OVERFILLED AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

[jorge]

Hello

I did my owners manual steps to check the ATF level (warm engine,trans in Neutral,Engine idling).
I noticed that my transmission was way overfilled. Then i took the car to a local repair shop to be sure about the ATF level. The mechanic told me that my car was overfilled by 2 quarts and a half. I drove the car overfilled for more than 3 years!!
I’m worried about it, do you guys think it will fail sooner than normal?

when cold: the shift from 1st to 2nd is weird,it dosen’t slips but it shifts hard.
when warm: all gears shifts nice and smooth.

the car is a 2000 mitsubishi eclipse v6 with 90,000 miles on it.

thanks.

Topic

[mckrishes]

I am surprised that you haven’t had any signifcant problems with the transmission the last 3 years with it being overfilled by 2.5 quarts. It’s possible that damage was done and that it could fail sooner than expected. But from what you described it appears that you may have escaped major damage. Time will tell. I would change the fluid/filter and fill with the correct amount of fluid and hope for the best.

[EricTheCarGuy]

Overfilling can be just as damaging as under-filling with automatic transmissions. That said if you’re having a shifting issue I’d first check to see if you have any codes stored for the transmission, if not you may have internal issues that would require overhaul or replacement of the transmission.

[Victor]

I agree with Eric ,Also there is a vent on the transmission, if the trans was overfilled by over 2 1/2 quarts it would have leaked out the vent ,you would have noticed a leak.

[Author]

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