AISIN AM6 GEARBOX

[Kees]

Today i checked some things about my gearbox, because i want to change the oil.
One page on the diagbox show me the quality counter, it says this number:1483272
My question is, what does it mean?
I also want to know what type of oil i have to use, i also understand it's the best way to replace the oil 3 times with 3 liter and the 4e times fill it with the correct amount, plus 500 cc and then open the level screw until it drips by a temperature of 60 Celsius.
If you need, this is the vin VF7**************[VIN obfuscated, can be read by forum staff]
The mileage is around 185.000 Km.
Greetings,
Kees.

[GiveMeABreak]

The purpose of the oil counter is to record the high temperature spikes in the oil through normal use. Over time as the oil degrades, the gearbox ECU makes small changes to the gearbox operation to account for this. Draining and refilling the automatic gearbox oil requires the oil counter reset, so that it can adapt the operation again knowing that the oil has been changed.

Your vehicle is Euro 4 standard so requires JWS 3309 oil.

Have a look at this video - this guy does a better job by getting out more of the oil and changes it several times on the spot. He has a Volvo but the gearbox is the same and you just use Diagbox to monitor the gearbox oil temperature and reset the oil counter.

[Kees]

Thanks Marc!!

[steveclv]

Kees - we can do it together
I just ordered 4litres of Mobil JWS3309 today LOL

[Kees]

@ Steve:
I don't know if you realize, but i liv in the Netherlands, near Amsterdam, but you need around 14 liters if you want it the way this fellow did on his Volvo.
Greetings,
Kees.

[steveclv]

Yes, I knew you were a Niederlaander I meant "virtually"
I will do one and wait 2 months and then do it again

[Kees]

@Steve:
I think it's not the right way, in the gearbox is de total amount of oil around 7/8 liter it's not possible to drain it completely, this is why the fellow from the Volvo use this way.
If you just one time replace the 3 liter, and then drive the car, for 2 months the fresh oil is to much mixed with the remaining old oil.
So my advice would be " do it right, or don't "
Greetings,
Kees.

[GiveMeABreak]

It's personal choice how you want to do it and if you use the official guide, there is a 7 litre capacity in the gearbox and you can only replace approx. 3 litres at a time as 4 litres remains in the torque converter. So some people drive around and change again in a few months and then again a few months later to get as near a complete change as you can.

But like the guy in the video - if you run the car when topped back up with new fluid and go through the gears it gets the oil circulating and mixing with the old oil, so then repeating the drain and fill operations can save the delay and get it all done in one operation.

He's very clear and it's a good video.

[steveclv]

I believe that partially changing the fluid every 2 months will help - it won't do any harm I am sure. However I also want to use Mobil JWS 3309 fluid rather than a cheap one and that is too expensive for me to buy 14 litres at once

As the car has 258,000km and still has the original fluid, I'm sure a partial change will help it until I can afford to buy some more (retired!)

[moizeau]

I changed the oil in my 2006 407 at 160k miles when I bought it. The gearbox didn't have any problems at all. I did 3 partial changes using the method in the video. I then reset the counter. It started 'slamming' from 2nd to 3rd when the oil was hot and not all the time. It also very occasionally 'flares' between 5th and 6th. This is a known issue with the valve block. As stated it only started doing this AFTER an oil change and reset. Since then, over a period of 6 years or so, I have done 3 or 4 partial changes. The issue hasn't got any worse. It is quite rare and you know when it's going to do it because you can feel the downshift from 3rd to 2nd isn't normal. If you don't touch the throttle for 2 to 3 seconds and let the g/box select it's gear (2nd) then accelerate it doesn't jerk/slam so you can get round it.
I can't see how changing the oil could have a detrimental affect on the gear changes. What I think could, is resetting the oil counter. This tells the car that the gearbox is in good condition, new oil (which it has but not completely) and presumes the valve block is in good condition, but it must have some wear after these miles, so it's not in an 'as new' condition. With the counter reset it goes back to the 'as new' factory settings and doesn't take into consideration other wear and tear.
If I could go back in time to the first oil change I WOULDN'T reset the oil counter. I can't see how not resetting the oil counter could cause any issues and can be done at a later date if wanted.

This is not the recommended procedure, just a thought based on logic and my experience.
I'm sure I will be shot down in flames at some point, if so, I'd be interested to know the reasons behind the shooting.

[GiveMeABreak]

I think I explained the reason in my post above for resetting the oil counter. As these are auto adaptive gearboxes, they alter their operation to account for the oil quality over time.

Resetting the oil counter after changing the oil tells the gearbox ECU there’s new oil and it will factor this in going forward.

It’s standard procedure listed by Aisin and required by all constructors that use these gearboxes and incorporated into all dealer-level diagnostics.

If it wasn’t required Pete, they wouldn’t state it.

[moizeau]

If the oil changes were done a regular intervals since the box was new as stated by most manufacturers except PSA I can see this procedure working. My thoughts were based on a gearbox that hasn't had any interventions and done far more miles/kilometres before it's first change than recommended, and therefore, has more internal wear than normal.

[steveclv]

Apparently the gearbox ECU can measure the resistance of the individual valve solenoids as part of it's adaptive programming - whether that makes a difference I don't know. I won't be resetting the oil counter until I have done 2-3 partial flushes over an extended period - if I could afford to do it the way the video portrays then maybe I would do it after the 4th flush but I think it would be a risk with just a partial change. The whole 'sealed for life' mentality has certainly screwed us over as we try and maintain these older cars.

[GiveMeABreak]

The same 'sealed for life' rubbish is also relevant to Audi, BMW, Volvo, Ford, and so on and you'll find that these owners also replace the fluid. I suppose it depends on what the manufacturer determines the 'life' of the vehicle to be - 10 years? 150 miles?

We do know that the ECU algorithms are used to adjust the hydraulic pressure applied to the clutches based on 'mileage' of the fluid, so this has a direct bearing on operation depending on how new the oil is.

[myglaren]

Is there not also a 'learning' stage with them after replacing the ATF?