After spending a wad of cash on a new throttle body with the upgraded piston( that happens to only be .005" larger than the original, gold plated fluid, flushing the trans and torque converter, and also knowing that no component is sealed for a lifetime without maintenance, I was wondering if anyone has installed an auxiliary trans filter?

After removing the throttle body, and testing the clutches with compressed air blowing into the ports, I decided that it wasn't an internal problem, with the trans itself.

I am going to get a spin on oil filter, and mount it on the LF shock tower to the upper aluminium low side or return line going back to the trans. I will use barbed fittings, high pressure trans hose, and use as much of the original piping as possible.

The engine oil filter will do a much better job of removing particulates, and will add a little volume to the system. There is a pressure gauge or recirc port on the top of the adapter, so it will also be much easier to add fluid, than the miserable method used now, that often leaves you with almost 3/4 of a litre less than what is needed to keep the trans from banging into first gear.

I saw the tool that the Jaguar tech used. It is like a cup screwed into the port, and it is removed while the engine is reving at around 2500 rpm, like the Audi tool and method.(Audi does change their fluid) The factory plug is replaced, while the level is lower, because of the higher engine speed.

I use this observation from my experience that if I started off slowly the trans would engage smoothly, because it was not picking up fluid as fast. If it was a valving problem, the starting out slowly shouldn't have helped. I was just getting fluid returned to the pan, faster than it was being sucked up. There was also my observation that on a hill the problem was worse. The fluid may also just be getting thicker over the many years it is being used. This will cause the problem also.

I will add the measured amount of fluid I got out, while the car is on my rack, and add fluid through the remote filter port until there is smooth operation getting into gear. I will then wait a few hours, and see if I need a little more once things have cooled down.

Once I am sure the fluid has circulated enough, and the spin on filter has caught all the bad stuff, I will put on a new filter after refilling it.

I will try to take pictures with my shaky hands, when I am done. I may also drill a couple holes in the cast iron diff, once I get a drawing on this fluid changing marvel. I will thread some 3/8" holes for draining and adding, and flushing out the beastie. These are experiments, and I will tell you how they work.

Just an idea, that I think might work better than the current method....Be cool.....Mike