Is it possible to drain and refill transmission fluid, without lifting the car? I could take to a shop to get it lifted by the tires and have them change it, but I want to save money since I’m 18 and in college. I’ve heard you can refill using the reverse light method but I have no clue what they are talking about.

 

 

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Don't consider heat as a 'last resort' strategy.  Instead, make it part of your basic strategy.   
As mentioned by someone else earlier, don't use a flame source (i.e. don't use a torch).  Instead, use an electric heat gun (inexpensive, easy to find, easy and fairly safe to use).  I would suggest that you heat the area around the plug for about 2 minutes.  Then you can go with whatever wrench strategy you decide to use.   
The square-head type of plug (whether male or female) isn't designed for high-torque, so it's not too hard to round off the corners if you get sloppy.  Make sure that you choose a wrench that fits as closely as possible.  In fact, a pipe wrench (a big one) may prove to be the most suitable because these are designed to self-tighten (if you use them properly, that is).  Another option is an 8-point ('double-square'), 1/2"-drive 17mm socket fitted to a 24" breaker bar.  The type of socket that I'm talking won't be available at your local tool store.  You can order one from Toolpan.com ($7.50), but it may be a few weeks before they can ship. 
No matter what wrench you choose, one of the challenges can be positioning.  With a four-sided plug head, a pipe wrench can only be installed in four positions -- i.e.  stepping around the plug head at 90-degree intervals.  An open-end wrench is much the same, although they're designed so that the wrench end is about 10 degrees off centre, meaning that if the plug head is oriented at 12 o'clock / 3 o'clock / 6 o'clock / 9 o'clock then the wrench end will be at (for the 3 o'clock example), either 2:45 or 3:15, achieved by flipping the wrench over.  The double-square socket on a non-ratcheting breaker bar will let you adjust the breaker bar position at 45-degree increments.

I luckily own a heat gun, I’ll make sure to heat the bolt prior too removal, a head indiction bolt remover would be nice if they weren’t serval hundred dollars. I will look into getting a good impact socket to fit the transmission bolt, and invest in a larger wrench. Currently I have the most basic set of wrenches and a medium size breaker bar which isn’t much bigger than the 3/4in. When removing the starter bolt I had to add a pipe to the back of the wrench just to get the bolt to turn.


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I'll add to the other comment on accesability to the plugs with the impact gun. It'd be tough to get in there with a good seating. Maybe if you used an extension you could access the drain and you're right about removal only. 

Good luck with whatever you decide. Cliff

11 minutes ago, dylancorrea1 said:

I’ve never really trusted them, but I heard they are better for removing bolts than actually tightening, the PO used a impact wrench all over the place. Since everything looked forced and was stripped (starter, radiator, the protective pan under car, bolts in trunk).

Too many ugga-duggas.

I'll add to the other comment on accesability to the plugs with the impact gun. It'd be tough to get in there with a good seating. Maybe if you used an extension you could access the drain and you're right about removal only. 
Good luck with whatever you decide. Cliff

Ill go with a regular wrench to assure I don’t break anything, I don’t want more problems thwarting my process or ruining my wallet. Power tools still scare me, just the thought of stripping or breaking anything. Thank you.


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I'm closer to 4 ugga duggas. To puny for 7.

2 hours ago, dylancorrea1 said:

a good impact socket to fit the transmission bolt

There is no such thing as 'a good impact socket to fit the transmission bolt'.  In fact, there is no such thing as 'a good socket to fit the transmission bolt' -- unless you buy the special 'double-square' socket that I recommended in my earlier post.  A regular 6-point or 12-point socket is guaranteed to ruin a square bolt head.  You'll be better off using a big pipe wrench.

Also:  When you're using the heat gun, you need to focus on the aluminum casing around the bolt, rather than on the bolt itself.  The idea is to make the casing expand.  It's not the same as when you're trying to break a bolt free where the threads are corroded.  In this case, you're simply dealing with a big bolt that's been over-torqued into a giant, thin-wall aluminum casting.

Just remembered that my favorite square head bolt tool is a large Crescent (adjustable) wrench.  The 12 inch model was surprisingly strong.

https://www.amazon.com/Crescent-AT212VS-Finish-Adjustable-Wrench/

You can put a cheater in that hole at the end of that spanner, useful sometimes. FYI

I thought I'd update this thread with my recent experience of removing the transmission and filler drain plugs from my 1971 240Z. I first used a 2' breaker bar with a 1/2" drive to make sure I could open the drain plug. That was easy. I left the drain plug in place while attempting to remove the filler plug (as recommended in this thread). I initially tried a 17mm wrench on the square filler plug. It was a reasonable fit, although very slightly loose. I heated the transmission case with a heat gun after a couple of failed tries. I tried pounding on the handle of the wrench with a rubber mallet to no avail. When I looked more closely, it became obvious that the transmission case metal around the plug was preventing the wrench from rotating, and this wasn't ever going to work. I also can't see how a pipe wrench or adjustable wrench would fit in the space available. I used a 12 point 13/16" socket, which gripped the square end of the plug quite nicely and had it out in a few seconds. It wasn't badly seized in place, but it felt like the fit was tight enough that you'd be able to pull pretty hard on it even if it was. The plug does seem to be pretty soft metal, though, so I'd be careful. I did try the closest sized 12 point metric sockets before using the 13/16", but none of them fit as well. Hopefully this will be helpful for the next person!