Mitsubishi FM-146 Questions

[Thrashingrage]

Hey all,
Yesterday I popped off the oil pan on my FM-146 only to discover that whoever supposedly rebuilt the transmission filled it with ATF. I doubt that it did any harm to the tranny, but would like to change it back to gear oil just for good measure. I called around to a couple of local transmission shops and one told me that carbon-fiber synchro rings are the only reason to use ATF in it. The synchros look to be brass to me, so I'm guessing that gear lube will be fine to use. I have to make about a 120-mile round trip on Saturday, so I figure that I will fill 'er up with some gear oil, let it mix really well with whatever residual ATF is in there, and then drain it and put some good synthetic mix in there.

Anyway, I see these two little plugs with allen-type receivers in them on the extension housing right by where it bolts to the transmission case itself. One of them is on the bottom of the housing and the other one is on the side next to the catalytic converter. Are these miniature drain/fill plugs for the extension housing? There appears to be a little ATF left in there, so I figure that it would be good to get it out before putting the gear oil in there. Also, when I do put the gear oil in there, do I have to add some at the 'mini' fill hole or will it even out if I just pour through the primary port on the case? Oh yeah, and the other problem is that both of those small plugs were siliconed in by the previous owner/re-builder, so getting them out may be near-impossible at this point considering I don't have the right-size bit for them.

Anyway, any advice is as usual greatly appreciated. I don't know much about transmissions in general but am hoping to keep this one in good shape for another 100 thousand miles or so.

Thanks,
Josh

 

[adsm08]

Personally, I would not worry about the two plugs. I think one of them may be for a check ball.

Either way, the little bit of ATF left after draining will not hurt anything. Not even worth the second fluid change IMO.

The way that I fill these transmissions is to remove the shifter and the fill plug. Then pour fluid in the shifter hole until it comes out the fill hole. It's just easier.

 

[Thrashingrage]

Thanks for the help man. I left the plugs alone and put some decent conventional in there. After getting some leaks (guessing from my RTV job on the pan seal), I drained that out and filled 'er up with some good synthetic blend. Next time I think I will pull the shift handle, only reason I didn't this time is that my shifter boot is slightly messed up and is a huge pain to put back on halfway straight. Now I'll just need to find a non-rounded fill plug. Again, thanks for your informed and knowledgeable advice.

Josh