Transmission overfilled?

[cf99]

('01 Camry 3.0L A541E) I think my transmission is overfilled but I first want to make sure I'm checking it right:

Car fully warmed (~20 minutes of driving), parked in level garage, started engine, parking brake on, went thru all the gears a couple times, a couple seconds in each, put it in neutral, and checked the dipstick. Way too high.

Shouldn't I have noticed some strange shift behavior with it overfilled? I didn't.

Anyways, assuming I can find the right adaptors and the right tube diameter and length, will one of these Harbor Freight pumps have enough suction to pully tranny fluid out the dipstick tube?
http://www.harborfreight.com/multi-u...ump-66418.html

I'm guessing it's not real easy to tweak fluid levels via the drain plug.

[pmesfun]

Just loosen the drain plug and let it slowly drain until its level. I overfilled by 1.5 qts and it took some time to get the fluid at the correct level.

[fenixus]

those transmissions can work quite fine when overfilled even by 1 inch on the dipstick (same way of checking).
in fact I was driving V6 with A541E overfilled by half inch when hot or so the whole Winter. drained and refilled quite recently.

anyways overfilling is not good as it can create ATF aeration, easy to tell if your fluid contains air bubbles (visible on dipstick when car is really hot), this condition is unhealthy to transmission, but usually it takes a serious overfill to do that.
keep it between HOT marks when car is really hot (e.g. half hour hwy driving or 1hr of city driving) and it will be fine.

[cf99]

It's more than an inch, but I suppose once it filled and starting to come up the dipstick tube it takes very little to add an inch.

I found other posts that say the dipstick should be read while in park. I read it while in neutral. Would neutral read higher?

[fenixus]

yeah it's probably overfilled by 1/4 or 1/2 of 1 quart or so, it doesn't take much to do that.
not sure about Neutral gear reading, I always check the dipstick in Park gear after swinging through all gears back and forth on warm car. double check in Park gear and see.

[cf99]

I Googled the park vs neutral question. It seems some cars should be read in park and others in neutral. One guy claimed rear wheel drive cars should be checked in neutral while FWD should be checked in park, but I have no idea if that's accurate or why. On some cars, neutral reads higher than park, but I just went and checked and they were both the same for my Camry. I'll use park though, if that's what's recemmended. Strange the dipstick doesn't say. Most other cars I've had it was stamped on the dipstick whether to check in park or neutral. My Camry dipstick is just bare metal, no stamped text, no cross hatching, just 2 pairs of hot/cold notches in the dipstick.

[fenixus]

I think there should be text Dexron-II or Dexron-III somewhere on dipstick (back side maybe).
can't remember for sure but it might be saying COLD at lower notches and HOT at upper notches too.

perhaps you have an aftermarket dipstick? maybe it's wrong length?

[cf99]

Originally Posted by fenixus

perhaps you have an aftermarket dipstick? maybe it's wrong length?

Nope, definitely the original dipstick. I'm the original owner and haven't changed it. But that's an interesting thought, that it might be the wrong length. I don't see any signs of frothing on the dipstick despite it being about 2" above the max hot notch. Sounds like I should see some frothing with that much overfill?

My car is a J-VIN, so maybe they used a different dipstick than US-made cars (or maybe even a different fill tube part number), and it turns out to be calibrated wrong? You'd think there's be a TSB if that were the case, and I don't find one.

[fenixus]

you're right. J-vin cars may have totally different dipsticks than the ones made in US/CA.

Well, on every other than camry car I would bet the air bubbles would be (surely were on my GM 3.8L if it was only 1nch past HOT) ... but Camry transmissions are quite forgiving in terms of overfill

probably just over filled. drain it and refill with a little less, e.g. 1qt less at first, check, refill more, check, etc. until you find the sweet spot, may take some time

[cf99]

So I got it drained off to the point that it's a tiny bit below the min notch when hot (maybe an eighth of an inch). Are the notches calibrated so there's 1 quart between max and min (or if not, roughly how much between max and min)?

PS I would call the measurement conditions "average hot" like a half hour of driving in spring temperatures. Maybe I'm better off just leaving it where it is? I live in the desert and a long drive on a hot summer day...maybe it would be at the max line if I don't add any more ATF?

[fenixus]

usually 30 min of spirited highway driving is enough to bring the ATF temperature to max HOT it can get.

by MIN notch, you mean the lower COLD or HOT one? the lower HOT mark after local driving is perfect, do not put more fluid. If you mean lower COLD mark then put some more, maybe 0.5qt?

I don't think the notches are calibrated to take 1 quart between the lowest and highest one. It's not like with motor oil dip stick unfortunately.

in colder ambient temps (I mean 40F), 30 mins of local 25mph driving is not enough. it will make engine hot, but not the transmission. During early Jersey Winter (20-30F), my transmission was still stone cold to touch after almost half an hour of local driving from cold start.

For now leave it as is, give it an hour or two for new fluid to drain down the pan and check again later or tomorrow, have the ATF bottle and funnel handy with you in car and do it the next day while driving it, this is the best way not to overfill. at least that's usually what I do.

[cf99]

Yes, it's at the min hot notch after a half hour of city driving. So I'll leave it as is, maybe check a couple more times over the next week for good measure. I wonder if an infrared thermometer pointed at the tip of the dipstick would be accurate for the tranny fluid temperature. Probably as close as I can get anyway. I'll have to check it. The manuals say 158-176F is the normal operating temperature range, only I don't know how they expect you to measure it.

[capnblinski]

..those transmissions can work quite fine when overfilled even by 1 inch on the dipstick (same way of checking).

I checked mine and the reading was 3/4 inch above the hotmarks, and then come home and find this thread on tranny overfill - since the camry's come with a plug on the pan, I'll drain some and get it to the correct level. By the way, the transmission does 'strain' somewhat at when upshifting into third from second gear; I back off the throttle to get the shift depending. Also, the tranny fluid is clear w/ no visible airbubbles on the dipstick.

[capnblinski]

This 2000 5s-fe tranny hangs during upshifts mainly second gear into third; and backing off the throttle is what takes to get the upshift - this is more noticable when going up hills.

The tranny fluid is checked warm/hot with the engine floored, wait, I mean idling, in park, and is clear w/ no visible airbubbles/smell on the stick and consistently reads an inch above the high mark.

Could this be the cause of the (minor) shift problem? Why is the fluid clear when reading? Why is the tube for the dipstick so fragile? Who the hell overfilled the tranny?

Probably some dipstick lol/.

[fenixus]

yup, 1 inch overfilled could affect gear shift points, I would drain it and refill less and re-check level.
fluid exchange for a fresh one can't hurt

they sell fantastic Mobil1 ATF at Advance Auto at around $5.65 per 1qt bottle if you order online with discount codes (e.g. Big30, BIG25, P20, etc. google them), just choose local pickup as there is no shipping on oils.