Yep, even with a standard 14mm allen-head socket I had to hack a piece of the hex section off to squeeze it into place on the drain plug -- space is tight down there.Originally Posted by 632 Regal
Stargazer, I did not do this myself, but you could conceivably drain and fill the pan over the weekend, drive the car for a week or so and then pull the pan next week (or in a reasonably short time) to replace the filter and do a second fluid swap. You're going to want to change fluid at least twice anyway to get out as much old fluid as possible.
BTW, look for minor leaks at the wiring harness plug and selector shaft seals. They could get worse when the new fluid is trying to get out.
In fact, that's an excellent reason to do a drain and fill now -- if you find leaks afterward, you can chase them down without having to drop the pan twice.