valve body and torque converter. To purge the remaining fluid I attach a piece of 3/8" hose to the trans cooler return line, place the other end in a drain container, start the engine and run it until 6L has come out.

Now it's math time. The trans holds 12.7L, I removed 7 by dropping the pan, then I added 9.5L(10q) and purged 6L and then add 1L for the capacity of the BE-90 filter. Works out to about 4.5L that needs to be added at this point.

Now we install the trans bypass filter. The BP-80A mount does not come with any fittings. A trip to Canadian Tire netted the following: two 1/8" NPT elbows, one 1/4" barbed fitting(outlet), one 3/8" barbed fitting(inlet), and one 3/8" "T".

I installed the mount on the drivers side frame rail with some large self-tapping screws. The "T" gets spliced into the return line of the tranny cooling circuit.

The 3/8" line on the left brings ATF to the filter from the "T" shown earlier, the 1/4" line on the right returns the cleaned ATF to the fitting I welded onto the dipstick tube.

From further back....

All that's left to do is run the vehicle up to operating temperature, watch for leaks, check the fluid levels and top-off as necessary. Then re-install the bumper.

Now sit back, drink a few beer, admire your handywork and enjoy your newly voided GM warranty!

[ October 08, 2004, 04:56 AM: Message edited by: olympic ]

 

[JHZR2]

very nice work!

My only problem is that when all those new hoses need to be replaced, Id guess itll be a real pain.

But its a real nice setup, congratulations

JMH

 

[olympic]

The rubber hoses "should" last the life of the vehicle. In my case that's about 5 years but I'll certainly keep an eye on them. I'd have to remove the bumper to do that which only takes about 20 minutes. 4 screws and 8 plastic pins are all that holds it on. The hose Amsoil supplies with the BMK-13 is top quality, it should last forever.

The trans bypass draws oil from the cold side of the cooling circuit and doesn't see a whole lot of pressure. So the hoses shouldn't be degraded very quickly.

 

[Tommy]

Have you considered mounting the filter on the radiator side of the bumper channel? With a right-angle drill one can drill a few holes, put in some threaded inserts, and mount the filter head, all without disassembling anything from the vehicle - this method worked well for me with my Echo.

Nice work - you are more patient than I am!

 

[olympic]

I tried fitting the BMK-13 between the rad and bumper, there just wasn't enough room. Plus the lines would have had to be pretty long or take rather precarious routes back to the engine. The place I mounted it provides the oil lines a straight shot into the engine bay and minimizes hose length.

The only downside is the filters are vulnerable to an impact. The SDF-15 sits just inside the bumper cover so any kind of hit to that corner would probably rupture the filter. I've warned all my drivers to get out and check for oil leaks if they ever hit something.

 

[msparks]

sweet thanks for taking the time to post those pics. You did an awesome job.

FYI here is a cut-away of one of the by-pass filters. They really are top quality engineered.

 

[olympic]

Thanks for the pic. I figured they looked something like that inside but the huge spring is a surprise. It keeps the media tightly compressed so it makes sense.

So far I'm impressed. Even the baby BE-90 works as advertised, keeping insoluables at 0% for 25,000 miles. I'm going to try stretching that interval out and see just how long it will last before plugging.

As for the one on the transmission, I've chosen 60,000 miles as the change interval but that's just a wild guess on my part. I'll start checking in on it after 30k or so to make sure it's still getting hot.

 

[Ken2]

quote:

---

This is why I am no longer a fan of "power flushes". All this stuff could get stirred up and sucked into the transmission.

---

All the flush machines I've seen are not power. They just connect to a cooler line, take fluid being pumped by the transmission's own pump, fill a chamber, push a diaphragm, and displace new fluid back to the transmission through the cooler return line. The black stuff you found looks like normal wear particles from the clutch facing. I think Auto-Rx would lift all this and suspend it, then it would be removed during the fluid replacement. Of course, your bypass filter keeps the transmission clean permanently.


Ken

 

[olympic]

Alot of shops pour in a can of tranny cleaner before the fluid exchange, that's where the "power flush" comes in. I would imagine that this stuff stirrs up alot of the junk that you see pictured above. Not to mention what the detergent in the new ATF will do.

I also don't like it when they don't drop the pan, clean it and change the filter. Years ago they convinced me that the flush/fluid exchange was good enough. I bought an 01 Montana brand new and had it flushed every 30k. At 150K I dropped the pan only to find it totally loaded with sludge and metallic shavings, very nasty! From now on, the pan will come off during a fluid excahnge on my cars.

 

[pajim17057]

Hi, I've been lurking around for a few week. This is my first post. I have been thinking about installing a bypass or in line tranny filter on my wifes 99 chevy tracker. I am wondering if the bp-80a would work as an inline with the restrictor removed? Would it flow enough fluid? Or would I need a perma cool full flow filter set up? Would a full flow be any better then the factory filter? I'm a bit confused.

 

[msparks]

quote:

---

Originally posted by pajim17057:
I am wondering if the bp-80a would work as an inline with the restrictor removed? Would it flow enough fluid? Or would I need a perma cool full flow filter set up? Would a full flow be any better then the factory filter? I'm a bit confused.

---

No it would not work as you can see in my post above with the picture, the media is very dense. You would not get the flow needed, even with the restrictor removed.

A full flow tranny filter would be better than the stock filter. Matter of fact allison transmissions come with a spin on FF filter. Combine that with a by-pass filter and your trans fluid would virtually stay clean forever. You could easily run the fluid over 100,000 miles and maybe even double that.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Well I'll be a monkey's uncle. The Super Duties sure using an NTZ filter from the factory.

Look! Even has the NTZ logo on the media!