Best way to drain excess transmission oil

White Lincoln

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1994 Mercury Cougar XR7 all stock
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Hey guys, so after checking voltages on my TSP and IAC, I thought for shits and grins I would see what my tranny oil was at.

dip stick.jpg

My tranny oil is up to the red line on the right. That is with the engine off, engine very warm and it is past the fill line for hot. (I wiped off the oil before placing on the service manual)

What's the easiest way to extract extra fluid out of the tranny? Open a tranny line and put it in a bucket, start the engine and go through the gears a few times, stop the engine and check how much oil is drained out?
 
I would try to suck it out of the dipstick tube if possible. Or crack a couple pan bolts and drain a bunch out. A pan with a drain plug comes in handy in times like that.
 
The engine should be idling when you check the transmission fluid level. Check it again.
Interesting you should mention that. I looked through the service manual and could not find anything on checking the fluid level, looked on line on checking the tranny fluid for my car and the site I found said engine off, pull dip stick.

I could not remember if you run the engine and check, and if the tranny has to be hot, etc. etc... I will check my owners manual see what it says.

Thanks guys for responding.
 
I would try to suck it out of the dipstick tube if possible. Or crack a couple pan bolts and drain a bunch out. A pan with a drain plug comes in handy in times like that.
I thought of just changing the oil and filter and re-use them, but replace the seal.
 
Manual says to run the engine 20 miles to get it to the operating temp of around 160. On level ground, start the engine, run thorugh the gears slowly, put it in park, leave the engine running and check the fluid. It should be in the Hot spot range.

That's what I get for watching idiots on boobtube work on cars....
 
You can't heck the level with it off. No Way.
To check it, it has to be running, and with the parking brake set, foot on the brake. at idle, shift it thru all positions, from park to park, pausing at each gear, to let it engage. Give it 10 seconds or till you feel it.
After you get back to park, with parking brake on, foot still on brakes, shift to neutral. Get out and check the level. If your car won't hold on the parking brake, you need a friend.:)
This is the only way to get an accurate reading. This process fills all the passages in the vb, the clutches, everything.
If it's only that far up the stick off, I'd bet it's low. Wipe the stick off with a white lint free paper towel, and look for black shit in the fluid. :)
 
If it's cold, bring it up to the cold fill line. Don't drive it anywhere until you see it at the full cold, following the procedure. It's in the book, I found it there originally.If it gets over 1/2 quart low, it's a problem.Check it as I posted above before you drive it. They die quick. like starting a pressure washer with the water off.
 
I checked the fluid today after going on some errands. I started the car, went through the gears and checked the level. As expected, the fluid level for Hot was at the top dip line, like it should be.

Makes me somewhat of a dip stick I guess...
 
If you don't know, it's hard to do right. glad you got it right, if it's low it's a problem. Running one of these low on fluid will kill it quick.
 
If you don't know, it's hard to do right. glad you got it right, if it's low it's a problem. Running one of these low on fluid will kill it quick.
When I first started working on cars, I changed the tranny fluid, filter, etc and when I was filling it, the manual said 12 quarts. Little did I know the torque convertor holds a few quarts. Needless to say, a quart or so ended up on the driveway until I figured out what I was doing wrong.
 

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