I drained my transmission fluid the other day, it ended up being just a hair over a gallon. I read that you should replace as much as you drained, so I did. But now when I check the level on the dipstick it shows it way over the full line. What should I do????

 

Is this checking immediately after refilling? Or is this checking after starting the engine?

 

I checked it right after I filled it.

 

There could be fluid still in the tube or (I'm no expert here, I haven't done this myself yet) maybe you need to start the engine so that the fluid cycles through to where it was removed.

That would be my guess. If you've replaced all that you lost, I don't think you'll be doing any harm to the engine by starting it.

 

THANKS FOR THE INFO!

 

Most trans have an overflow spout anyway...so if you notice it leaking out, I wouldnt worry.

 

Is this an auto tranny? If so, then the proper procedure to check the fluid level is to:
1. start the engine
2. shift through all the gears then put it in park
3. keep the engine running
4. check the level

The transmission should be warm too, not just the engine so you have to drive it around a while.

Too much fluid is bad and can cause foaming. FYI, total capacity of the auto tranny is about 15 qts.

 

It's an auto. I'll have to drive around a bit and then try, I just checked it cold. Thanks, that helps a lot!

 

An auto will only dump a few qt through the drain plug, the right way is too change fluid is to have it flushed. SO if you just drained it, it should only take a few qt pending on the type of transmission.

Robinhood is 100% correct in the checking procedure.

 

By draining the pan, you don't get whats in the torque converter. I removed my fluid send line to the radiator (going to my transmission cooler), cranked the truck and let it idle. I drained my fluid into a bucket. When it quit draining, I poured new quarts of fluid through it until the fluid draining began to look new. This method did waste new fluid but I feel like I got most of the old stuff out. Try not to overfill, but if you do, it will blow it out on the interstate or when towing.

 

I drained my 97 auto the other day. In my service book it said it should only drain 2.1 quarts on a "drain and refill", but 5 quarts came out!!! I know this doesnt really fit in with your delimma, but I just thought it was weird.

 

is this something that someone can do at home? or should i leave the auto trans flush to a professional? Last thing i want to do is to trash my tranny

 

You can do this at home. Drain and refill first the sump case (5 quarts usually is accomplished here). Then as other have mentioned, disconnect the return line from the tranny cooler and install a hose onto the end of the flange from the tranny cooler (i forget how big the flange is) and put the hose into something and drain out no more than two quarts. Stop the engine, and refill the two quarts, start it again, pour out another quart or so (5x equals about 10 quarts) = 15 quarts total exchange. It isn't a flush, but just a fluid exchange and does good.

 

here are some helpful writeups at 4x4wire i'm planning to tackle on my tacos 30k service.

 

What are the symptoms of needing more tranny fluid or needing it replaced? I am noticing that in my auto, the rpms are tending to go higher when changing gears.

 

I've been having that same problem, but my fluid level is up to par this morning. I planned on installing a tranny cooler later today, then tomorrow taking it to Toyota and having them flush the system. I can add a quart or two, but since I don't plan on driving it more than say, a mile, I can wait to fully fill it. The way I look at it is when the stealer does the flush, they'll check it to full, and fix the problem for me anyway. I know, a bit gehtto, but, it'll work.

I'm hoping that'll solve the shift issues. If not, a great tranny shop up the street will be happy to have some business. I know stealer techs that go there because they don't wanna pay for Toyota's services.

--Adam

 

could be your TPS, tranny might be fine?

 

Umm you might want to mention that you don't know the level to the dealer. We have a sort of tranny fluid exchange machine at school and the way it works is it simply replaces the influent tranny fluid to the cooler with new tranny fluid on the effluent from the cooler. In our machine, if it's low, it's still gonna end up low, even after the exchange (technically you supposed to measure the level of the tranny after the change, but I know some dudes at dealerships just don't care to do so).