I have an 06 TL. My question is do I check the tranny fluid while the car is running or when the car is off? I get mixed answer about this.

 

AT or MT? As far as I know ... with the engine running for AT

 

Yea engine running, park it and put it in each gear (P,D,L...) for a few seconds each then leave it running and check it, makes sure the cars at running temp, where is the dip stick for checking it on an 06?

 

at

 

Run the engine when checking you ATF fluid leave the car in Neutral and apply the parking brake.

 

Check it while running or immediately after turning it off. It is the yellow handle near the air intake plastic.

 

Check it with the engine off, full temp, level ground, not too long after shutdown.

The reason for checking it within a minute or so of shutdown is convertor drainback. It's not supposed to drain back, there's a valve to stop that but sometimes it fails and the trans level will rise way above the full mark giving a false reading. On 99% of the cars you could wait 30 minutes and it would be fine.

 

what will indicate that it needs to be changed?

 

Mileage. Color is not an indication as the fluid is dyed red and will change and darken over time. If it's burnt it would also be an indicator that a change is due.

ATF is checked after car/fluid up to temp, shut car off and check within 60-90 seconds as per the FSM.

 

ck the owner manual for exact procedure
(my gen2 is drive 15 minutes freeway cruise-stop on level ground- ck with engine runn..hmmm better read the book again to see if on or off) lol

If you dont have the owner book go to gen3 Garage section on here- free download or read online-link

 

whats the mileage it needs to be changed at? what do you mean burnt?

 

my manual is sitting in my lap and it tells me for my car (07 type-s)

park on level ground

run engine until fan comes on

shut off engine

for best results wait 60 sec. but not longer than 90sec. to check level

add if needed

 

You guys make this complicated. Just check it with the engine off and fully warm. If it's not fully warm, it will read a little low, no big deal. I've checked mine enough that I know where it's supposed to be hot or cold. There really isn't much difference. I could just imagine some of you waiting until the fan comes on and the rushing around to the front of the car with a stop watch and pulling the dipstick at exactly the right time lol.

 

Check the owner's manual, but scheduled service is 100,000 miles under normal driving conditions. If the fluid is dark brown and has a burnt odor when smelled, change. As it's a fairly simple procedure, most change it at shorter intervals.

 

forget the owner manual service time advice and 100 till change--a lot has been learned since those were written
burnt fluid is obvious to the nose
many of us are changing 3 qts every 15 or 30 kmiles, some are doing the full 12 qt procedure every 30--clean fresh oil is always a good thing

I say FOLLOW the manual for your year as there are differances

Should not be low or there is a problem somewhere- called a leak!!

I hate cars: Noobs dont know how to interpret fluid level readings like you do,,
so lets have them follow the book procedure on this one,, ok?

 

I'll be getting mine swapped out soon... proper 3x3 hopefully...

 

I agree that the process is fairly simple; but getting off both the filler bolt and the drain bolt are no easy tasks. I ended up re-filling through the dipstick hole and I broke a socket wrench trying to get off the drain bolt.

I'm aware that the factory torques all bolts to specifications. But I swear, even if they were torqued a lot less, it's highly unlikely that any of the fluid bolts would fall off during driving.

Sometimes I almost feel like they just want your $80 (transmission drain and re-fill) to get off one damn bolt. I've been changing my own oil for years, and I've always hand-torqued my bolts when tightening and never had a problem. Just my two cents. Be gentle if you're gonna start with the torque-specification spiel.

 

The fill bolt is to be torqued to 33 ft-lbs, but from the factory is must be 4 times that amount. It takes quite a bit of leverage to break it loose, but once that is done, tighten correctly and it will be a breeze the next time around.