Logiquol
Member
- Joined
- November 10, 2023
- Messages
- 11
- Reaction score
- 5
- City, State
- Nunya, Saskatoon
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2000, 4.0 SOHC 4x4 XLT
TLDR: Slightly overfilled your fine. Half a quart or more you need to remove that excess ASAP!
I'm posting this as I've recently dealt with a massively overfilled transmission. I've seen some potential confusion on what overfilling can or can't cause so I'm posting this to state what happened to my gen II 4.0 sohc explorer after being excessively overfilled. I'm not a engine/transmission specialist this is just observation on my part.
Took my explorer to a shop for a simple transmission drain and fill and to put in a new filter. Work was done, shop was paid. Took it for a test drive for roughly 10 maybe 15 minutes. Went home, parked and noticed my car was excessively smoking. Some smoke would be typical of a drain and fill that wasn't cleaned well afterwards, but the level of smoke I was receiving was insane. During this time my transmission actually slipped shifting from 2 to 3rd...
Went to check the levels and the dipstick (and engine bay) were so hot I could barely handle it. The level was much higher than it should have been, at least 1.5" above "overfilled". Keeping in mind I likely burned .25 -.5 quarts on the test drive and there was at least a shot glass worth of fluid on my garage floor...
Come to find out the gen II transmissions have an overfill drain. The drain is located over the exhaust I believe. This is what caused the excessive smoking. The slipping / excessive heat likely was caused by an absurd amount of pressure where the overfill drain couldn't drain fast enough. Pressure can turn into heat. Heat kills transmissions.
I got a ride and bought a hand pump from a local auto parts store. Pumped out about .75 quarts of fluid and it was now finally at the top of "full". Knock on wood, my transmission has been fine for the past 3-4 weeks. I'm still mad as I'm sure that 10 minutes of extreme heat likely took several thousands of miles or more off my transmission's life span.
If you take anything from this post its this. If you are questioning if your transmission is overfilled you need to either check it immediately or find someone who can. Do not keep driving it as the drain can not keep up. It may be possible your drain could be clogged/pinched which could have catastrophic effects. Just because it has a drain does not mean you should rely on it.
Slightly overfilled your fine. Half a quart or more you need to remove that excess ASAP!
As a side note the dipstick is a PITA to read. Always read the "short side" you'll know what I mean when you go to check.
I'm posting this as I've recently dealt with a massively overfilled transmission. I've seen some potential confusion on what overfilling can or can't cause so I'm posting this to state what happened to my gen II 4.0 sohc explorer after being excessively overfilled. I'm not a engine/transmission specialist this is just observation on my part.
Took my explorer to a shop for a simple transmission drain and fill and to put in a new filter. Work was done, shop was paid. Took it for a test drive for roughly 10 maybe 15 minutes. Went home, parked and noticed my car was excessively smoking. Some smoke would be typical of a drain and fill that wasn't cleaned well afterwards, but the level of smoke I was receiving was insane. During this time my transmission actually slipped shifting from 2 to 3rd...
Went to check the levels and the dipstick (and engine bay) were so hot I could barely handle it. The level was much higher than it should have been, at least 1.5" above "overfilled". Keeping in mind I likely burned .25 -.5 quarts on the test drive and there was at least a shot glass worth of fluid on my garage floor...
Come to find out the gen II transmissions have an overfill drain. The drain is located over the exhaust I believe. This is what caused the excessive smoking. The slipping / excessive heat likely was caused by an absurd amount of pressure where the overfill drain couldn't drain fast enough. Pressure can turn into heat. Heat kills transmissions.
I got a ride and bought a hand pump from a local auto parts store. Pumped out about .75 quarts of fluid and it was now finally at the top of "full". Knock on wood, my transmission has been fine for the past 3-4 weeks. I'm still mad as I'm sure that 10 minutes of extreme heat likely took several thousands of miles or more off my transmission's life span.
If you take anything from this post its this. If you are questioning if your transmission is overfilled you need to either check it immediately or find someone who can. Do not keep driving it as the drain can not keep up. It may be possible your drain could be clogged/pinched which could have catastrophic effects. Just because it has a drain does not mean you should rely on it.
Slightly overfilled your fine. Half a quart or more you need to remove that excess ASAP!
As a side note the dipstick is a PITA to read. Always read the "short side" you'll know what I mean when you go to check.
