Would anything bad happen if you overfilled the diff and tranny oil when changing it? Did a search but could not find anything on it. TIA

Nope.

I recall reading somewhere (not neccessarily rx8 related) that overfilling trans can cause hard shifting. I also suspect it could create a mess if oil gets blown out of the trans or diff breathers.

They should be difficult to overfill though since generally you fill them up until oil comes out the filler hole... makes it difficult to put more in since it just comes right on out again.

If you overfilled it was probably because the vehicle was not level Easy enough to fix - just get the car level, open the filler plug and let the excess dribble out. It's thick stuff so give it time.

Ah yes - that makes sense, I never thought of the non-level thing. Probably unless you were on a pretty major incline it would still be pretty difficult to overfill more than a little bit - and probably would make jacking the car up too hazardous to work on it anyhow. Generally not a good idea to work under a car that's not on a fairly level surface, I should imagine.

Cheers,
Simon.

Thanks guys, it's good to know the situation is not to serious if you overfilled a bit. On another note, how dangerous is it to work on the car when the car is on jack stands on all four corners? Just the thought of working under the car alone gives me fear of getting crush under its weight.

Originally posted by mzrx
Thanks guys, it's good to know the situation is not to serious if you overfilled a bit. On another note, how dangerous is it to work on the car when the car is on jack stands on all four corners? Just the thought of working under the car alone gives me fear of getting crush under its weight. It depends of course on how well-placed the jack stands are. Well placed jack stands are real safe to go under, especially if they are kept low. I've given them a test by bumping into the car a few times in different places & different directions. It's better that it drops with you standing beside it than you being under it. If anything but rock solid (!), do something to make it that.

I prefer tire ramps with someone to guide me onto them. Make sure the ramps won't interfere with the bodywork first! The other 2 corners can then be raised with jackstands, or if the ramps give you sufficient room, even better. If the car has to be level, consider a place where the concrete is not level, like on a driveway or something, where the ramps will make the car level.

Consider also stradling a drainage culvert. Uh, what else? Hmmmm.... I guess that's about it.

If you do need to use 4 jackstands, so be it. Like I said at first, they are real safe if well placed & it feels rock-solid. And lastly, when you're under there, don't forget in your haste or possible fits of anger, your situation.

Thanks Racer X-8, your idea about getting the car on the ramps is a good suggestion. Since my drive way is slopey enough to put your suggestion in to use I just might try that first. If it does not work out to well then I will do the jack stands and give it some of your bump test to see how it fairs before going under.

I recently replaced the transmission oil and was wondering what to do to get the car level. I used the sloping driveway and ramps trick. I can't believe I didn't figure that out before but it worked beautifully. With the front end on the ramps and the car facing down the drive the car was level and I was even able to get in from the side to check the transmission oil level. A highly recommended trick!

One thing that worried me while under the car was the exposed connectors on the starter motor. I had images of accidentally shorting this with my wrench with the car in gear and causing it to drive off the ramps. This is probably paranoia, but I put the car in neutral and chocked the rear wheels. Next time I might disconnect the battery so that I can leave it in gear.

Also, when refilling the transmission if you go past the specified refill quantity before the transmission starts to leak from the filler that's a sign that the car is probably not level. Get a level and check it.

If the car is up on jackstands I sometimes take the front wheels off and put one under each side of the car so if it does come off the jackstands, it comes down onto the wheels under the cat and not all the way on to me.