Transmission Oil

[crazyls]

on a warm car I took the trany dipstick out and the oil was above the top marker by about an inch! is this bad? I've noticed some oil (can't tell what oil it is) on the floor of the garage, usually this happens after a couple of long wot's.... This car was serviced by lexus 3 months ago. its a 92 with 78k miles.

thanks

tr

[nc211]

It can blow the seals and bands in your tranny. The more fluid you have, matched by the heat generated "expands", the more pressure generated. You want to get the fluid back to normal, trust me. This isn't just for a Lexus either, it's for 99% of all cars. Do this:

Crawl under the car, find the tranny pan. See the plug? Get a drain catcher "bucket from autozone". Buy 2 quarts of tranny fluid from your dealer "$10-$15". Back out that plug and let it drain into your container. When it's done, put back the plug and fill the tranny with those two quarts. You should be good at that point. Many people complain about the fact that the "drain and fill" only takes care of 2 quarts when the actual tranny holds 5 times that +. But, it's a great way to make sure you're at the right level. Too much fluid can do more damage than too little. Stuff is like liquid foam when it heats up.....expands. Total process should take maby 45 minutes. Oh...you'll want one of those long nosed, skinny funnels too so you can refill the 2 quarts.

[dfkd]

the general result of too much oil is foaming which can result in substandard lubrication inside the tranny.

id get them to take some out if it is indeed that overfull.

keep in mind though the protocol for checking tranny oil.

preferably warm and with the engine running.

[crazyls]

thanks guys, nc211 love your avatar!!! dfkd the tranny was warm but this time I'll check it with the car running!

tr

[akewlguy]

Go to LEXUS.. DOnt get dirty or lay on the ground.. If they serviced then they can look and fix it. Either way they usually are very good and open to helping owners.

[nc211]

Why would you go to the dealership, pay them $100.00 + to do the exact same thing you can do yourself in no time? It's just one bolt, with 13 lb's of torque. You don't have to jack the car up or anything, just slide a container under the bolt, loosen it, let it drain itself back down to proper level "when it stops draining, you're at proper level", put the bolt back in, put the funnel in the tranny dipstick slot in the engine bay and pour in two quarts of oem fluid....done. It's like the easiest thing you can do on the car, next to the pcv pipe. If you don't want to do it yourself, then take it to your local gas station shop around the corner with your 2 quarts and pay them $20 to do it for you. But I've got to disagree on the dealership. This isn't something that would require their involvement and especially their service bill. Now if you've got other symptoms or hear noises from your tranny, then I might take it to the dealer for a power flush. But to just level out the fluid to proper spec???

[crazyls]

Why would you go to the dealership, pay them $100.00 + to do the exact same thing you can do yourself in no time? It's just one bolt, with 13 lb's of torque. You don't have to jack the car up or anything, just slide a container under the bolt, loosen it, let it drain itself back down to proper level "when it stops draining, you're at proper level", put the bolt back in, put the funnel in the tranny dipstick slot in the engine bay and pour in two quarts of oem fluid....done. It's like the easiest thing you can do on the car, next to the pcv pipe. If you don't want to do it yourself, then take it to your local gas station shop around the corner with your 2 quarts and pay them $20 to do it for you. But I've got to disagree on the dealership. This isn't something that would require their involvement and especially their service bill. Now if you've got other symptoms or hear noises from your tranny, then I might take it to the dealer for a power flush. But to just level out the fluid to proper spec???

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I think akewlguy is saying they overfilled it they should fix it!! but I'm going to do it your way its much faster, once again thanks guys!

[nc211]

Ohhh, OK. sorry Kewl, I missed that part of information. It might help if I read the thread a little closer .

[crazyls]

ok now I'm going nuts, had the car warm and running checked the fluid and its I think right at the top of the hot section. I say I think because I have to actually wipe the dip stick to see the oil it looks sorta red but its hard to see on the dip stick. Shouldn't it be a little more visibile?

thanks again guys.

tr

[nc211]

Wipe it off on a white paper towel, then you'll see the true color. It should be red, but remember, the drain and fill "which is the common practice" only drains out 2 quarts. The tranny actually holds a lot more than that. So you'll have some old mixed in with the new. It turns brown after a while. I can't stress enough the importance of learning how to do the drain and fill yourself. This way, you can do it like every 5,000 miles yourself and eventually have the freshness back in place. That's what I do. I've done it now 3 times. First time the fluid was dark brown. Second, light brown with shades of red. 3 time, more red. Car is smoooth in the transmission too.

ok now I'm going nuts, had the car warm and running checked the fluid and its I think right at the top of the hot section.  I say I think because I have to actually wipe the dip stick to see the oil it looks sorta red but its hard to see on the dip stick.  Shouldn't it be a little more visibile?

thanks again guys.

tr

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[crazyls]

once again thanks. I have a question though when lexus did the oil change do you think they did a complete drain or just the drain and fill?

[nc211]

You would mean did they do a power flush or drain n' fill. There is no real way to do a complete "drain" on the fluid. If it says "drain" on the ticket, then it was probably the drain and fill routine. They can flush the system for you though too, I think it's like $75 or so. That would get all of the old fluid out. But to just drain it, you'll only get those two quarts.

For you leak, have you looked under the car at the plug on the tranny pan? It's center right under your transmission shifter. It might be dripping from the plug itself, might need a new little seal on the plug itself.

[crazyls]

yea I'm going to have to lift the monster up and look at the oil pan!

[nc211]

Crazy, do you have a digital camera? If so, lay on the ground next to it, stick your camera under the car and snap away! Here are a couple snaps of my drain plug. It looks wet, but that's because I just did a drain and fill recently and wiped the area with a tranny fluid soaked rag.

[crazyls]

I'll do that! Did you go out and take the picture just for this, if so thats crazy! I mean crazy in a good way and I hope that I can return the favor someday!

tr

[nc211]

For $20 I'll say yes...oh wait, I have morals...damn morals, always getting in the way of my wallet. Actually I took those photos a couple weekends ago when I was trying to figure out what that stain was on my driveway. Turned out to be the leaking seal around my thermostat housing, running cooland down the front of the engine, to the engine cover, and off of the back lip of the cover.

[crazyls]

its the rear main seals in my case, damn! how much is that going to cost!

anyway once again thanks

[monarch]

ok now I'm going nuts, had the car warm and running checked the fluid and its I think right at the top of the hot section.  I say I think because I have to actually wipe the dip stick to see the oil it looks sorta red but its hard to see on the dip stick.  Shouldn't it be a little more visibile?

thanks again guys.

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That means the fluid level was correct afterall. New fluid is hard to see as you noted.

[sha4000]

its the rear main seals in my case, damn! how much is that going to cost!

anyway once again thanks

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thats money b/c they have to drop the tranny to change the seal :cries: