Trans service, not sure where oil went...

[Clacker]

Hey Guys,

I'm stumped...need some advice.

I've just done my transmission service, all went well except it was a right pain in the arse to get the filter seal out.

My oil pan shows I removed around 4.8 litres of ATF. I closed everything back up and added 4.5 litres.

Went for a drive and all was ok, shifts were fine and it went into drive without any bangs or jolts. Came back after a 15km drive (less then the 24km recommeded I know) and parked, went through all gears and left in park idling.

Checked that there were no leaks.

Checked the fluid and it is 1cm or so under the lower cold mark!

Tried adding 200ml to get it up to the recommended refill of 4.8 litres and it is still under.

What the hell have I done wrong?

Surely 100 ml won't bring the level from that low up to full hot with just another 8kms of driving?

I really don't want to overfill it, but I don't want to damage anythign by going for a longer drive. Should I add another 100ml or go for a 24km drive first?

TIA!

[greenacc]

There is a chance your tranny has a deep pan. This was an option from holden. If this is what you have you will need more oil than the standard 4.8L, but doesn't explain why you only got 4.8 Litres out. How deep is your pan, from under the flange to the bottom.
was your new filter the same height as the old one ?

[Clacker]

There is a chance your tranny has a deep pan. This was an option from holden. If this is what you have you will need more oil than the standard 4.8L, but doesn't explain why you only got 4.8 Litres out. How deep is your pan, from under the flange to the bottom.
was your new filter the same height as the old one ?

Thanks for the response.

I'd say 8cm for the pan, definitely under 5litres out.

filter looked identical to the original .

Thanks

[hako]

The filter may have retained some old oil in the element plus a bit more would have drained from the innards whilst you wrestled with removing the filter and this oil would not be in the drain pan. Also its possible the oil was slightly down before you changed it.
I'd go for the 24km drive and then do a hot check. Good Luck Clacks.

[Ozzie]

Does your trans have a seperate cooling system to the radiator?
that can take around a litre or more to fill.

[Clacker]

The filter may have retained some old oil in the element plus a bit more would have drained from the innards whilst you wrestled with removing the filter and this oil would not be in the drain pan. Also its possible the oil was slightly down before you changed it.
I'd go for the 24km drive and then do a hot check. Good Luck Clacks.

Hey Haks, thanks for the input.

I thought I drained most of the oil from the filter but now that I think of it, the newspaper I used while dicken with the seal could have absorbed a fair bit...I'll add another 100ml and go for a drive.

Thanks

[Clacker]

Does your trans have a seperate cooling system to the radiator?
that can take around a litre or more to fill.

Hey Oz,

The car has the standard auxiliary cooler in front of the radiator. I did loosen the top radiator hose to pump out the ATF but I did collect it all so still a total of 4.8 litres lost in the service.

[VSIIBerlinaL67]

maybe cause it had to fill up and soak the new filter and used some, should be fine

[Clacker]

maybe cause it had to fill up and soak the new filter and used some, should be fine

Yeah I've dumped in another 200ml so I'll take her for a spin tomorrow and check.



Thanks

[Clacker]

Yeah I've dumped in another 200ml so I'll take her for a spin tomorrow and check.



Thanks

All looks ok now. After a long drive it's slightly over full but not too much so I'll leave as is.

Thanks for all the help guys.

[vxcalais_01]

Annoying this about trans fluid is that when spills on the ground its so runny you think its drained the whole trans but really only a small about is needed as is less viscous than other oils.