Check your transmission fluid

[Fitzmotor]

I have seen all the posts and comments about it on here before, I thought "It's working fine" and I'm not even going to crawl under there with the thick gloves and long sleeves to check it.

Well it hit 116 degrees here and the trans started whine at that temp, I was about to go on a 2k trip, dealer couldn't look at it in time.

Sure enough 1.75 quarts low, been driving it for 16k no problems, until now that is and until it got this hot, now it's quiet when hot and the hard/erratic cold shift is better.

Before anybody bags on the dealer about missing it in the PDI, I dont think it can be included in the PDI, the time to get it up to temp, and physically check it has to be most of what the whole PDI pays, (you can bag on them for tire pressures and washer fluid though) when I did them they ranged from 0.8-1.4 hours, they were gravy, most guys just put on the plastic frames and plates and flagged it, I at least covered the levels and tire pressures.

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[DonB]

Just gonna walk away from this golden moment.

 

[Dereku]

Can we say trans anymore? I thought it was non binary fluid.

 

[dtech]

there is a list of deleted or decontented items, perhaps a list of partial decontenting is needed, like not adding 1.75 qts of tranny fluid, think of the $$ Ford is saving, assuming the tranny outlasts the warranted period.

 

[VegasRanger]

Can we say trans anymore? I thought it was non binary fluid.

How dare you assume its viscosity?

 

[Fitzmotor]

Never pass up a golden moment.

Just gonna walk away from this golden moment.

 

[Fitzmotor]

I see you can't edit a title, trans.... how funny, never occurred to me and I'm in California where there are a lot of trans people, so for the record "Check Your Transmission fluid" or not, yours is probably just fine.

 

[quangdog]

Crawled under my truck and checked it (cold) today. I know that to properly check it, you have to heat the trans up to over 200ºF, but to do so gets the catalytic converter up to something above 500ºF, and there is no way I will manage to safely get my hand wedged up between those 2 VERY hot things and get an accurate reading when it is so hot. I tried (with everything cold and engine off) to even get my hand up there with a welding glove on today, and it's just too narrow of an access area. I'm certain I'd burn myself if I tried to check it hot.

I've read on this forum (and elsewhere) that a cold reading can be done, and that on the numbered stick (rather than the one with regions) it should be between 6 and 5 when checked cold, and between 5 and 4 when hot.

The cold check procedure I followed is this: With the truck shut off, I crawled under it while parked on level ground. I removed the dipstick plug with a 19mm flex-head ratcheting wrench, pulled out the dipstick (which separates from the plug) and cleaned it off. Then with me still under the truck, I had my wife get into driver's seat and start up the truck. She let it idle for about 10 seconds, then with her foot on the brake (and parking brake set) she shifted into reverse and left it there for about 5 seconds, then put it into drive for about 5 more seconds, then back into park. After about 10 more seconds I reached up (where it was already getting warm) and placed the dipstick into the hole, making very sure it was seated all the way down, then pulled it back out to check the level.

There was NO fluid on the dipstick at all. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

From Day 1 this truck has had several odd / unusual characteristics in the drivetrain. The engine itself has been flawless, but I've had issues with startup shudder as well as funky shifting patterns (would sometimes not go into gear at all when cold, or had very harsh shifts when first starting out in the morning, etc) and I get an odd sensation like the torque converter is sometimes not properly locking up under reasonably spirited acceleration. I've solved the startup shudder with a 1-piece driveshaft, and I asked my dealer to check the transmission fluid level when I took it in for a warranty battery replacement a few weeks ago... but I know they never checked the fluid from reviewing my dashcam footage.

I'm convinced that even though I checked it cold, the transmission is underfilled. I've ordered a few quarts of Mercon ULV, and once it gets here I'll try adding 1/2 quart at a time until the cold reading is up to at least the 6 on the stick.

 

[ctechbob]

If you are just under the correct level when cold, you should be good when warm. This is the method that FordtechMakuloco uses and has demonstrated in his 10R80 fluid change video.

