DIY Transmission Fluid Dipstick

[koozy]

Remove air box/intake to gain access to the fill hole and remove the plug with a 8mm hex.

I used a coat hanger and cut it long enough to not fall in. Bend one end so the length is at least 20mm and long enough for fluid to cling on to. Sand down the wire so that it's dull, this will help in trying to see where the fluid is on the dipstick. Mark the 20mm line on the dipstick.

Take a paper towel to clean up any residual fluid on the threads of the fill hole.

Slide the dipstick in several times to see where there's a clear path without hitting anything inside. The dipstick should be parallel to the ground.

Pull the dipstick out to know whether you need to add more fluid or not. I recommend those still on the factory fill do this asap.

 

[Rockland]

Nice. Did something similar. This was my version.

Fill tube & funnel.

Plastic syringe & bicycle spoke.

 

[koozy]

Syringe was used to suck fluid back out?


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[Rockland]

Yup. I would fill with as much new trans fluid as I had on hand, usually (2) quart bottles, or it just started to back up the fill tube. Syringe then to draw the level back down to 20mm below the hole.

 

[koozy]

Happen to know the exact amount sucked out to meet the required fill level? Sucking out is another good option for those that want to fill to the brim first.


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[Rockland]

My numbers may not be the same for every car or situation out there, but the last time I did it:
1550 ml drained out (Was it low to start? Hard to say.)
1892 ml new went in (did not back up the fill tube at all)
16 ml was all the syringe pulled out to get to 20mm

I'm going to get another data point in a couple weeks.

 

[koozy]

16 ml was all the syringe pulled out to get to 20mm

I'm going to get another data point in a couple weeks.

16 ml sucked out should be relative, probably a bit more if filled to the brim. Let us know in a couple of weeks after your new data point.

 

[FiSTerMr]

Nice. Did something similar. This was my version.

Fill tube & funnel.

Plastic syringe & bicycle spoke.

View attachment 20079

View attachment 20080

So that first bend from the tip is measured to 20mm? You keep drawing fluid till air fills the syringe?

 

[Rockland]

Correct.

20mm vertical from the underside of the horizontal part, down to the end of the plastic tube. I held it as level as possible inside the fill hole, and pull out fluid till you are just drawing air.

 

[CraiMart]

My question is how do you know how far to insert the stick? You can basically put the stick in whatever amount and still get the oil to the 20mm mark.

 

[ShaunPanday]

Is filling till the brim a problem

 

[FiSTerMr]

Is filling till the brim a problem

According to the service manual, yes. Real world, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[hypnosguy0806]

I sure hope all those Youtubers read this first! LOL

Don't just fill to the brim!

 

[TyphoonFiST]

I sure hope all those Youtubers read this first! LOL

Don't just fill to the brim!

You fill with 2qts or 1.89L...My first trans failed @ 25-26k bearing howl in 3rd gear on. Drained my "Replacement" trans...2qts/1.89L came out from fomoco..so what does that tell you? Ferd realized they were underfilling and did a TSB i was told by the Tech who did mine.

 

[Intuit]

The difference between 1" and 2cm accounts for the difference between two fill levels.
Which fill level happens to be in there just depended on whether they used the 1" spec, or the 2cm spec.
That said and for the reasons I mentioned below, I went the the higher spec, versus the lesser.





One issue with trying to measure below the fill hole is that frig'n right angle.
So you're not really measuring directly from the hole to the fluid.
You have to measure even from the hole, down to the fluid.
So you'd need something more like this...


But at the end of the day, I don't think it makes that much of a difference, as long as there's enough in there to start with.

If there's no pump in the man-trans, that means there are gear(s) that are partially dipped in the fluid. Those gears are responsible for "distributing" the fluid upward. How little or how much they're buried, I don't think matters. All that matters is that they're sufficiently buried. So other than maybe an axle seal leak, I doubt there'd be any risk in filling up to the hole and leaving it there. If the axle seals are well enough above that hole, (accounting for non-level surfaces and slosh,) that shouldn't even be a risk.

 

[PhoenixM3]

Remove air box/intake to gain access to the fill hole and remove the plug with a 8mm hex.

I used a coat hanger and cut it long enough to not fall in. Bend one end so the length is at least 20mm and long enough for fluid to cling on to. Sand down the wire so that it's dull, this will help in trying to see where the fluid is on the dipstick. Mark the 20mm line on the dipstick.

Take a paper towel to clean up any residual fluid on the threads of the fill hole.

Slide the dipstick in several times to see where there's a clear path without hitting anything inside. The dipstick should be parallel to the ground.

Pull the dipstick out to know whether you need to add more fluid or not. I recommend those still on the factory fill do this asap.

Doing this all from above, correct? Car is on level ground?

 

[koozy]

Doing this all from above, correct? Car is on level ground?

Yes

 

[PhoenixM3]

Yes

Copy, thanks!

 

[Seag123]

Suppose someone was stupid enough to drop a roughly 4 inch long curved DIY metal coathanger inside the casing while trying to check the gearbox oil level, is there gearbox going to be destroyed if the coathanger couldn't be retrieved??

 

[Intuit]

Not worth the risk. Get it out. There are lighted USB bore scopes available. Used to be cheap but think they're now moderately priced. I'm not even sure that would be attracted to a magnet, but worth checking. If it is attracted to a maget, a pick up tool would be mighty helpful. If you can see it with the borescope, the grappler style pick up tool might be helpful.