Overfilled Auto Transmission?

[JetspeedCamry]

I think my auto trans if quite overfilled.
I took the dipstick out and there are 2 marks..one say cold..the other sayd hot.
I checked it when the car was cold and the fluid level was seriously about 15 times higher than that mark. I'm not sure if i believe that tho..because wouldn't trans be dead now if that was the case? Whats the effect of an overfilled trans? Ill take a picture of the dipstick level and show you what i mean.

[JetspeedCamry]

Dipstick cleaned.


Dipstick showing fluid level.


Doesnt look right to me!!!

[anuthaCamry]

It should say in the instruction manual, be that your primary information source. Transmission check level proceedures vary.

usually, engine hot, driven between 10-50 miles, RUNNING AND IN PARK
remove, wipe put in all the way, should be between the two top notches or (somewhere below if low). should be bright red too.

exception, some early honda accords where the fluid is checked engine off with a threaded dipstick resting on top of the threads not all the way in engine hot.

[bowlofturtle]

mines is like that as well. not sure what to think. i always thought for it to be overfilled. But toyota never said much about it when i get service done.

[anuthaCamry]

the strange thing about an overfilled transmission is that if filled beyond a certain point, it behaves as if it has no oil at all - destroying the transmission.

[JetspeedCamry]

Well so far..the trans inst destroyed..but i have noticed that the O/D light flashes. Someone said it was telling me the a CEL error had been logged..but thats not the case.
Does the fluid look to be overfilled? Looks that way to me!!!

[anuthaCamry]

was the engine running when you checked it?

it should be running, the tc is connected to the flywheel and once the engine stops spinning the fluid will drain out of the tc and make the fluid look like it's overfilled.

it's not always easy to check trans fluid levels, look for a perfectly straight line with bare metal on top and oil on the bottom there might be oil on top of this bare spot but not on the bottom. Just checked mine yesterday and it was between the marks, red but not cool aid red...

---

overfilling the transmission is kinda like using dish soap to wash your car. I won't mess it up right away, but check back in a few years and paint is toast.

[virtualkuz]

overfilling an auto transmission is very very bad. how did so much trans fluid get in there? how long have you been driving like that? how long has it been since you changed the fluid?

if the answer is more than 30,000 miles i'd stop playing around checking the fluid and drop the pan and do a filter change.

in an overfilled transmission the torque convertor likes to foam up the fluid. if it is foamed it cannot be pumped efficiently by the pump. the trans overheats and its time for a new trans. if your o/d light is flashing I would take care of this 5 days ago.

going by your pictures of the dipstick i would say you are WAY overfilled. again, how did all that fluid get in there?

[anuthaCamry]

he probably checked it with the engine off, or there were splashes in the tube preventing a proper reading.

that looks about right for it being checked the wrong way (engine off).

If that's the true measure than he's in trouble.

[JetspeedCamry]

Yeah..I checked it with the engine off, car had been sitting in garage overnight...so guess thats not the way to check it.
Thing is..the dipstick say COLD and HOT...so i assumed that when the engine was COLD. the reading should be at that point..hmm.
Yeah ive been driving it for a while since the last change. I didnt actually do the change..i had my friend do a flush for me..and at the same time..they re-filled the trans..so, but this was at a Mitsubishi repair place .

So..ill check it after i go for a bit of a drive and see how it is.

Thanx.

[virtualkuz]

well that explains a lot. the cold mark is when the engine is running, but the trans is cold, the hot is the same way. if you didn't check the fluid while the car was running then what the dipstick said is irrelevant.

[HeNry2kOoL]

My gen2 V6 is about the same way right now cept my fluid ends about where the DEXTRON letters ends on the dipstick. I found that getting an accurate fluid level on my car is pretty hard, I don't know if it's the same in others. If your fluid is dark and burnt, I probably wouldn't try to do a flush. I did that about 1.5 years ago when my transmission fluid was burnt and brown, and the transmission started slipping about a few weeks after I flushed it and it eventually died, all about a little less than a month of the flush. After getting the transmission rebuilt again the fluid level was back to before I did the flush, over the hot mark. But since it drives fine, I'm just gonna leave it alone this time.

[HeNry2kOoL]

Just curious, so how long are you suppose to drive to get an accurate reading on the dipstick? When I had my fluid leveled before, I filled it so it was right on the hot mark after about 10mi of driving. But 20-30+mi the level would shoot over the hot mark by about a cm, while cold the fluid would just barely touch the tip of the dipstick.

[anuthaCamry]

there's a detailed explanation in the technical manual that says something about cooling it if it's over I think 50miles

if the fluid is burnt the aamco people will wanna strip it silly and rebuild it and all that anyways...

I'm replacing fluid whenever it isn't cherry red because it's better for the tranny,
I 'flush' every 7500 miles or so, and if there is something wrong with the tranny: every 3-5k. I've gotten 25k+ miles out of a car with an obviously damaged transmission with no problems, just by changing the fluid often. Plus, if you haven't flushed the fluid before you should repeat the drain/refill process over and over again (perhaps the number of times to make up for missed services) because you can only drain about 60% at a time anyways (you can't drain the tc completely while it is in the car).

If you aren't 100% sober and sure of what you are doing, don't check the level of a transmission. While one can argue that an underfilled tran. may cause no permanent damage; no one can deny that an overfilled tran. will self destruct and do so with vigor.


---edit
don't pollute the environment!!

[alex86]

well ive always drove around to get the car warmed up and then park it on a leveled surface. then go thro each gear with 2 second intervals between each gear and the same way bak up such as P 1 mississippi(sp?) 2 " " R " " " " D. and the same bak up to park from L. then check your fluid levels. nd leave your car running the whole time. all this should give you a pretty good accurate reading