My daughter said she had a check engine light on her '03 corolla. Also said it didn't want to go from a stop light. (Who knows how long this was going on)
Found it was code P0770....transmission.
Checked the transmission oil level.....nothing on the stick.
Added 1 qt ATF....still didn't register. Added almost two qts before I could get it up to the "cold" mark with the engine idling.
I cleared the CE light and drove it for 12 miles. Performed perfectly.
Keep in mind there has never been a trace of any oil on the driveway where she parks.
Anyway...two days later, I check the ATF level. Again.....nothing !!!!
I checked the engine oil.....it was way high!
I didn't think it was possible to suck ATF oil into the engine except maybe a minor amount via some vacuum hose.....but this is a lot!
Yes.....I do know the difference between where you add/check the two oils.
Let's try this again. Since you definitely know the the two different oil checks, let's get both the levels on their mark.
The engine must be fully warmed up and needle near half way to recheck the trans fluid level.
And we'll check the engine oil level just after shutting it off from checking the trans fluid level.
Okay? Let me know what you find in 2 days from now, but no way do I believe it's transferring from one oil pan to another.
BTW, the trans fluid should be Toyota fluid T-IV
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I agree....doesn't make sense.
I'm going to drain the oil out of the engine....refill and try again.
Right now the oil in the transmission doesn't register when the engine is running....only stopped.
I hope I'm just getting senile and don't really have a problem.
FYI....what oil does register on the ATF stick looks clean. The oil on the engine side looks thin now.
I have to say that is 'one' of the weirdest stories I have read. Not sure whats going on there. Two separate systems with two separate dipsticks. And if its not 'dripping' anywhere, that's even harder to understand. Let us know what you find out?
__________________ 2003 Black Toyota Corolla LE (Original Owner) 87,000 miles
Possible radiator? The internal trans cooler in the radiator could be bad and allowing trans fluid into the coolant. Check your eng coolant and look for signs of trans fluid.
__________________ 2005 Corolla LE - Impulse Red - Auto Trans - 1ZZFE - 86,000mi 2003 Echo - Auto Trans - 96,000mi. - slow as dog-dirt - I'd rather put my money in the bank than in the tank!!!!!
OK
I pulled almost a gallon of oil out of the engine (sucked it out the dipstick tube. Now the engine oil level is good. If you remember from my previous post, I added ~ two qts. of ATF earlier. Since this level is now low, I guess that accounts for all the (total) oil.
One thing I forgot to mention is I had a oil change done on the car recently. First time I brought my daughter's car there, but I take my truck there often and know the guys are fairly competent. Even if they drained or added oil to/from the wrong place....it would have shown up somewhere (they showed me the dipstick mark after changing the oil). Still, I have to consider this.
I did check the coolant in the radiator ....looks perfectly clean.
I mentioned this earlier, but the oil I sucked out the engine today looks thin.
Obviously I haven't done an oil analysis.....but it appears it is mixed w/ ATF.
I have to believe I am missing something here as everything I read says it is practically impossible for the two oils to mix on their own.
My next step will be to get the oil changed again tomorrow and not add any ATF just yet.
One more thing....I am assuming I check the ATF with the engine idling. It doesn't say anything in the owner's manual about checking this.
Thanks for the replies!
I will let you know if and when I figure this out.
It certainly sounds like somebody put the fluids in the wrong place. Easy fix before you damage something is drain both engine oil (&Filter) and tranny pan. Replace both with correct fluids. Guessing what happened and driving it would be a mistake. Like was stated above, engine drain and tranny drain are close enough to get them mixed up but pouring tranny fluid into the engine oil fill spot would take a serious 'mental lapse'. I hope whatever has happened hasn't damaged anything.
__________________ 2003 Black Toyota Corolla LE (Original Owner) 87,000 miles
the one bit of info I need is what the engine oil level was before I added the ATF when I first noticed the problem. I didn't check it then....only later on.
Still...even if they drained the ATF oil instead of the engine oil, that would explain why I found no ATF and too much engine oil......but.....it doesn't explain is where the ATF oil went after I filled it up and ran it a while.
It all makes perfect sense... The fairly competent oil change guys drained the transmission pan (removed about 3.5 quarts ATF from 8 quarts total capacity), and they added about 4 quarts of engine oil in the engine oil pan which is why it was about 1 gallon too full. They either faked a good dipstick reading, or screwed that up as well. Engine oil may seem a bit thin as it's half old oil and half new oil.
You then added 2 quarts of ATF in transmission, so it's still about 1-1/2 quart low. Check ATF level with engine idling.
Last edited by invader; 07-31-2011 at 07:48 PM.
The Following User Says Thank You to invader For This Useful Post:
It all makes perfect sense... The fairly competent oil change guys drained the transmission pan (about 3.5 quarts ATF), and they added about 4 quarts in the engine oil pan which is why it was about 1 gallon too full. They either faked a perfect dipstick reading or screwed that up as well. Engine oil may seem a bit thin as it's half old oil and half new oil.
You then added 2 quarts of ATF in transmission, so it's still about 1-1/2 quart low. Check ATF level with engine idling.
That does make sense but how on earth does a 'competent' shop mechanic screw up that bad? I am so glad I do all that preventative maintenance myself. That is scary if that's what happened!!!
__________________ 2003 Black Toyota Corolla LE (Original Owner) 87,000 miles
It seems pretty obvious now that the oil chage guys drained the wrong oil. I confronted them on it.....10 days after the fact, but they denied they could have made the mistake. I would have had a better argument if I had noticed the problem immediatly (lesson learned), but ten days after the fact, it is harder to make my case. They said that the drain for the ATF is different....so they couldn't have done it by accident....but as I found out and some of you already know, on a '03 corolla, the oil & ATF drain plugs are the same size (12mm I think) so it could have easily happened.
No permanent damage noticed yet, but I'm sure it will have consequenses down the road.
Possible radiator? The internal trans cooler in the radiator could be bad and allowing trans fluid into the coolant. Check your eng coolant and look for signs of trans fluid.
Can't happen. The coolant pressure is much higher than the trans fluid pressure so would have coolant in the trans fluid.
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