Transmission fluid

LittleCaesar said:
St. Kitts is nice, though it has been 10+ years since I have been.
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Im not sure you would recognize the place. We have Lines painted on the roadways now! Some areas even have illuminated roadways at night! This little island is definitely making slow and steady progress towards infrastructure improvements.
 
So after reading and posting on this thread a few weeks ago I thought I finally understood how to check my transmission fluid. Apparently I do not.
For the last couple of weeks I have been driving with the O/D off because I dont like how its been acting. With O/D engaged, when I reach about 40mph, the "4th" gear kicks in and drops the RPM to about 1500 to 1700ish which is fine. My daily drive is about 15 to 20 minutes on this 40-45mph speed. During this time the RPM gauge will jump up and down and I can feel the gears changing, not slipping. I decided to try driving with O/D off and the problem doesnt exist as long as O/D is off. Recently I turned O/D back on and it hasnt been engaging. No 4th gear at all. 40, 50, 60mph it doesn't matter. So I turned it back off again since it wasnt doing anything.

I was reading on the forums the other day where someone posted that is its not a good idea to run in 3rd gear all the time and that people should use the ECT if they want a little better performance going up hills and so forth. So i turned O/D back on and tried the ECT button. I start out at 1st gear, good, I get to 2nd gear, fantastic, I reach 3rd gear, RPM gauge spikes to 4500 and Its feels like Im in neutral. a moment of panic ensues and I turn ECT off. Back to normal with no 4th gear.

I get to school after my 20min drive and check the transmission fluid. Level ground, operating temperature, cycled all the gears. While running, the dipstick showed the level was really low, like half way between the end and the lower cold line. I turned off the engine, added 1/2 quart of transmission fluid, go to class for 3 hours. I come back out and check it again while running but not completely warmed up. Dipstick shows fluid all the way up the stick. I figured there was too much residue in the tube. So I drove home to get it hot.


During the drive I noticed ECT still roar but with neutral power. However, 4th gear is now working. Checked again running on level ground after cycling the gear and its reading 3/4 inch above the high hot line.

How can 1/2 quart possibly raise the transmission fluid level from below cold to way beyond high?
 
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ZionXIX said:
So after reading and posting on this thread a few weeks i thought I finally understood how to check my transmission fluid. Apparently I do not.
For the last couple of weeks I have been driving with the O/D off because I dont like how its been acting. With O/D engaged, when I reach about 40mph, the "4th" gear kicks in and drops the RPM to about 1500 to 1700ish which is fine. My daily drive is about 15 to 20 minutes on this 40-45mph speed. During this time the RPM gauge will jump up and down and I can feel the gears changing, not slipping. I decided to try driving with O/D off and the problem doesnt exist as long as O/D is off. Recently I turned O/D back on and it hasnt been engaging. No 4th gear at all. 40, 50, 60mph it doesn't matter. So I turned it back off again since it wasnt doing anything.

I was reading on the forums the other day where someone posted that is its not a good idea to run in 3rd gear all the time and that people should use the ECT if they want a little better performance going up hills and so forth. So i turned O/D back on and tried the ECT button. I start out at 1st gear, good, I get to 2nd gear, fantastic, I reach 3rd gear, RPM gauge spikes to 4500 and Its feels like Im in neutral. a moment of panic ensues and I turn ECT off. Back to normal with no 4th gear.

I get to school after my 20min drive and check the transmission fluid. Level ground, operating temperature, cycled all the gears. While running, the dipstick showed the level was really low, like half way between the end and the lower cold line. I turned off the engine, added 1/2 quart of transmission fluid, go to class for 3 hours. I come back out and check it again while running but not completely warmed up. Dipstick shows fluid all the way up the stick. I figured there was too much residue in the tube. So I drove home to get it hot.


During the drive I noticed ECT still roar but with neutral power. However, 4th gear is now working. Checked again running on level ground after cycling the gear and its reading 3/4 inch above the high hot line.

How can 1/2 quart possibly raise the transmission fluid level from below cold to way beyond high?
Click to expand...

Have you considered the lockup solenoid in your transmission might be failing?

