I was checking the transmission fluid level in my '88 Camaro with the 4spd auto. First of all, I put the dipstick in and pulled it out several times, and the fluid is so lightly colored (it's pretty much pink) that I can't ever really get a reading. Mabye that's just me. The thing that really concerned me, though, was that each time, there were clusters of small bubbles on the end of the dipstick.

Is that normal or is my transmission fluid boiling or something? (BTW--I already know that my transmission has some problems as I cannot ever shift directly into overdrive unless the car is hot.)

Thanks

 

It's probably not boiling; it could be overfilled or underfilled. Over/underfilled causes foaming of the fluid- and because of the foaming fluid, it puts air into the trans, and it "theoretically" could burn up the tranny's clutches & 2-4 band. Lightly colored pink doesn't sound right at all, though.. should be RED. (If it's brown or black and smells burnt and feels gritty, you're in trouble, the clutches are shot) So you could siphon some fluid out if it's overfilled, or put some in if it's under. Did you check the fluid while the car was hot? Also, you can't check the fluid if you just drove the car hard.

What do you mean by "can't shift directly into overdrive unless the car is hot?"

You can also ask (or do a search) on the transmission/drivetrain forum, the V8 guys use our same 4-speed automatic (700r4) trans.

 

Thanks for the reply.

Based on what you said, I need to find out whether I'm overfilled or underfilled. That means that I need to learn how to get a good reading on a dipstick! I always have trouble getting a good reading on the transmission dipstick because, first of all, the darned thing is hot (yes, I actually checked it on level ground, in park, after a ~25 min. drive). That makes maneuvering it out of the sheath harder, as well as the fact that the hood is right there and that makes it even more difficult to pull out straight, so what ends up happening is the tip flicks out and I never can quite get an accurate reading. I probably need a better pair of gloves or something--mabye pull the hood off so that I can pull it out straight. (Sort of embarassing that I can't read a dipstick...)

If it makes any difference with regards to the color, I did put some "Trick Shift" additive to the fluid mix on the last transmission filter/fluid change. The guy that told me about it says that it's supposed to work well, but I've seen no difference (since I added it months ago). But if I can recall correctly, though, the additive was green. Dunno how I get pink from red and green. Or mabye it's just that underfilled and I'm imagining red where there's nothing.

As far as the not being able to shift into OD immediately thing goes... If the car has been sitting for a while (long enough to cool down), and I start it, putting the transmission right into overdrive, it will not go. It's basically just like being in neutral. If it's a little warm, sometimes if I'm lucky I can give it some gas for a little while, and then as the engine idles back down, it will "catch" and throw the car into gear. So what I have to do is put it into drive, drive around to warm the car up to operating temperature (which takes like less than five minutes on mine), and then I can shift it into overdrive from drive. I never have any real problems after that, as long as the car stays warm.

On a side note, something that's sort of odd about that is the time it takes from going from being "out of gear" (i.e. neutral or park) to kicking into gear. For example, if I were to shift directly into 1st (regardless of whether hot or cold), it pretty much goes immediately into gear. With drive, especially if it's cold, I'm now often finding myself having to wait for it to kick into gear there. And, of course, with overdrive, it pretty much never goes into gear unless it's warm. I wish I could think of a better diagnosis for those symptoms, but with my transmission knowledge, all I can say is that I have "transmission problems."

Any ideas?