Video bookmarked to that information

 

[Fitzmotor]

Mine would not register on the stick cold, filled it up the cold way, drove it and it was still a little low when I checked it hot, I need to make another dipstick like I did on my old F150.

 

[quangdog]

Mine would not register on the stick cold, filled it up the cold way, drove it and it was still a little low when I checked it hot, I need to make another dipstick like I did on my old F150.

Maybe you already mentioned this, but did you have any symptoms of being underfilled? When you added a bit of fluid, did you notice any changes to driving characteristics of the truck?

EDIT: Duh. Went back and read first post. Nevermind.

 

[Msfitoy]

If you are just under the correct level when cold, you should be good when warm. This is the method that FordtechMakuloco uses and has demonstrated in his 10R80 fluid change video.

Video bookmarked to that information

Here's my version...

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/project-msfitoy-v3-0.2804/post-462991

 

[JasonTremor]

Crawled under my truck and checked it (cold) today. I know that to properly check it, you have to heat the trans up to over 200ºF, but to do so gets the catalytic converter up to something above 500ºF, and there is no way I will manage to safely get my hand wedged up between those 2 VERY hot things and get an accurate reading when it is so hot. I tried (with everything cold and engine off) to even get my hand up there with a welding glove on today, and it's just too narrow of an access area. I'm certain I'd burn myself if I tried to check it hot.

I've read on this forum (and elsewhere) that a cold reading can be done, and that on the numbered stick (rather than the one with regions) it should be between 6 and 5 when checked cold, and between 5 and 4 when hot.

The cold check procedure I followed is this: With the truck shut off, I crawled under it while parked on level ground. I removed the dipstick plug with a 19mm flex-head ratcheting wrench, pulled out the dipstick (which separates from the plug) and cleaned it off. Then with me still under the truck, I had my wife get into driver's seat and start up the truck. She let it idle for about 10 seconds, then with her foot on the brake (and parking brake set) she shifted into reverse and left it there for about 5 seconds, then put it into drive for about 5 more seconds, then back into park. After about 10 more seconds I reached up (where it was already getting warm) and placed the dipstick into the hole, making very sure it was seated all the way down, then pulled it back out to check the level.

There was NO fluid on the dipstick at all. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

From Day 1 this truck has had several odd / unusual characteristics in the drivetrain. The engine itself has been flawless, but I've had issues with startup shudder as well as funky shifting patterns (would sometimes not go into gear at all when cold, or had very harsh shifts when first starting out in the morning, etc) and I get an odd sensation like the torque converter is sometimes not properly locking up under reasonably spirited acceleration. I've solved the startup shudder with a 1-piece driveshaft, and I asked my dealer to check the transmission fluid level when I took it in for a warranty battery replacement a few weeks ago... but I know they never checked the fluid from reviewing my dashcam footage.

I'm convinced that even though I checked it cold, the transmission is underfilled. I've ordered a few quarts of Mercon ULV, and once it gets here I'll try adding 1/2 quart at a time until the cold reading is up to at least the 6 on the stick.

Mine didn't register on the dipstick when checked cold like you, but was at 5 when fluid warmed up to the 190 degree range. Fluid expands a lot. I ended up adding 12 ounces to bring from 5 to 4 when hot.

 

[JasonTremor]

Lots of good info in this thread.

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/transmission-fluid-fill.14372/page-3#post-471217

 

[quangdog]

Mine didn't register on the dipstick when checked cold like you, but was at 5 when fluid warmed up to the 190 degree range. Fluid expands a lot. I ended up adding 12 ounces to bring from 5 to 4 when hot.

Thanks, Jason - one of the most frustrating aspects of this transmission is all the conflicting Information. Some (supposedly authoritative) sources say that it should be at 6 when cold. Others say it won't register at all when cold, but will get to the normal range when hot. Hard to know what to believe, really... but I do know my truck well, and I am pretty attuned to it's quirks. Based on how it drives when cold, I'm convinced the transmission is at least a little low. We'll see how things go when my fluid arrives later this week. Thanks!

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