When mine failed, it would cycle on and off at highway speeds over and over and over. The tourqe converter was constantly locking/unlocking. Very annoying!
 
StreetCreeper said:
Have you considered the lockup solenoid in your transmission might be failing?

When mine failed, it would cycle on and off at highway speeds over and over and over. The tourqe converter was constantly locking/unlocking. Very annoying!
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I have already been planning to replace all the solenoids at some point in the future. At the same I would like to scrape that silicone off ONCE, and replace with a gasket.

Im just not sure what is causing the ECT to go crazy. How bad is running with too much Tranny fluid? At the most its 1/2 quart high since thats what I added.
 
Something that may or may not be related. After I added the transmission fluid while running the engine got a little louder and I could hear a faint sound of almost ratting like a paint can.

https://youtu.be/HwqnT72ooW0

So lets play what the hell is that noise...

Also I dont know how to embed video in a post
 
ZionXIX said:
I have already been planning to replace all the solenoids at some point in the future. At the same I would like to scrape that silicone off ONCE, and replace with a gasket.

Im just not sure what is causing the ECT to go crazy. How bad is running with too much Tranny fluid? At the most its 1/2 quart high since thats what I added.
Click to expand...

I'm no expert on transmissions, but the solenoid swap fixed my issues. One thing I found interesting, before the solenoid swap, when I drove with the ECT button on, I really couldn't tell any difference when engaged. After the solenoid swap, I can definitely tell when the ECT is engaged as it really does raise the shift points.

As for running the transmission with too much fluid, I can't really tell you how much over will cause transmission problems since I've never had to deal with an over-filled tranny.

However, I don't personally think 1/2 a quart overfill would cause your tranny to behave in the way you described. That's why I'm thinking you have other issues such as the solenoids. But that's pure speculation on my part — not expert advice.
 
StreetCreeper said:
I'm no expert on transmissions, but the solenoid swap fixed my issues. One thing I found interesting, before the solenoid swap, when I drove with the ECT button on, I really couldn't tell any difference when engaged. After the solenoid swap, I can definitely tell when the ECT is engaged as it really does raise the shift points.

As for running the transmission with too much fluid, I can't really tell you how much over will cause transmission problems since I've never had to deal with an over-filled tranny.

However, I don't personally think 1/2 a quart overfill would cause your tranny to behave in the way you described. That's why I'm thinking you have other issues such as the solenoids. But that's pure speculation on my part — not expert advice.
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Well the tranny is now the least of my problems. After I let it sit for a couple of hours, I went to start her up and she now dies randomly or after revving with a quick removal of the gas pedal. Definitley did not expect this. :cry2:
Also I have no OBD-II scanner and there no way im going to buy a heavily marked up one here on the island. To amazon we go......Any reccomendation for obd-II scanners?
 
ZionXIX said:
Well the tranny is now the least of my problems. After I let it sit for a couple of hours, I went to start her up and she now dies randomly or after revving with a quick removal of the gas pedal. Definitley did not expect this. :cry2:
Also I have no OBD-II scanner and there no way im going to buy a heavily marked up one here on the island. To amazon we go......Any reccomendation for obd-II scanners?
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Any auto repair shops on the island? Maybe they'll read a code for free.

Lowest cost option is going to be an ELM327 OBDII reader coupled with an android phone running Torque Pro via bluetooth.
 
BoomSticks said:
Any auto repair shops on the island? Maybe they'll read a code for free.

Lowest cost option is going to be an ELM327 OBDII reader coupled with an android phone running Torque Pro via bluetooth.
Click to expand...
Since that post I did end up buying a Bluetooth reader that has been excellent with the torque pro app. It has led me down a long annoying road investigating a P1300 code of which I am awaiting parts to fix which should arrive in a day or 2.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
 
Also I avoid the repair shops down here like the plague. Always looking to scam you.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
 
I made a thread title 'The Ever Popular P1300 CEL' chronicling my adventures in tracking down this problem. So far I have tested everything the FSM called for and posting my result on that thread. Also I got a used igniter that looks way better than mine and still have the problem. Have replace plugs, wires, and cleaned several ground contacts. I am now replacing the ignition coils as soon as they arrive in the mail. What a pain.....

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
 
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