I ended up draining mine into a 1 gallon milk jug, and it filled just shy of the top of the container so I got a good read. Could have been really messy but really not - no spillage and no funnel either - I just loosened the drain plug half way and the fluid drained out controllably. It took about 15 minutes to fully drain the pan but I got an accurate reading of how much came out this way.

JBL

 

Slightly over is as good. Think about it, any car taken to dealers for services are not being cared closely that precise. they just go by the book, drain and fill as specified, and the stick may not even need to be removed or looked at, and they are all okay, same goes for engine oil change.

 

We bought our 99' FWD about a month ago, and it has the same issue with both trans and engine oil. I'm resting a little easier now. I must say, CL is very informative and has great DIY's. I'm so glad to have found it. Hats off 2 all of u who contribute, give ur selves a pat on the shoulder/butt.

 

I drained, dropped the pan, and pulled the strainer on both the RX and ES and each time I've done it, it comes to 5qts. It's always dead on hot or cold. I've gone through that extent twice on the two cars, from here on out I'm just going to drain and refill without removing the pan.

A little side note; my ATF coming out of the 98 ES looked better than that coming out of the 03 RX with the same miles on the fluid!

 

I thought 98 ES took Dexron. While Rx's took T-IV.
Dexron has a lighter red color compared to a slightly darker red on T-IV.

Also being the RX around 700lbs more (awd) , more stress is being put in the trans. So a darker fluid is a expected.

 

I'm running mobil 1 syn ATF in both. But you're probably right about the AWD and weight causing increased strain on the transmission.