VW GTI ATF - 1 quart too much?

[wavinwayne]

I'm probably going to change the ATF in my '00 GTI this weekend, using Maxlife. The tranny has 103k miles on it, ON THE FACTORY FILL!!! I know, I know.........I should have changed it long ago......I plan on doing 3-4 drain/re-fills, which will amount to using around 12-13 qt's of ATF total.

Anyway, "Little Red's" tranny doesn't have a dipstick. What I'm wondering is this; If I purposely over-fill by 1 qt. on my first drain/re-fill, and drive around for 10-15 miles or so, when I drain the fluid from the sump, will that extra qt. come out, or will it be somehow stay in the transmission? In other words, does only a set quantity of fluid make it's way back to the ATF sump when the car is shut off?

Me reason for wanting to over-fill is in case the tranny has been running a little low on fluid (for whatever reason), I want to make sure to get enough fluid back in it, without adding too much. What sayeth ye all?

 

[wavinwayne]

p.m. bump

 

[MaximaGuy]

I would think you will get pan capacity + 1Q you put in.

If I were you I would drain and fill 2 times over a period of a few months (to not shock the tranny with good ATF) and then do a flush if the tranny is still holding up well.

 

[MaximaGuy]

And pl. drop the pan and clean all the gunk out before doing the drain/fill regime. You will be surprised the amount of gunk on the pan and magents -- when putting the pan back be nice to the bolts, it is quite easy to cross thread.

 

[wavinwayne]

Just picked up 12 qt's of Maxlife ATF & a filter kit from O'Reilly. I'll be doing a pan drop first thing tomorrow morning. A pan drop was a given for this job, since there's no telling what the magnet is holding onto.

You all know how I love taking pics of my maintenance projects. Pics to come later tomorrow. I'll also be sending a sample of the fluid off for analysis, just for kicks.

 

[The Critic]

If you overfill your transmission by one quart, the extra will drain out. The torque converter and other components can only hold so much.

It may be advisable that you park Little Red tonight and unscrew the drain plug + insert and allow it to drain overnight. You'll remove A LOT more fluid that way. 4-5 quarts will drain out.

If you let the unit drain for a while on an 01M, you'll remove most of the fluid already...so two drain and refills should be more than enough.

 

[The Critic]

You may find this guide very helpful:

http://pics2.tdiclub.com/gwillie/VW/autoFluidchange.pdf

 

[wavinwayne]

TC,

Thanks for the tips.

 

[wavinwayne]

I just finished changing the fluid & filter in the GTI tranny. With 103k miles on the original fluid, I expected things to look bad, but they really didn't look bad at all. There was a slight film coating the pan & there was a little sludge on the pan's magnet, but none of that film or sludge was present on any parts of the valve body. All of the visible aluminum surfaces looked brand new, they were so shiny. Overall, I was very pleased at the condition of things.

I drained out approx. 2.75 qt's of old fluid. Good idea or not, I put 3.5 qt's back into it. I will do a 2nd drain/refill in a few weeks, then a 3rd & final one a few weeks after that. Then, I plan to do a drain/refill with Maxlife once per year for as long as I keep the car.

My wife ran off to a birthday party with the camera, so I didn't get to take any pictures. You all would have been bored with them anyway, since there was nothing of note to show.

 

[The Critic]

How's it shifting?

 

[unDummy]

You shouldn't purposely drive overfilled for extended periods of time. If the drain/refill is accurate, you are 3/4 of a quart overfilled which could be excessive. But, who knows whether you were underfilled to begin with?

BTW, for drain/refill % improvements, I have no problem with overfilling a couple of quarts, driving around the block, and redoing the drain/refill with the correct amount.
Overfilling is also a great way to speed up a cooler line flush.