Low ATF Fluid bfor 400 miles, am I in trouble???

[CedRunner]

So I just changed out my Radiator, Cap and thermostat last weekend and I noticed today that I seem to have less power going up hill. It almost seems as though my transmission is slipping a little bit. Entirely my fault for not topping off the ATF after the radiator change, but I figured that since I clamped the hoses before disconnecting I shouldn't have lost too much fluid. Well, its been almost a week and I checked it today, It is under the bottom mark of "Full when hot". The day of the radiator change, I drove up in the mountains in 2nd gear and ETC on to make sure I wouldn't overheat, stress the engine a little to test out cooling system. And the rest of the 400 or so miles driven since Sunday have been 90% Highway. My question are, did I fry my transmission with the low fluid hence the slight slipping? and, how bad is it to mix ATF brands? I had transmission ATF changed at a transmission shop, they actually over filled it so I certainly am not taking it back to them, nor do I want to call them and inquire on the brand they use (not sure how many brands they cary and after my experience I wouldnt put it past them to just mumble out a brand) I seem to have lost one mile per gallon, could be because of the long trip in the mountains. The idiot light for the transmission has not come on, not that I trust that either but... Anyways, let me know your thoughts. Thank you in advance.

 

[rjaudi]

My opinion is I doubt it. There is a bunch of fluid in the transmission, like 12 quarts. You probably lost 1 when you changed the radiator.

 

[shootmymime]

i think your still safe. the loss of mpg. did u gauge that from your trip in the mountains or after your trip when you ran a tank through with your normal driving and checking form the past? because mountain driving you will always loose a few mpg just because of the extreme load on the engine from up and down. id say you are fine.

as far as mixing fluids. i dont think brands matter that much, but i think ours takes dextron 3. dont hold me to that but i will check and see what i have in the back of mine as a bottle i bought a few weeks ago.

 

[robb1887]

Pretty sure its Dextron II. It'll be printed on your tranny dipstick for verification. I just had mine out last weekend.

 

[CedRunner]

i think your still safe. the loss of mpg. did u gauge that from your trip in the mountains or after your trip when you ran a tank through with your normal driving and checking form the past? because mountain driving you will always loose a few mpg just because of the extreme load on the engine from up and down. id say you are fine.

as far as mixing fluids. i dont think brands matter that much, but i think ours takes dextron 3. dont hold me to that but i will check and see what i have in the back of mine as a bottle i bought a few weeks ago.

[MENTION=14772]shootmymime[/MENTION]; thanks for the prompt input, I kind of though my cruise in the mountains is what I see in MPG drop for that tank, though it was only 25 some odd mile I must really stomped on the skinny pedal. Lol. When I rebuilt my camero back in the days I had but some b&m trick shift in the transmission to liven it up a little. I was thinking of topping off the ATF with some, that a good idea? My thought process is that trick shift doesn't really care what you have in tranny ( dextron II, III, IV or synthetic) and it fixed my slipping in the turbo 400 transmission. Good idea or not to top off with trick shift in these toy trans???

 

[CedRunner]

My opinion is I doubt it. There is a bunch of fluid in the transmission, like 12 quarts. You probably lost 1 when you changed the radiator.

Rjaudi, thank you for the input. Hopefully I'm not a full quart down, but I'll too off today just to be sure, just not sure with what yet.