Transmission Overfill

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Its 92 degrees so though I'd check my ATF after driving a while in town. With engine running it appears to be an inch full above where the arrow points to max level. I'm going to extract some. Should I do that with the engine running as well?
 
With the fluid level hot, you should be able to easily extract with it on or off.. the accurate test is to check with it running, though.
 
You may want to check your manual, many vehicles require you to run the gear shift for a moment in each position prior to checking. Some cars can be checked cold as well but you should double check. If overfilled, I would do it with engine off to prevent spillage on something hot. Then recheck with engine running. Sounds like a pint overfilled.
 
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I would wait until it's cooler. And do it with the car off. How does the manual say to check the atf? How did it get overfilled?
 
How did it get over filled? Yours truly. .... Anyway...I had to run another short trip. Engime was still good and hot. Check it again while running as you are supposed to..even ran through the geers and now its reading barely over filled. Hmmmmm.. one of you said an inch above the full mark is only a pint. If that be the case...should I even bother extracting any? I'm just not sure how much over is hatmfull.
 
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Originally Posted by Mark72
How did it get over filled? Yours truly. .... Anyway...I had to run another short trip. Engime was still good and hot. Check it again while running as you are supposed to..even ran through the geers and now its reading barely over filled. Hmmmmm.. one of you said an inch above the full mark is only a pint. If that be the case...should I even bother extracting any? I'm just not sure how much over is hatmfull.


There is a lot of debate there, if a quart overfull is bad or not. I was always taught to add a quarter quart (as you said, pint) at a time, maybe a half quart if you know the quantity in there already, so that you don't overfill. most cars will run perfectly fine with a quart too much in there. Some even shift better. It would depend almost entirely on the car, trans, miles. You would THINK it would shift the best with the absolute most fluid in there that goes up to the fill mark, and not overfilled past that, well, just like gas tanks and oil crankcases, sometimes there is a little more in there than full - gallons for fuel, a quart or so for crankcase - and everything works fine anyways. Maybe even a little better oiled if your oil pan does not have baffles, if you are doing that kind of thing, or feel it necessary for that occasional high speed sweeper turn or fast tight off ramp on the drive home when you go full Andretti..

Back to the topic at hand. If you notice a more normal reading after going through all the gears - twice - and spending 5 to 15 seconds in each gear, yes this can take about two minutes.. and the level looks better, checked with the trans in "P" or "N"
while on level ground
engine normal temperature
After idling 5 minutes or more
Slightly longer if just used on a long high speed highway run
And it looks better
Then.. That means that you more accurately mimicked the actual procedure to check the trans fluid.

Everyone checks it a slightly different way. Some are more correct than others.

Some check it cold, if there is a COLD mark on the trans dipstick. I would never do that.

Some check it before going in to the store after a start up and trip to the store. Trans may or may not be full hot there. The idea is to get the transmission 100 warmed up.. question would be, is the engine full hot and the trans not?

Some just drive it an hour or an hour and a half around town or otherwise normal then check with the engine running, because how many times did it have to hit and use each gear doing that anyways.

The absolute correct answer is to check it how your vehicle says to but.. If it is that close, and the fluid looks a good color and does not smell burnt, I would not worry about it.

Unless you want to exchange some fluid!
 
Are you sure you're checking it thr RIGHT WAY. Remember some are done warmed up in P some in N, Check the book as it some crazy way does matter. I had a Grand Cherokee once like that and it did affect the level. A few of them are a bit weird.
 
Does this car have a dipstick? The ones without it you sometimes typically have to get the fluid to a certain temperature range and remove a plug and any that is above the level of an overfill tube will flow out. Some Volkswagens are like that.
 
Check it while it's hot as you're doing and since you might be getting inconsistent readings, which isn't unusual, check it multiple times. Or do this: Remove the dipstick, wipe it off, and leave it out for (2) minutes (I just picked an amount of time). Re-insert and remove it fairly quickly and see what the level is. Do this 2-3 more times and see if the levels are consistent and what they are. Sometimes it seems like as you pull the dipstick out, some fluid gets pulled up the tube and when you re-insert it, you could fluid on the dipstick where it shouldn't be for reading the level accurately.
 
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