Transmission Flush

Posts Tagged ‘Levels’

In one sense, your car is living being. All living beings need substance to survive. Fluids provide this for your automobile and without it they would quickly die. You’ll find yourself with a heap that won’t move and will just be lying on the side of the road. Maintaining the fluid levels in your automobile is an easy job. This is something that even an introductory mechanic can handle. More importantly, it’s fun and will add years the life of your car.

While it is important to always maintain these levels, you specifically want to make sure that prior to long trips you take care of this maintenance task. There are seven areas in your car that need liquid to survive: window washer, air conditioner, engine, radiator, battery, brakes and transmission. Let’s take a quick look at each one and ensure that your car stays on the road.

Window Washer-This is probably the easiest of all tasks with the reservoir being located in the rear of the engine compartment. If you’re having trouble locating it, consult your owner’s manual. Most newer automobiles will have a warning light that comes on indicating that it needs to be filled. You may want to add a little bit of Windex to improve the cleaning capabilities of your washers. You’ll find this useful tip when dealing with bugs and road salt, as it will remove them from your windshield easier.

Air Conditioner-While this is an area that needs to be checked, it is not usually something the armchair mechanic can handle. While it is important to check this fluid level, this is a task that you should trust to a certified mechanic that specializes in air conditioning.

Engine-For an automobile, oil is the equivalent of blood. Without oil, your engine would lock up and become completely useless. The procedure itself is quite simple. Take your automobile out for a quick ride and find a nice spot to let it cool down for about five minutes. This will give the oil needed time to settle into the sump. Open your hood and find the dipstick, it will be located in the front of the engine and usually has a distinctive handle. Remove the dipstick and wipe it down and then reinsert it in the reservoir. If the level is low add a quart and re-check it. Repeat the process until you have an acceptable level. Do not overfill it as this will lead to problems.

Radiator-This is a process that you want to do when the engine is luke warm, not cold. Also make note at the radiator should never be checked while the car is on. The radiator cap is easy to locate as it is in the center of the engine compartment. Be careful and use a rag to remove it. Simply look down and see if the fluid is at a high level. If it’s near the top your fine if not you’re going to have to add some fluid. The mix for engine coolant is 50% water and 50% coolant. You are also going to want to check the coolant reservoir. This is a plastic reservoir on the side of the radiator with a hose that connects it. This should be filled about two thirds of the way.

Battery-If you have a maintenance free battery, this is a simple task as you need do nothing. However, if you have a standard battery, the cells will need refilling. The cells will either screw off or be pried off with a flat screwdriver. This should be filled with distilled water. Caution should be used when filling a battery, as it contains sulfuric acid. Use the necessary precautions.

Brakes-Locate the brake fluid reservoir, it is usually in the engine compartment. Take off the lid and check the level. It is not at least two thirds full replenish it to the full line with brake fluid. If this is a consistent problem, you may want to have a mechanic look at it.

Transmission-for an automatic transmission, the dipstick is usually located behind the oil stick at a lower level. When checking this fluid, your automobile should be on and running. This is a sealed system, therefore, if you’re fluid is low is probably an indication of a leak. This will be easily confirmed by an oil like stain underneath your automobile. If the fluid is very dark or black, this is a sign that it needs to be changed.

As you can see, checking all of these should take no time at all. However, the few minutes that you do spend maintaining your automobile’s fluid levels will save you lots of money and prolong the life of your car.

Information concerning fluid levels

Fluid level is spoken about often here are the facts. With and auto trans and in particular the 4L60E there is no such thing as low. If you let the trans get even 1/2 quart low you will and or have damaged your transmission. They are absolutely not forgiving. We recently did some intentional test with a unit we use to check different ideas. Here is what we found, At 1/2 quart low approximately 1/2 inch bellow pan rail we ran the transmission. We monitored pressure. The pressure in this condition was completely unstable. Jumping from very low to beyond the max of our 300 PSI gauge’s. When you changed gears particularly on the 2-3 3-4 and the reverse gears this condition became worse. I could easily see how after doing these test you could do a lot of damage to your transmission even this small amount low. In the case of the low pressure the result would be obvious burned frictions however at the same time the pressure spikes could just as easily break parts, push out snap rings etc causing serious damage and or sudden failures.

Now in a past test several years ago I did a similar test going in the other direction too much fluid. Here is what happened there, this was however unlike the first test with a 4l60e it was a 700r4 though would imagine the results would be similar. Adding one quart over after hitting the full line did not seem to have any notable effect. However adding two quarts over the trans began again to have pressures resembling the low fluid scenario the pressure dropped and spiked erratically and of course the fluid began quickly to resemble the appearance of the low fluid trans lots of air bubbles and since a trans is not so different from a brake system the result was similar. You cannot have stable hydraulic pressure with air in the fluid.

The air created in the low fluid scenario is a result of the filter becoming uncovered and the pump pulling air into the system. With the resulting crazy pressure readings and the extremely high fluid this occurred because the internal rotational assemblies in the transmission were acting a lot like a blender and churning air into the fluid more rapidly than it could bubble out.

The Point on this is fluid level is imperatively important with and auto. There is no such thing as a little low. A little low means you just took years off the life of your transmission or even killed it right now.

All transmission should always be kept at the top of the crosshatch level warm running in park or neutral. Ideally I wish there was a way to assure the transmission fluid was equal to the pan rail level in gear running . But I do understand why they don’t have you checking it that way

Another thing that should be addressed is aftermarket and stock deep pans. Some aftermarket pans while deep do not require a deep filter. Others require and extension. Still others use the deep filter like goes in the truck 4L60E. Always carefully read the pan manufacturers instructions. While regardless of the pan type the dip stick will still read the level correctly. If you for instance use a deep pan with the wrong filter bear in mind GM actually used the bottom of the pan to hold the filter up in place. True the little seal feels tight holding it in the pump but it can work its way out and drop into the pan when used this way. This will result in the transmission acting like its low on fluid even when its not. At the same time if you place a filter that’s too tall for your pan combination it will crack in the neck area and again cause the symptom of low fluid. I thought I would mention this because we have run into this with some of our own customers changing pans and not being aware of the filter differences and requirements. So always make sure you are using the correct type filter for the pan you are installing. Also note when installing a transmission. If you do not provide even support across the pan again you can bend the pan and damage the filter causing the same set of symptoms.