RE: IML: 81 trans burn smell

["Dick Benjamin" <dickb@xxxxxxxxx>]

I think someone else pointed this out, but just in case you missed it,
remember that the way to check fluid level in any automatic transmission is
to:

1. Start the engine and let it warm up a bit. A cold transmission always
shows a bit less than a warm one, as fluid expands with temperature.
2. Shift the transmission to drive and make sure it engages in drive (wait
for the front pump to build up pressure so you can hear the engine hunker
down and pull a bit - this can take up to a minute or so, if the car has
been sitting.)
3. Shift to all the other gears, and wait for it to engage (engine pulls a
bit)
4. Now, shift back to park and check the dipstick after wiping it and
re-inserting it.  (You wipe it first because there will be fluid all the way
up the stick, showing an artificially high fluid level.)

The reason for all of this is that when the car has not been running for a
while, the dipstick will always show more fluid than is actually in the
whole transmission because the fluid that is pumped into the converter when
the car is driven has drained back into the pan.  You can drive yourself
nuts if you don't realize this.  The time for the fluid to drain back and
overfill the pan is unpredictable - it depends on the weather, the phase of
the moon, and how your left earlobe when you check it.  If you always follow
the right procedure, you should get a consistent result.

If you smelled burned fluid under the hood, chances are you spilled some on
the exhaust pipe, but if the fluid is brown and burnt smelling, you are in
for a transmission rebuild soon - face it!  

These cars have a lock-up clutch in the torque converter that is supposed to
lock up at about 44 MPH (it feels like a 4th gear).  If that is burned up,
the oil will be contaminated and burned smelling, and when you drop the pan,
you will find a deposit of clutch material on the bottom of the pan.

Dick Benjamin

-----Original Message-----
From: mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Matthew Gill
Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 10:23 PM
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: IML: 81 trans burn smell

Ok,

After i put about half a quart of trans fluid in the car, the fluid  
level was OK, but i knew there was still a leak. I just drove the  
car, although i probably shouldn't have, unless it was straight to  
the mechanic, but it was a short distance to a friends house, and i  
was curious as to how the car would react a day after putting more  
fluid in. Well, it must have all leaked out again because the car  
just didn't want to shift... Anyway, I checked the fluid while i was  
at his house to see where it was at, low and behold it looked to be  
even LOWER than the last time... 




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