What If????

[Marauderjack]

What If......you discovered that your transmission fluid was a quart low....what symtoms, if any, would you expect to have?? :confused: :mad:

I have been chasing gremlins for several months now and it appears some or all have been related to low transmission fluid level!! :help:

Let's hear from some of you as to symtoms you might expect and after we hear from a few of you I will spell out what has been happening to me!! :(

I hope maybe some good will come from this discussion?? :beer:

Marauderjack :rolleyes:

[ckadiddle]

What If......you discovered that your transmission fluid was a quart low....what symtoms, if any, would you expect to have?? :confused: :mad:
I have been chasing gremlins for several months now and it appears some or all have been related to low transmission fluid level!! :help:
Let's hear from some of you as to symtoms you might expect and after we hear from a few of you I will spell out what has been happening to me!! :(
I hope maybe some good will come from this discussion?? :beer:
Marauderjack :rolleyes:What symptom? I'd have intense head pain from banging it against a concrete block wall - for not thinking of checking it first. :banghead:

Uuuummm....lemme go check mine right now.....<heh heh>

[Bradley G]

I would say some slipping is possible.Slow shifting staying in a lower gear too long.

How am I doing?

[jgc61sr2002]

I agree with Brad. Two quarts low the trans would definitely slip.

My question is where is the fluid going? Did you check for leaks?

[torinodan]

I would say some slipping is possible.Slow shifting staying in a lower gear too long.

How am I doing?Don't forget about a feeling of losing a gear at high RPM, it shifts roughly; or there is no drive engagement in forward or reverse. Slipping will cause damage to your cluches and bands.
Whatcha do?

[Smokie]

Pauses when going from Park to Reverse, engine revs before car moves.

[BillyGman]

The symptoms form low trans fluid level (if any) would occur the most when you first start the car in the morning when everything is cold, and you go to put it ion drive. It would slip or rev w/out the car moving as if it weren't in gear. However, I don't know if that would occur from only being a bit low. I think it would have to be pretty low for that to occur. And then once the transmission/engine warms up, the symptoms would either subside, or lessen.

[Marauderjack]

Actually "torinodan" is the closest to what I was experiencing!! :o

First off....My first "drop the pan" change resulted in 4.5 quarts of fluid drained (measured) and that is what I replaced......May have been low from the factory but the dipstick is such a PITA that I don't remember checking it but it ran fine...I think!!?? :confused:

Next I used a vacuum can to suck out 3 quarts after 15K (didn't replace filter) and added back 3 quarts.....It began the "bucking" in TC lockup especially cold but overall ran OK?? I checked the fluid and it was below the crosshatch area but trans was cold so OK...maybe?? BTW...I thought that low fluid caused slipping?? :argue:

Shifting lately has been abrupt at light acceleration (clunking) and very solid at half throttle and TC "bucking" was less that before but still there at times. :bows: I adjusted the line pressure as low as possible for shifts under light throttle in the SCT tune and shifts were still fairly rough and clunky and 2-3 shift at half throttle made a "squish" noise on occasion!! Also, there was a slight delay going to reverse!! :fire:

Yesterday I checked the fluid warm (not hot) and it was low so I added almost a quart to midway in the crosshatch area and all of the crap happening above went away!!! :beer:

I have a road trip later this week and will check it "hot" to see how full it is....COULD FORD POSSIBLY PUT THE FRIGGIN' DIPSTICK IN A WORSE PLACE....PERHAPS BEHIND THE RIGHT FRONT WHEEL BESIDE A CATALYTIC CONVERTER WHERE YOU HAVE TO HANG UPSIDE DOWN AND GET 3rd DEGREE BURNS???!!! :mad2:

Sorry for the outburst!! :(

I will run it cold this AM and see how it acts but yesterday PM it was shifting very smoothLY and the slight delay going to reverse was gone!! ;)

Stay tuned!!

Marauderjack :pimp:

[the_pack_rat]

The symptoms form low trans fluid level (if any) would occur the most when you first start the car in the morning when everything is cold, and you go to put it ion drive. It would slip or rev w/out the car moving as if it weren't in gear. However, I don't know if that would occur from only being a bit low. I think it would have to be pretty low for that to occur. And then once the transmission/engine warms up, the symptoms would either subside, or lessen. I'll second this.

While I never seen/had this happen on anything late model ..... I've "been there - seen it" countless time on numerous older cars ..... Ford C4's/FMX's - GM TH350/400/425's.

Anytime I have ever seen this happen ... it's taken a minimum of at least TWO quarts to bring things back to the correct level.

[merc6]

Pauses when going from Park to Reverse, engine revs before car moves.Hmm that makes me wonder now...


...COULD FORD POSSIBLY PUT THE FRIGGIN' DIPSTICK IN A WORSE PLACE....PERHAPS BEHIND THE RIGHT FRONT WHEEL BESIDE A CATALYTIC CONVERTER WHERE YOU HAVE TO HANG UPSIDE DOWN AND GET 3rd DEGREE BURNS...If it wasn't yellow I'd never have found it!

[RF Overlord]

jack, you ARE using Mercon V, right?

[Marauderjack]

Yeppers....Mercon V only!!

Why do you ask??

Marauderjack

[RF Overlord]

Why do you ask??Just making sure... ;)

[Marauderjack]

RF....

I went through all of the TC shuddering I could stand with all of my Crown Vics except the 2000 model which I think had Mercon V in it??

I have posted this before but once again....Anyone experiencing shift or lockup shudder can fix it INSTANTLY with ONE bottle of Ford FRICTION MODIFIER....GUARANTEED!!

A L-M dealer told me about it back in 1998 and it has worked every time. Maybe a flush with Mercon V would do it as well but the Friction Modifier is much less expensive!!

Marauderjack

[David Morton]

If the fluid is low enough to cause slippage you should have heard the pump whining first when it sucked air. As long as the pump isn't getting air, slippage won't occur, unless something else is wrong. And low fluid will run hotter and that can cause something else to go wrong. 1 qt low is bad but not too bad if you don't, like, throw it into hard turns on a regular basis and cause the pump to suck air that way.

Follow the owners manual, check it hot, after ten miles of driving. Also, automatics can't "use up" fluid. If it's losing fluid, there's a leak somewhere.