Hey guys, sorry if I sound like a complete noob but how do you properly read a the dipstick for the transmission? I did a drain and refill yesterday by myself and I'm not sure whether or not I drained 3 quarts or not. When I poured the fluid back into the containers I was only about to fill about 2 1/4 bottles? Keep in mind that a bunch of fluid also missed the pan when I first loosened up the drain bolt.

Here is the dip stick after driving the car for a good hour or so:




I know the fluid is supposed to be between the two hole near the end of the dip stick but after taking the dip stick out, wiping it, putting it back in and taking it out again the areas that are wet is up at least an inch or so.

 

You need to follow the user's manual on how to check fluid level. You shouldn't drive the car and check the fluid level right after (fluid already flow everywhere in the trans case) . Let the car complete cool down and park on level ground first, start the car and turn on the AC so the car reach normal operational temperature faster, wait till the radiator fan kick in for the first time and shut off the engine right away, within 90 seconds check the ATF level.

 

Engine off, level ground. It can be a little past the top hole, won't hurt a thing. If it gets too high, you can get aeration and leaks, especially from the axles.

Read the lowest side of the dipstick.

 

Level ground, warm transmission, engine off. It's best to check it after driving a bit, a few minutes after stopping the engine.

I tend to prefer having the level right on, or very slightly above the upper dot. Mid-Way at the lowest.

 

I just checked again.. ran the motor until running temperature.



Hopefully the picture above is clear enough but the fluid level is a little less than half an inch above the top hole (both sides were the same this time around).

Is that okay?

 

Definitely a bit towards the high side, but higher is way better than lower when it comes to AT's.

It's probably 'OK', but I would pump some out the dipstick since its easy. Probably a bit harder if you don't have anything to do that with.

 

What if I don't have one of those pumps? I'd probably have to let some out through the drain hole right?

 

Yeah, opening the drain plug really fast would work, but could get messy...

I'm not sure it's worth it. I suppose you could try to just crack it open and keep it in, so just a little drips out?

 

It's fine where it is. Mine is always that overfull..... when hot.

 

Complete noob with transmission, even after enduring a ridiculous two year battle with Acura for a rebuilt one after mine had intermittent trans failure.

My car slipped completely out of gear last night (see entire thread here, last post by me)

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/yet-another-serious-transmission-issue-almost-out-warranty-815616/

I checked my ATF fluid with the car cold and it read below both indicator marks. I turned it on and switched through gears for a couple minutes and it read high on the stick a minute after shutting the car off. Which is accurate??