Hi everyone. I have been slowly replacing the fluids in my 01 UL. I replaced the radiator and put in all new coolant. I lost some ATF fluid while doing this so I decided to drain the ATF fluid and replace with new fluid.

I got out about 3 quarts of fluid, and then refilled through the dipstick. I was carefully measuring what went back in until I realized my funnel had a crack in it and fluid was leaking out. Great. I fixed the funnel but at this point I had lost track of amounts.

What is the level supposed to be at on the dipstick? Mine doesn't have any lines or anything showing the level. I was worried the fluid might be too low now im worried there is too much. Car drives and shifts fine.

 

Look at the end of the dipstick. You'll see 3 notches. The one at the end is the cold level. The next two towards the top of the dipstick are hot level. You check the level with the engine running. If the cars been sitting all day, look at the cold level and fill it up until it touches. Drive the car around for about 10 minutes, then park it, shut it off, let sit for another 5 minutes. Turn the engine on, and you'll be able to check the hot level.

 

Will do. Is it problematic if it's overfilled?

 

Let it sit overnight on a level surface and then check it before starting the car. If it is right on the cold mark, then you are fine. Myself, I would probably have fill it right between the hot and cold marks. A little bit overfilled will not cause any issues. You are lucky to have a dipstick because on the 04-06's, we don't have them...

 

Thanks. Ok I checked it warm and the fluid looked like it was past the third line. I will check when its cold. Thank you!

 

You should be good to go...

 

It's better to be a little over then under. Also, a warm transmission is usually after a 10 or 20 min drive.

 

I had a similar problem with my '01.

First, it's nearly impossible to tell whether you're at the at the cold mark after refilling. There's too much fluid in the dipstick tunnel to get an accurate read.

I recommend opening the transmission drain bolt and let it pour for about 3-5 minutes. Then put two quarts in the transmission and take it for a very modest, low heat drive. Be easy on the gas, don't sit still, go find some 30 mile an hour roads without stop signs.

Check the fluid level after 10 minutes, if it's above the lowest hot mark, and within an inch of the top hot mark, it's fine.

The Supra guys swear that you NEED to get the fluid between the two hot notches, but that's nearly impossible. I've found that 1.5 quarts of new fluid after a 3 minute drain gets you real close to the top notch when its hot. But it doesn't have enough fluid when it's cold.

Personally, I don't think the dipsticks on our transmissions are very accurate. If there's fluid on the dipstick, that's good and the closer you get to the hot notches, the better.

It's better to overfill than underfill the transmission. These transmissions operate normally with an extra half quart of so of oil, and a lot of RWD automatic transmission experts suggest going a pint or two over the reccommended amount to keep the temperatures down.

If you see bubbles on the dipstick that's a problem. It means there's a fluid agitation issue and you should use less fluid.

I also recommend using one of the oil drain bolt crush washers on your transmission drain bolt. I think my pan is warped a bit, because brass washers leak. I haven't had an issue with my Toyota weird paper material - fingers crossed!

 

Thank you. I checked it warm today, and it is definitely two inches above the top mark. I will check again cold. Now I'm worried its too full.

That dipstick is terrible. You are right, there is a lot of fluid in the tube and it's so hard to see the levels.

 

My LS-430 started giving a thump when coming to a stop sign or signal light, unless I push the stick up to neutral just before rolling to a complete stop. Had it "overhauled", then after that didn't work, had the shift solenoid replaced. That didn't affect the problem either. Had another transmission shop put scanner on it and it showed no past or present codes. I'm at a loss and almost broke from "experimenting" to find out the cause. Anyone that can give me an answer...it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks from Texas.

 

It would be worth skimming through my recent thread on transmission issues I had.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls430/759820-transmission-problems-02-ls430-base.html

The dipstick is pretty accurate by the way. You have to check it hot. Cold levels just give you a baseline on whether you have enough fluid for the transmission to operate. If you've checked the level and are a full two inches above the line hot, the you're gonna likely have an extra 1.5-2 quarts in. Just double check the level. You have to cruise at a constant speed without stopping to warm up the tranny. A freeway does this easily. You can drive the car normal, you don't need to baby it. Then follow the procedure I wrote for you.