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 If you own a Falcon manufactured after Febuary 1996 chances are you have gone looking for the transmission dipstick and come up blank, and for good reason, they don’t have one! Falcons made after this date have a ’sealed’ transmission and have no dipstick, only a filler plug on the side of the transmission similar to what you would find on a manual gearbox.

 This does make checking the fluid level and condition a bit more involved however with a trolley jack, two sets of chassis stands and a good quality 16mm ring spanner or socket and ratchet it can be done without too much drama. The reason I say to use good quality tools is because the plug in the transmission is usually very tight and sooo easy to round off and the only way you can be sure that this won’t happen to you is if you use quality tools. 

 This check should be done when the transmission fluid is cold.

 The first thing to do is to jack the car up front and rear and try to get it as level as possible. It is important to use chassis stands as you will be getting underneath the car and this should not be done when the car is supported by the jack alone if you want to celebrate your next birthday!

 Once you have the car level and secure, slide underneath the drivers side about in line with the front of the drivers door. This is what you are looking for; (please note in this pic the exhaust is removed as this transmission was coming out but it will give you the general idea).

The little red arrow points to the location of the plug. This particular plug was so rounded off that we had to drop the transmission down as much as possible and weld a nut to it. Shame really as the transmission was coming out but I wanted the pictures to look right!

 Now with your 16mm spanner or socket fitted as squarely as possible on the plug heave on it in a anti-clockwise direction. All going well it should undo and screw all the way out with no problems. The plug has an ‘o’ ring on it to stop any fluid leaking.

 When cold the transmission fluid should be level with this hole. The easiest way to get an idea of the fluids condition is to stick a clean finger in to the hole and have a look at the colour on your finger and also smell the fluid, checking for any ‘burnt’ or overheated smell.

NOTE: ‘Dexron’ type transmission fluid is not compatible with these transmissions. The correct ‘TQ95′ transmission fluid must be used.  

 If the fluid is not a clean red colour or if it smells like it has been hot I would advise getting a transmission service done as soon as possible. Also a good idea is to fit an aftermarket transmission cooler as the factory one is limited in it’s cooling capacity.

 We have a great tutorial courtesy of Paul Taylor (Tinntter) for the fitment of two transmission coolers here. Paul fits two of them to further increase the cooling and has clocked up thousands of kay’s without a drama. Oh, and remember not to over-tighten the plug when your finished as you don’t want to have drama next time you do this job.

 January 10 2008, Tata Motors unveils the worlds most affordable car at India’s main auto show. The ‘Nano’ sells for $2500.00 and is set to change the way the people of India get around.

 During India’s main auto show on Thursday January 10, Tata chairman Ratan Tata drove a white four door Nano onto a stage with his head nearly hitting the roof, say journalists.

 The world’s cheapest car sells for around $2500.00 and is only available in India at the moment but there are plans for exporting this new ‘peoples car’.

 The Nano has a snub nose, sloping roof and seats for five people at a squeeze. The basic version is short on extras as you would expect. There is no airbags, no radio, no passenger side mirror and only one windscreen wiper. If you like air conditioning you will need to step up to the ‘deluxe’ model.

 The Tata Nano packs a rear mounted 624cc engine that produces 33 horsepower. With the engine mated to a four speed manual transmission the Nano achieves a claimed 50 miles per gallon or 20 kilometres per litre and a top speed of 65 miles per hour or 105 kilometres per hour. With that engine perhaps a better name would be the ‘Nana’?

 Environmentalists are concerned that making a car affordable to the masses will increase pollution levels and make driving on India’s already crowded roads a nightmare. The chairman hit back saying that the Nano will pollute less than some motorcycles. No kidding, the engine is smaller than some motorcycles!

 For the citizens of India the car is marketed at people that would otherwise buy a motorcycle and is promoted as all-weather transport. 

 Another concern is that safety has been sacrificed to keep costs down. Ratin Tata stated that the car complies with ’safety norms’, meaning that the car has passed the frontal and side collision tests in India. Looking at the car, I would certainly not like to hit anything more than a gutter in it or I think it will be ‘TaTa’ for you!

After touching on the subject of what is reasonable when it comes time for your vehicle to be repaired in The Workshop Owner versus The Consumer and recieving heaps of emails from people that felt they were being taken for a ride I decided to put together some sort of a practical guide for consumers. That was until I did a bit of research and found a great e-book called ‘A Mechanic comes clean - and you save thousands’.

The book has all the points covered that I would have written about, so I can highly recommend it. Written by Austin Davis, an ex-workshop owner who has good ‘insider’ knowledge of how the Auto Repair industry works and the tricks-of-trade that are used to increase the owner’s profits.

As much as I would love to say that all mechanics are honest, that statement just simply is not true and from what I have seen as a workshop owner and the constant emails we get from concerned consumers it seems that honest mechanics are few and far between. Not that I am here to flame every mechanic and people have a right to earn a decent living, I would however like to be able to help consumers weed out the mechanics that are blatantly ripping people off.

In the 142 page book there are many helpful hints and tips for dealing with Auto Repairers. Simple things such as what not to say to your mechanic and terminology that can be used to describe your vehicles problems so that you come across as someone who knows what they are talking about. Even knowing which questions to ask your mechanic can be a good test of their honesty and can save you big dollars.

I especially like the way that Austin explains what is needed during maintenance and what is used simply to get more money from the job. This is a huge money maker for workshop owners, and most of the time these extra services are not needed. If you are in the market for a used car ‘A Mechanic comes clean’ also has a section on what to look for in a pre-purchase inspection.

In the deal you also get four free bonus e-books, one which I think is essential for every motor vehicle owner - the ‘Everything Automotive Ebook’ which explains in easy to understand language and pictures how the various systems of your car work. This will give you an understanding of how everything functions and having this knowledge will give you an advantage when dealing with repairers.

The cost of ‘A Mechanic comes clean - and you save thousands’ is $19.95 which I think is fantastic value. Even if it stops you from being ripped-off once it would have paid for itself many times over! Add the four free bonuses and 100% money-back guarantee into the equation and the value for money extends even further.

Please also remember that if you have any questions or concerns about any Auto Repairs we offer free advice from a trade qualified mechanic on our Advice page.

Craig