tranny over fill ?

[Deigo]

ok so here the deal: i had my tranny flushed and filled by the dealer about 3k miles ago, its driven just fine ever since. today on a whim i decided to check the level knowing how sensitive these trannys are to proper fluid levels. i drove it about five min ( i had sucked some injector cleaner in and was giving it a chance to cough out all the gunk) and then parked it on level ground, went through all the shifter positions again. left it running and opened the fill plug and atf shot out. (it was about the same flow as when you start draining warm oil from the pan) i put the bolt right back in before very much shot out. so it seems to me that unless im not checking the fluid properly my tranny is very over filled. i was under the impression that the fluid was supposed to barely leak from the fill hole when full. i know the fluid was prob a little warmer than they say it should be when you check it. is it normal for it to gush out so much ? i would say its over filled but i know that it would be shifting terribly if it was. beats me ill leave this question to the pros ;) thanks guys.

[Ldub]

Don't know if you've seen this, but if this is the procedure you followed, it sounds like overfull.
:_wrench:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/fluid1.png

Let engine idle for three minutes?

[Deigo]

yup. i re-read the procedure and the only thing i prob did'nt have right is that it was warmer than what they say it should be. ill try the procedure tomm with the fluid cooler and see if i get different results. thanks ldub

[tom4bren]

Make sure you are opening the overfill screw and not the drain plug.

[nfpgasmask]

Yeah, I think it should just trickle out. Its tough. I don't know how much give or take we have with it. I mean, how exact is the science of checking your tranny fluid level? Since we did ours, I have had much smoother shifting, etc....

I think more often that not, less fluid will do more damage than a little too much, but what do I know??? :rolleyes:

Bart

[Deigo]

so i talked to my mechanic friend and got the answer: the problem was that i was checking the fluid when it was too warm. atf fluid actually expands when it gets hot hence the gush that came out rather than the trickle. go figure, i never would have guessed that fluid could expand that much ! so lesson learned: let your vx cool down all the way before checking the atf :bwgy: and yeah you gotta love the exact science of checking the fluid levels: is there stuff dripping out? uh yeah. well then it must be good !

[Tornado]

So when you checked it when it was cool, was there a diffrence?

[circmand]

I am not being sarcastic and I have not done it myself yet. But from what I read you fill it by pour tranny fluid in the same hole you check for fullness. it seems to me if you put too much in it would just come right back out. I plan on doing this soon so I would appreciate an answer.

[Ldub]

I am not being sarcastic and I have not done it myself yet. But from what I read you fill it by pour tranny fluid in the same hole you check for fullness. it seems to me if you put too much in it would just come right back out. I plan on doing this soon so I would appreciate an answer.

Overfill is possible if you are filling the tranny while cold...the ATF expands as it comes up to operating temp.

See the chart in post 2 for proper temp & procedure.:_wrench:

[circmand]

It is currently about 123 degrees outside. I will just leave the fluid out in the sun for an hour and it should be good to go

[nfpgasmask]

Yeah, the thing about the tranny is, you need to put 3 or 4 quarts in, run through the gears as per the instructions, and then WHILE THE VX IS STILL RUNNING, fill the tranny with the remaining fluid until it starts to dribble out, THEN you cap it off. Its really not that hard, just messy and hot and you need a helper. Filling the tranny is way easy if you use one of those funnel things from Wal*mart, while one person has one end of the tube in the hole and one person holds the funnel up and pours in the fluid....

Bart