So after a good 30minutes of driving then park and engine off...this was my transmission dipstick.

Is it low or good?





Thanks for help

 

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It appears to be at the upper mark?
With that said, the helms states, at operating temp. engine off, the car on a level surface, remove ATF dipstick and wipe, insert again.
Remove dipstick, the ATF level should be between the upper mark and lower mark.
I run my CL-S auto at the upper mark, no problems so far.
When I purchased it, the 'hot' ATF was well above the upper mark. Obviously, way overfilled. Removed the excess by inserting appropriate sized clear tubing attached to a syringe at the dipstick tube and gradually brought it down to spec.

 

See how there is a larger collection at the bottom and above that its barely wet. Thats my dilemma. Is the barely visible liquid valid or is the fluid level the bottom amount.

 

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That's why it is important to wipe the dipstick, reinsert, then read the level.
The larger collection of ATF at the bottom is due to gravity.
The upper most indicating level of 'normal operating temperature' ATF, on the cleanly wiped stick, is the current level of ATF in your trans.
Adjust, as mentioned above, accordingly as you see fit.

 

Yeah wiped clean and checked twice. Quickly. Really no time for gravity.

Im going to add 1/3 quart and see if the bottom moves up.

If the fluid isnt low then maybe its my failed o2 sensor causing the occasional issue shifting from 1st to 2nd. Some days it never happens then others it will happen one time after initial start.

 

Just to clarify, when I look at your picture above I see the ATF level at the yellow arrow.
If you agree with that, then adding 1/3 quart will put you over the upper line.
If you don't agree, if possible, show where you think the level is on the picture to clarify.

 

It may be here

 

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If possible, post a picture of the ATF dipstick level after adding that 1/3 quart.
Interested in seeing the result.

 

Will do. Wont be here till Sat. There was no Honda atf-z1 locally. So Amazoned.

 

i agree that the bigger blob is from gravity.

if it was indeed low, it wouldnt show up on the upper dot.


instead of holding the stick vertically ...you would need to immediately pull it out and hold it horizontally.

 

Hi,
Transmission fluid is not a high viscosity oil that will cling in a thick manner. The drop at the bottom is normal and from gravity, the fluid will flow quickly. you can see the fluid in the upper hole of the stick. The transmission fluid is full. As mentioned hold the stick horizontally to help prevent fluid from dripping off.

 

So you were right levels are good. Now I just need to figure why sometimes it doesnt want to shift to 2nd for a few seconds. Can go days with it shifting perfect.

It does need a upstream oxy sensor replaced, thats gotta be it.

 

to figure out why sometimes it doesnt shift into 2nd, one would need to tear apart the transmission and look at the components for unusual wear.

hint; most likely the clutch packs have worn out and allowing slippage


or it could be something as simple as a solenoid or a switch

 

that sounds like a worse case scenario. Is there no way the bad oxygen sensor causing air flow issue which in turn malfunctions the transmission sometimes knowing when it should shift?

 

Hi, I once had a gear slipping and I got lucky, I removed part number 6,18,9 and 4. cleaned up everything and replaced the seals and the problem went away. The transmissions on these cars are notorious for problems. Good luck.
Jon

 

02 sensor is unrelated to your tranny symptoms.

it could be as simple as the shift solenoid being bad or dirty...
or it could be much worse, like the clutch packs being worn and not engaging

 

Ended up replacing the O2 sensor about end of July and sure enough zero ...and I mean zero transmission issues since then. Also my gas mileage doubled after fixing the O2 sensor.

so what 4-5 months ago now..not one single time has the transmission done anything but run perfect...