1981 Fiat 124 Spider Trans & Diff Fluid Change!

In this video I'll be going over the process of changing the transmission and rear differential fluid on my 1981 Fiat 124 Spider. I'll be listing the required tools, and type of fluid.
There will also be some funny "disturbances", so to speak, from a buddy of mine who was keeping me some company.
Go take a look at his channel for some cool content ranging from drone videos and track days to how to and unboxing videos.
Channel link: / gradzkimedia
My instagram:
/ 03_svt_terminator

[@kennethpole2439]

useful to see jackstand positions.

[@markbury141]

Wanted to add another step, I have been a Fiat mechanic since working at the dealership when the cars were new, the rear case that holds 5th gear and reverse has a square drain bolt (8 mm) wrench, that has more dirty gear oil that needs to be drained, if you only drain the pan, the new 80/90 lube will mix with the rear case lube and get it dirty.Mark

[@ikramnanlawala4843]

I appreciate that bit of info...I've sold the car since.

[@M3Compact]

Great info; thank you, I wondered what that was for. 🙂

[@drivewaymarvels311]

Thank you for being clear and informative

[@81bajaj]

Great video. Thanks so much. At what points did you put the jack in order to put the jack stands at the jack points once up?

[@ikramnanlawala4843]

There's really no good dedicated jack points on these cars. On the front of any vehicle I usually use the k-member. On the back of this car you could use the axles or the trail arms.

[@bobplyler8057]

@@ikramnanlawala4843 If you use the trailing arms, they WILL bend.

[@vanover69]

great video...question...most spiders require GL-1 gear oil while some of the diff take the gear oil with the EP additive. does the valvoline gear oil meet these spec's?

[@ikramnanlawala4843]

I did the research so long ago I don't remember the details off of the top of my head. I was very particular and so I know everything I used is up to spec for the car. It may be in the head but I feel that the vehicle feels a bit better now, but also could just be the fact that all of the fluids are fresh.

[@vanover69]

@@ikramnanlawala4843 I spoke to the Valvoline technical support and they said the only product that can be used in the fiat transmission (GL-1) is valvoline synchromesh. I also reviewed the tech document and it states safe with yellow metals. The GL-5 will attack the copper (yellow metal) in your transmission.

[@ikramnanlawala4843]

@@vanover69 I'll have to look into it some more. In most of Fiat forums everyone seems to be using 80w90 gear oil or 20w50 motor oil. Hard to find the original GL-1 gear oil for these cars.

[@vanover69]

I did find GL-1 at NAPA…also found the valvoline synchromesh on Amazon which I’m still researching. Let me know what you find. I did speak to chevon tech support regarding using a 15w40 motor oil and although the viscosity are very similar they wouldn’t recommend using it

[@ikramnanlawala4843]

@@vanover69 I will post any updates if I feel the vehicle is suffering or if the next time I drain it there's any weird substance in it. This seems to be what most people are using. I wasn't able to buy anything in stores in my area nor was I able to find anything online other than a barrel.

[@peterp8911]

Why did you have your whitewall tires put on backwards (white side inward rather than outward)?

[@ikramnanlawala4843]

Good catch there man! It's actually my dad's car and somehow I never really noticed. LOL! I'll point that out to him, bought it like that. Maybe new tires can on the right way huh...

[@patrickperry6945]

Some people like the blackwalls showing.

[@MrAlexGolovin]

I have a 1980 Fiat Spider 124 / 2000 and my transmission looks nothing like this one. I can't even find where the fill bolt is. It says it's a GM NL transmission.

[@ikramnanlawala4843]

I sold the vehicle recently, but I guess it could be possible you have a swapped transmission. You said you can't find the fill bolt...no worries. Typical American transmission. Drain through the drain bolt and then refill through the shifter. There's a video on my channel of me doing the transmission fluid on my 03 Cobra, obviously not the same fluid and amount but for the process of filling from the shifter.

[@MrAlexGolovin]

@@ikramnanlawala4843 Thank you for your response. After spending an hour under the transmission I finally understand why my transmission looks so much different. My transmission is AUTOMATIC. All the forums and videos I have seen are people servicing a manual transmission. Unknown to me, the automatic transmission in the Fiat 2000 is completely different when it comes to the fill plug. There is a large metal cylindrical piece that unscrews from the transmission on the automatic transmission. You have to remove this cylindrical piece in order to get to the drain plug. This cylindrical piece is also connected to a transmission line that looks just like a brake line. The transmission started to leak as soon as I unscrewed the cylindrical piece. The drain plug requires a internal square socket which I don't have! So I am going to go to a store because the square hole is smaller than a 1/2 driver but larger than a 1/4 driver. The manual transmission requires GL-1 gear Oil in the transmission while the automatic transmission requires 3 Liters of Dexron Automatic Transmission Fluid.

[@moritzhummel9747]

7:17 Or you just use the filler neck on the oil can and no pump at all - live can be so easy... 😉

[@ikramnanlawala4843]

Not nearly enough room under there for that!

[@moritzhummel9747]

@@ikramnanlawala4843 I squeezed it all in using a short tube added to the can's filler neck.