transmission fluid question

[alex]

my transmission fluid dip stick says that my oil level needs to reach the H cross hatch when idling. does this mean i need to fill it to the H while the vehicle is off or get the vehicle to operating temperature and check to see if it is in the H

Topic

[Jake F]

H when your vehicle is hot. Don’t overfill it.

[Mike]

It sounds to me like the truck wasn’t fully warmed up before you checked the fluid levels or you had the engine off or you weren’t on a level surface OR you used the cold level marks when the trans was warm.

GM advises you to fully warm up the transmission, park on a level surface and slowly run it through each gear before checking trans fluid level—which is done while the vehicle is running.

You now have all the classic symptoms of an under-filled transmission.
Over-filling the transmission would compensate for absolutely nothing.

Your owner’s manual can be viewed here, if you don’t have a copy.
Page 6-33 details the proper procedure
https://my.gmc.com/content/dam/gmownercenter/gmna/dynamic/manuals/1993/gmc/sierra_1500/1993_gmc_sierra_owners.pdf

[Jake F]

Bonnie, I like when you said that the transmission runs through its gears when driving. The literature on checking trans oil and also motor oil is so vague that it throws the general person into a tidy. The nice part is that many people have smartphones these days and can figure out the correct way of checking their dipstick.

[Mike]

[quote=”creativepotato” post=193358]Bonnie, I like when you said that the transmission runs through its gears when driving. The literature on checking trans oil and also motor oil is so vague that it throws the general person into a tidy. The nice part is that many people have smartphones these days and can figure out the correct way of checking their dipstick.[/quote]

No, potato.
That isn’t what I said at all.
I hope reading comprehension isn’t your strong suit.

BTW, there’s no such thing as throwing someone into a tidy.
Use your smartphone and Google tizzy.

For the normal people reading the forum who now wonder about my earlier reply……the OP’s post originally stated that he just got this truck ; thought his transmission was several quarts overfilled and so he siphoned out the “extra” fluid.
Following this, there were shift issues.
He wondered what types of transmission issues could be covered up by overfilling the transmission.

I had begun composing a reply before being called away for several minutes.
The OP edited out all of the original post and substituted it with the dipstick question in the interim.

[alex]

thats right. i never worked with automatic transmissions before. just manuals. i figured checking the transmission dipstick was the same as the oil dipstick. a quick google search enlightened me and i fixed my error before leaving the parking lot

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