Hi guys. Have a 99 Ltd auto trans, was in Texas doing some maintenance before traveling to New England. Decided to do a drain and fill in the trans, and only a little over 2.5 maybe 3 quarts came out. So I matched the fluid that came out to put back in.
I get back to New England and check the level after running it for about a half hour drive and the fluid level says it’s in the lowest of the cold level. I added two more quarts but it still says it low. I’ve never touched the trans before this. How much fluid is safe to add at one time?

The 2WD and 4WD trans pan is different and so a drain and fill will be different between the two (4WD pan is larger).

The difference between the min and max lines on the dipstick is less than a quart, so be careful when adding fluid.

Make sure the fluid is 'fully warm' when checking the fluid level. The FSM says 154-176*F, I believe (for level checking).

Make sure you are checking on a level surface, the dipstick is not in the center of the pan and the level will change significantly when not reading from level.

-Charlie

Just to get it out of the way, the cold lines are only for reference doing an initial fill. The level you actually care about is going to be the hot level, and to check that you want the car on level ground at operating temperature with the engine running. Run the gear shift from park down through all the gears and then back to park, then check the fluid level.

As far as how much fluid you can safely add at one time, there isn't really an answer to that. You can safely add as much as you need to bring the fluid level to the correct range. Exactly how much that is depends on how low you are. I'd go with smaller increments and repeated checks to avoid overfilling.

If you were already up to the cold low level, 2 quarts should have moved the level on the dipstick a solid amount. Just to check, where are you adding the transmission fluid?

Adding through the trans dipstick tube

Should I add the fluid when the truck is running or off is another question I had

Engine should be running and in park to check the level.

With my 4wd I just drain it and add 4qts. That dipstick is a pain to get in and out smoothly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Doesn't matter when you add it.
Does matter how you check it.

If you try and check it right after you add some you might get a false reading as it will take a bit for it to run down the dipstick tube and into the trans.

Is this still correct? I actually need to add a little. I checked the FSM to see if they mentioned the atf fluid quantity between the min & max lines on the dipstick and didn't see it specified.

I would run it through all the gears, then in park check it on level ground. then add if needed then let it sit a bit so fluid can drain down into pan and your not getting a false reading on dip stick