Transmission fluid level check
03-04-11, 06:44 AM
#1
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Transmission fluid level check
Hi folks,
I recently replaced the transmission oil & filter in Kiro, but am having a bear of a time figuring out the correct transmission oil level. Last night I know I overfilled it (when installing a new pan gasket) - on a short shake-down cruise the transmission was making some bad whining noises and exhibiting extremely rough, erratic shifting. I drained some but might have pulled out too much; now it's rumbling again like there's oil starvation.
The dipstick is proving to be just useless. For whatever reason the oil reading while hot is much lower than it is when cold - the opposite of the positions on the dipstick (the "cold" level on the dipstick is about 2 inches lower than "hot").
I'm using what I consider to be a standard method for accurately checking the oil level - warm the car with a normal drive cycle, park it on a flat surface, cycle through all the gears on the shifter, put it in park, let it idle for about 30 seconds - 1 minute, take a reading.
Doing that led me to overfill yesterday. By my best guess of the oil removed vs. the oil I had to add back to get the dipstick reading correct, I probably dumped in about 1.5 quarts too much to get the reading on the dipstick within the "hot" range.
Any feedback here? Does this method not work with this transmission? I've also understood cold readings are pretty well useless for transmission oil level because you want the fluid to circulate in all the little channels and valves, TC, cooler, etc. to give an accurate hot reading. Any feedback on the A650E? What's the best way to get an accurate reading out of this thing?
Thanks!
Andy
I recently replaced the transmission oil & filter in Kiro, but am having a bear of a time figuring out the correct transmission oil level. Last night I know I overfilled it (when installing a new pan gasket) - on a short shake-down cruise the transmission was making some bad whining noises and exhibiting extremely rough, erratic shifting. I drained some but might have pulled out too much; now it's rumbling again like there's oil starvation.
The dipstick is proving to be just useless. For whatever reason the oil reading while hot is much lower than it is when cold - the opposite of the positions on the dipstick (the "cold" level on the dipstick is about 2 inches lower than "hot").
I'm using what I consider to be a standard method for accurately checking the oil level - warm the car with a normal drive cycle, park it on a flat surface, cycle through all the gears on the shifter, put it in park, let it idle for about 30 seconds - 1 minute, take a reading.
Doing that led me to overfill yesterday. By my best guess of the oil removed vs. the oil I had to add back to get the dipstick reading correct, I probably dumped in about 1.5 quarts too much to get the reading on the dipstick within the "hot" range.
Any feedback here? Does this method not work with this transmission? I've also understood cold readings are pretty well useless for transmission oil level because you want the fluid to circulate in all the little channels and valves, TC, cooler, etc. to give an accurate hot reading. Any feedback on the A650E? What's the best way to get an accurate reading out of this thing?
Thanks!
Andy
03-05-11, 09:50 PM
#2
Basically I let the car run for a few miles before I check the level. Rowing the lever from one gear to another within a few minutes isn't going to do much.
If you do this and fill up to the "hot" level then you are not overfilling. And yes the cold level is useless. By the time my transmission cools down, my 'cold' fluid level is above and beyond the 'hot' level.
If you do this and fill up to the "hot" level then you are not overfilling. And yes the cold level is useless. By the time my transmission cools down, my 'cold' fluid level is above and beyond the 'hot' level.
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