aod problems

73533XR7

Registered User
ok. about 5 days ago i changed the transmission fluid in my 100k 90 XR7 AOD.(last part of the royal purple treatment) i did so according to the directions in the haynes shop manual.(just the transmission pan, not the torque converter). it was a long, painful process due to the fact that cork gaskets just plain suck. after i had drained the pan and put it back on, i accidentaly poured 10 quarts in through the dipstick, instead of the 9.5 i am supposed to. so i hear it gurgle and the extra fluid comes out on the ground. after im done, i pull the dipstick out, wipe it off, put it back in, pull it out and there is fluid half of the way up the dipstick. so i figured that it would just take a day or two for it to settle so i could take a reading. i take it for a spin around the block and at first it doesnt want to shift at all but then it gets slightly better the more i drive. i get home, pop the hood to check on things and there is smoke billowing up. i look under the car and the tranny fluid has dripped onto both of the cats somehow, causing the smoke. so i take it to the car wash and do the high pressure wash on the exhaust and tranny pan to get the fluid off. i put it back up on the ramps today so i could find out where it is exactly leaking and i realize that it isnt leaking anymore. i put it down, check the dipstick again and its the same: up to where it says "warranty" on the dipstick. do i really have that much fluid in my transmission?!? i know that its supposed to be bad to have too much fluid in the tranny. it still doesnt want to shift at first when i drive it, but then it gets slightly better. the owners manual says to have a "professional technician" get the extra fluid out if there is extra in there. most importantly, am i frying my transmission? was i supposed to put the fluid in through the dipstick tube? what can i do myself?!? anything would be helpful. thanks.
 
Sounds like you overfilled it. Get some type of hand pump and snake the hose down the dipstick and pump a couple quarts out (then add with motor running until it reads correctly on the dipstick) or it's going to keep overflowing everytime the transmission gets hot.

David
 
Or just take some clear plastic tubing and siphon the excess out. You can pull some up into the tube by mouth.. thats why you want clear tubing ;) , quickly cap your thumb over the top, pull the tubing out and release into a drain pan or plastic bottle.. It takes a while but it works. If the tubing is long enough, you can actually get a siphon going.
 
ok. today i siphoned out about 7/10ths of a quart and then drove it around the block. it drove waaaay better, but i checked it and it basically read the same, just a teensy bit lower but nowhere near where the dipstick says its supposed to be. am i not supposed to clean the dipstick tube or something??
 
If you don't want to fry your AOD, then I suggest you don't drive your car anymore until you get that extra fluid out of there and get the level down to where it belongs.... its there for a reason and not just for show. I've seen AOD's die very quickly with too much fluid.

Also, I'm assuming you've switched to royal purple from regular ATF. You should have drained your t/c as well because I don't think its a good idea to be mixing different fluids. Also may be the reason you are way over filled cause you may have added the amount of fluid to fill a completely empty t/c and tranny.

Frit
 
Unless you have a better pan with a deep filter aod's should be filled to the D in don't. Ford did a tsb on it back in the early 90's. I suggest getting a 4x4 truck pan and filter then filling it to the right location on the stick. I am not a believer in synthetic transmission fluids I would sooner just service it more often. For aod's my suggestion is DexIII and a bottle of red lubeguard which will help the fluid life.
Alan
 
73533XR7 said:
ok. today i siphoned out about 7/10ths of a quart and then drove it around the block. it drove waaaay better, but i checked it and it basically read the same, just a teensy bit lower but nowhere near where the dipstick says its supposed to be. am i not supposed to clean the dipstick tube or something??
Make sure you're on level ground, engine running, fluid warm. Then check it multiple times wiping clean each time as fluid on the side of the filler tube will gather on the stick and be misleading. Look at both sides of the stick. Then fill just a few oz at a time to the proper level. :)
 
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