salimshah

I would say 5+ is over. Again the objective is to stay above the min but NOT to exceed maximum. Dont try to average on Max (above or below).

Keep in mind I have metal screen.

Salim

hsmac

drove the car for 15 min and the level is slightly above max. will remove a little and continue to measure.

hsmac

so instead of draining fluid from the pan, i decided to do 15 or so dipstick wipings and go from there. obviously i did not remove much fluid, but i checked the level two different times today after (once after driving somewhere and once after driving back) at operating temperature. the first time it barely met the min line (hot) and the second time it was about 1/3 inch below min. what's strange is the 2nd time i checked was after i had driven longer than the first. so, i'm starting to wonder if the results will ever be consistent and what to do now. how can the level be so different from yesterday?

hypervish

How many miles are you driving the car before checking the fluid level? Is the ambient temperature around the same?

Bill Dowd

I also did a drop in fill came out about 4.3 quarts I'm also using Max life full synthetic transmission fluid. I bought it at Walmart at about $20 for 4 quarts, the reason I use synthetic transmission fluid is in the transmission this fluid it works better in the heat and cold. I also changed out my filter. I just bought this Lexus 2001 RX300 with 130,000 miles of $4600 here in California. The planetary gears are making a little noise so I figure I'll be replacement transmission within about a year, I did a drop in fill four times changing out 16 quarts of oil to make sure I get all the old fluid out. This is overkill but I feel better knowing that the transmission fluid is all new. I'm now having fun trying to squeeze a transmission cooler in front of the air conditioning condenser this also helps the transmission last longer. I have been using synthetic fluids's 1986 on all my Toyota products 86 Cressida 529,000 miles nothing wore out 1991 Lexus LS 400 350,000 miles nothing wore out it includes the motor, transmission, and power steering fluids.

matts6887

THAT is amazing mileage from that cressida!!!! 500,000+ miles and still going!!! Just like WOW!!! Only goes to show as long as u do proper maintenance and do repairs etc when needed; they will just keep going and going. Thats a testament to the old school toyota vehicles if I ever heard of one!!!. If that thing keeps going who knows how many miles u will get out of it.

hsmac

2 days ago 7 miles 15-20 min. Yesterday I checked twice after roughly 10 miles 15 min. For the most part the temp outside was the same for all three readings. Not sure how to check the cars temp.

checked today after 10 miles and 15 min. and the level was right at max. with all the inconsistency and the the distance between min and max being so little, i have to believe that many people don't have the "correct" amount of fluid in there. anyone think precision is important here or should i just keep an eye on it and relax unless it's an inch over/under

Sundog49

Thanks for this post. I can't find anything in my owners manual about the proper way to check the fluid level. This helps a lot.

hsmac

+1. My readings are quite consistent now and the fluid doesn't "jump" along the dipstick. Not sure what I was doing wrong earlier.