82TransAM84

Hello guys,

I am dealing with something strange concerning my tranny.

I drained it two weeks ago, and let the car sat till today. I changed both the gasket and filter.

I filled the tranny today, tried to reach the right level but I can't.

It's not the first time I am draining and refilling the trans of my car and I never had a problem before.

As I know it from the shop manual, removing the oil pan calls for 4.7L of fluid for the refilling.
So I put 4L of fluid in the tranny, started the car and let it warm up on P. When the dipstick felt warm, I added fluid. I put the tranny in all the gears several times with the engine running and on P (the engine ran for about 30 minutes at idle, so the tranny fluid should have been warmed enough).

That's when came the problem, after having filled the tranny with almost 8L (yes you read it right, and even now, I can't believe it too), the fluid level won't go above the ADD zone (you know, the 2 small dots just below the hashed zone on the dipstick).
From the end of the dipstick to the 2 small dots, the fluid is perfectly visible, the red color of it is shining.
But after the 2 small dots, it looks like there is no fluid as you don't see something red on it (on the 2 sides of the dipstick). When you touch the dipstick there, it feels slightly oily but that's all but if you touch it where the fluid is, you can feel there is fluid.

As I let the car sat for 2 weeks before doing the refilling, is it possible a bigger quantity of oil (2 or 3L) was drained by gravity from the tranny ? What is annoying in this case is that by adding almost 8L, I am not too far from the quantity of fluid we should add when refilling a bone dry gearbox
Is it possible for the fluid on the dipstick to be perfectly visible and then transparent ? I don't find it logical from my point of view...

Letting the car sat for this long is the only difference I did between the other drainings and refillings I did with success.

FYI, I had no problem with the tranny before doing the draining, and after the refilling, there are no leaks under the car for the moment.

Thanks for your help

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

If the fluid wasn't transparent before you poured it in, it won't become transparent by itself. You can rule that possibility out.

If the dipstick says the fluid is low, ... the fluid is low.

That's all there is to that.

As far as "can it happen" and all that, I suppose that if it did, it can.

See my signature for a helpful mental discipline in situations like this.

Gumby

I can say I had trouble reading royal purple racing atf on my stick, it was so clear, sand blasting the dip stick helped a bit...

[id use redline next time, reg red color.....]

Took nearly a whole 5 gallon jug to fill it from bone dry empty.

82TransAM84

Thanks for your answers ;-)

No, the fluid wasn't transparent when it came out of the bottle. FYI, it is the same fluid / brand I used the last time I drained the tranny (2 years ago). So I can't say it is the fault of the fluid being too clear. And I must add it is DEXRON II, and no other type of fluid.

I hesitate to continue to add fluid till I see if the level rises, because as I said the tranny wasn't bone dry.
But if you say you had to add almost 5 gallons (so about 19L) to fill it from bone dry empty to full, then it let me some kind of margin in comparison with the 10L capacity from bone dry empty they have written in the shop manual.
Can you just confirm me you are speaking about a 700R4 ? Because I see in your signature your car has a T5 manual transmission.

paulo57509

It is possible to drain a bit more fluid than what the manual states. This can happen if you drain the fluid after letting the car sit for an extended period of time.

The torque converter will tend to partially drain itself back into the pan if you let it sit long enough.

If you let two weeks pass before refilling it and the pan was removed from the transmission during this time, it is reasonable to assume that the torque converter partially drained itself causing the need for more fluid than what is stated in the service manual.

Since fluid is showing on the dipstick it should be OK to move the car. Drive it around for a few km's to allow the fluid level to stabilize and re-check it.

The amounts of fluid stated in the service manual should be considered approximate amounts.

Trust your dipstick.

82TransAM84

Thanks for your answer. That is interesting ;-)

But then, I have one more question that came to my mind when on the car. How is it possible that between the initial 4 liters I added and the final 7 liters, the dipstick kept telling me to add fluid ? How does the fluid level in the transmission pan remain the same ?

