It was raining like hell yesterday, so I pulled my truck into the garage to change the transmission fluid. Mine had been changed at some point, but not in the last 30k so it was time. I didnt do a complete flush, just dropped the pan, changed the filter with a new gasket and about 4.8 quarts of castrol mercon v.

When i went to check the fluid level after all this was done, it read about 1/8 in. above the max on the crosshatch. I checked it on a level surface, in park, with the engine running. Now today, in the walmart parking lot, it reads at exactly the halfway mark, so somehow it has dropped a good half inch overnight.

Nothing is leaking from the pan gasket or any other place as far as I can tell. Is this normal??? Did the new filter somehow absorb some fluid, and dropped the fluid level? Going on a road trip soon, and Id hate to leak all the fluid out and roast my transmission.

Truck drives amazing now though!

 

Did you fill it through the dipstick tube? If so, when you checked it the 1st time there may have been some oil residue inside the tube that was getting on the dipstick and giving a false reading.

 

when you checked it the second time was the transmission hot? unless its hot it wont give a correct reading...same deal with my tbird...if i check it when its cold its at the add mark but if i drive it about 3-5 miles then check it its right at the full mark

 

I drove it just under 5 miles when i first checked it and it read a bit too full. Since i posted this ive driven about 200 miles and its held at the halfway mark...so im at a loss as to why the levels were fluctuating. I degreased the transmission pan to make sure and there is no leaks. Granted the dipstick is not really the most accurate way to measure things. I guess ill just keep an eye on it

 

thats the best thing to do