not sure about damage to the trans, generally if they are severely overfilled it will puke it out the vent tube or the fill pipe. personally i've never overfilled one seen one damaged by doing it, i've heard people say it's bad and it can lead to seal damage, frothing [which leads to poor circulation and shifting issues] but no first hand knowledge.

how overfilled is it ? seems like 4.5l should have it running out the fill pipe.

personally i would drain it to the proper level. if the fluid drained looks strange or frothy i'd replace the fluid.

if the level is only slightly high, it's possible they charged you for fluid they didn't put in and that they filled it cold to the top line and the expansion is what you're seeing.

always check any fluid level before you leave any shop. they are just as likely to not put any fluid back in the car as they are to overfill it. stuff happens, people forget, people assume someone else did something, then it's your problem to try to resolve.

 

Yep, will check it.. Been reading this forum and manuals for a while, and thinking to do as much maintenance as possible on my own - at least I'll make an effort to pull the dipstick and check the level. Damn, these are suppose to be professional mechanics, how hard is it to check a liquid level? Ugh.
I've checked the level with the cold engine, and it's higher than High for when engine is hot.. So it's pretty overfilled.

 

yeah i know, you pay a professional, you expect competence, not always the case. really annoying when it's something this basic and there really isn't any excuse.

draining the fluid is not hard, if you have a metric socket or wrench and a drain pan you're pretty much set.

or you can take it back to the place you had it done and have them do it and check the fluid before you leave.

if you need help or advice about doing it yourself, just post back and we'll walk you through it. or look in the diy forum, there's a thread in there about changing trans fluid.

 

Frightening. But I wonder . . .

If there hasn’t been any sign of significant overfilling over a period of 3 months and 10,000 km (spilling out the top vent, foaming, slippage, poor shifting), which 14 litres even into a dry tranny would probably cause, perhaps the shop didn’t overfill, or overcharge. It might have done something similar to what many here do – repeated drains and fills. (E.g. 4 refills at 3.5 litres each.)

Also, finding the top of ATF level on the dipstick can be a challenge. There always seems to be a lot of fluid up in the dipstick tube which shows on the dipstick, making it difficult to identify the actual level of fluid in the pan. Others have remarked about this elsewhere in this forum. (Not to mention that the car should be on a level surface, the engine has to be running and the transmission moved through all gear positions before checking.) This might not be the situation here, but I thought I’d mention it just in case . . .

Perhaps take it to the shop, and ask them to check the level and show you where it is on the dipstick.

 

My guess is that 14L might be what went through a flushing machine. If they simply drained the fluid via the drain plug they would only get about 5L out of there. The trans will not hold more than say 4L overfull before it starts coming out the vent tube (hehe I have tried it).

Did you check the level with engine idling trans in park after shifting through all gears? If the level is checked with engine off it generally appears high.

 

No, checked it with engine off and cold. Hm, I'll re-check it tonight with engine idling.
I didn't notice any oil stains on the floor, nor in the engine compartment, and it didn't smell funny or anything..

 

I think porcupine73 is probably correct here, likely they used 14L to flush your tranny. Take it for a nice drive and let all the temps come up to normal, come home, park it level, shift it through all the gears letting it settle in each one for a few seconds, put it in park and check the level.

Your baby is probably fine.

 

This is funny I've shifted through all positions, and checked it with engine idling - and now it almost seems low
It's hard to say exactly how much oil is in there, though, dipstick comes out kinda smeared in oil, without defined border. If taking an average - should be about right amount, I guess.

 

hehe yes i find it tricky to check atf level on soobs. The only way I can get a reading is basically vehicle cold, start, shift through all gears on shifter, put in park

pull stick, wipe, reinsert, (a few times, to get excess off stick)

Then slowly insert stick, then slowly remove and look at both sides of stick holding it in front of the headlight. It should generally be somewhere in the cold range then. Soob says check it warm/hot but sheesh I just see fluid everywhere on all three soobs if I try it that way.

 

Oh yes this must be on a fairly level surface such as garage floor otherwise the reading can be off quite a bit.

 

porcupine - thanks for posting your method. I have been getting some high readings checking it cold, so I have been suspecting an overfill, but like others have said, it's really hard to be sure.

When I put the dipstick in, it goes down a while, then meets some resistance and stops. If I push it harder, it then sort of "clicks" and goes down fully and seals. Should I be ramming it all the way down there, past the clicking point, to get the right reading? That's what I suspect, but it's sort of been bugging me.

As for a level spot, I don't think this town has any of those...

 

same here guys, like i've said in some of the trans threads this is without a doubt the hardest vehicle to check trans fluid level i've ever dealt with.

yes the stick should go all the way down.

i usually check it hot and have gotten to the point where i can get a decent reading, actually it's usually the average of about 5 dips. i have found that after adding fluid it's almost pointless to try to get a good reading right away, too much fluid in the tube. one side always gets a "smear" on it but the other usually has a decent "line". wipe the stick totally clean, i even use brake cleaner. it seems like i get a better line that way.

if memory serves the dipstick is toward the front of the pan and on the left so keep that in mind when checking on a not perfectly level surface. nose down will be higher reading, left side down will be higher reading etc.

this all makes more sense now, didnt' think to ask if the level was being checked correctly ......

 

for what ever it is worth..my recommendation is that once you KNOW that you have the correct amount of tranny fluid in the system for all temperature conditions, then check the fluid "Cold Without the motor running"...put your own mark on the dip stick and use this for future reference...also when draining..replace with the same amount...as mentioned by one of the other members, it is difficult to gauge the stick..subaru recommends taking the temperature of the fluid and then checking to see if it matches up with the oil level on the dip stick,..but most dealers don't use this method and rely on the visual test, usually by an apprentice...this would scare me...I have just returned from south west Texas where it was very hot and dip stick was showing the fluid at the upper hot level, so all is good....now back in northern Ontario where the snow fell last night and driving on the highway for 10 miles this afternoon to check the fluid level..it is "just below" the lower hot end of the dip stick and I can not get the tranny fluid any hotter then what it is..the tranny fluid is barely warm to the touch...perhaps a newbie or dealership might recommend adding another quart/liter on appearances, but I know that this is not the case...

 

>>When I put the dipstick in, it goes down a while, then meets some resistance and stops. If I push it harder, it then sort of "clicks" and goes down fully and seals. Should I be ramming it all the way down there, past the clicking point, to get the right reading? Yes it should be fully seating. I had an issue with it 'getting stuck' on my '00obw too. So I flipped the stick over, still no go. I finally bent the end of the stick just slightly, now it will seat fully if the stick is inerted in the right orientation.