As the level is measured with engine running, and at a certain temperature, is it in fact a way to indicate that the right amount of fluid is circulating in the tranny instead of showing a level in a pan ?

paulo57509

Having the dipstick read the same level after adding the additional 3 liters of fluid IS rather strange. Unless the reading that you got after you poured the initial 4 liters was not yet settled into the pan. Also, the dipstick can "drag out" some fluid when it is removed and it deposits this fluid in the dipstick tube which may also lead to incorrect level readings.

I have a 2003 GMC Safari van that has a really long dipstick tube. The dipstick is longer than a meter in length. After filling the transmission it is nearly impossible to get any kind of accurate reading on the dipstick. It takes a long time for the fluid that was poured through the dipstick tube to settle down into the pan. There's fluid up and down the entire length of the dipstick. I put in the approximate amount of fluid when refilling (as you did), replace the dipstick and drive the vehicle around for a few days to allow for the fluid to settle. Then I check and add fluid as necessary.

There really is no easy way to measure how much fluid is actually circulating throughout the transmission. As long as the fluid level is correct there should more than enough fluid in the transmission for it to operate correctly.

I keep my transmission fluid levels at either the "add one pint" or at the low end of the "normal" range.

82TransAM84

Thanks for your help ;-)

I know it will be difficult to figure something from the pics, but here are 2 pics I took this evening when controlling again the fluid level. FYI I added about 0.5 liter.

You can zoom after clicking 2 times on the pictures.

The first one shows the level with a fluid which felt warm (I would say around 40-50°C). For me it looks good. I never had such reading since I began the refilling on Saturday.


The second pic, taken just seconds after the first one, shows the oily and transparent (let it call it this way) "fluid", between the hashed zone and the vertical red line.
Should I bother about it or not ?

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Looks about OK to me.

82TransAM84

I have done things today.

After talking about it with other people, I decided to take a ride with my car yesterday. It drove fine, I didn't find something different in the way the tranny behave. But when I checked the level (after 15-18 miles and half and hour of driving), the level was way too high (the highest point of the fluid was in the S the dipstick is doing above the hashed zone).

So today, I was assuming there was maybe too much fluid and decided to drain it a bit (about 0.7 liter).
I started the car from cold and checked the fluid level after 5 minutes. The level of fluid was between the 2 dots, in the ADD zone, just below the hashed zone. So I assumed it was OK.

I drove about 17-18 miles for 45 minutes on an highway type road. I drove in a cool manner, never revved the engine above 2200 rpm, no hard acceleration or braking.

When I came back to my garage, I checked the fluid level, still with engine running and on P. The temperature of the fluid felt to be around the 40-50°C. It was hot but was able to touch it without burning myself.
The level was back again between the 2 dots, just below the hashed zone. I believed there was some fluid on the hashed zone but still it looked transparent.

So I decided to add some fluid and I got this reading on the dipstick :



From my point of view, it looks good.

What do you think ?

phanormthtrodex

Idk.. I see bubbles on the stick in this last picture.. did you ever figure it out?

I'm dealing with the same issue..dropped pan, drained and refilled with ~5 quarts. Transmission acted up. Since then, I've added another 2.5 quarts, and it has massively improved, but still think it's a little low.

Coud it have been low before being drained?

morgsie

iTrader: (1)

I think the more you let it drain the more comes out vs gm's spec. if you drop the pan replace filter and out pan back on immediately, then maybe it'll be closer to the gm spec.

Night rider327

iTrader: (13)

The 700r4 dry with a 12'' dry Torque Converter holds 11.6 Quarts

Almost 3 gallons and that's with a stock pan

82TransAM84

Yes it was solved the cause was probably what Morgsie wrote just after you : I waited too long before doing the refill, and more fluid came out. By adding more fluid than usual, I was able to find the correct fluid level when hot and no more bubbles ;-)