Transmission Fluid Less Than Half Full

es300_98_NY · April 19, 2013

I turn on my engine this morning to drive to work and my englne light pops-up. I turned off the engine, checked the fluids-- trans fluid at less that half.

The employees at Mobil offered me to add some fluid right from the top, i wasn't sure and declined the service.

The car is 120k, no transmission fluid have not been replaced yet, runs great.

I would like to ask for your opinions and expertise on this small situation.

Is there any harm to just simply adding the fluid until its up to the appropriate level?

thank you

gbhrps · April 19, 2013

es300_98_NY,

The usual rule of thumb for checking Tranny fluid is to have the engine and tranny up to temperature, and then with the car in PARK at idle , check the fluid on the dipstick.

If the fluid is not up to temperature, the car isn't idling, etc., you won't get an accurate reading. By all means, don't over fill it, and don't run it if its low on fluid.

Your best bet is to get the car at idle and check the fluid, even if its cold, and see where it lies on the dip stick. If its anywhere near the Full mark, the car should be safe to drive until you can get a more accurate reading when the tranny has finally come up to temperature (say 15 minutes driving). At that time add more fluid if necessary.

If you check the tranny fluid level at idle when its cold, and the level is way off the Full mark .... don't drive the car until you get a competent Service tech to tell you how to proceed. Good Luck!

es300_98_NY · April 21, 2013

thank you for your response, needed this information as a begginer

landar · April 23, 2013

As far as I know, low tranny fluid would not produce a check engine light so it may be something else. Get an OBDII scanner on the port and see if there are any stored codes.

If you do anything with the transmission fluid, do not just add...do a drain and replace. You are way past the mileage for replacing the fluid. Use ONLY the type of fluid recommended in your owners manual. I would use only Toyota OEM myself but anything compatible should work.