A904 fluid level

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Abodysrule

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I have a newly rebuilt A904 and I'm running a deep pan/filter extension. Please be patient if you've heard this story a million times....

As per instructions, when installing the new A904, I put a quart of fluid in the torque converter and two in the tranny. The builder told me to put two more quarts in upon initial startup and do the startup in neutral to get it flowing more quickly. Then I was to get it warm, check the level and add as appropriate to get the level in the "hot" zone. All good. I got it up to 200 degrees and added fluid to get the level to the "hot" zone on the stick. Took it for a test spin, shifts great.

Today I checked the fluid when it was cold, not running, and the level is above the hot zone. Is that right? Shouldn't it be lower, since fluid expands when hot? Or, is it that the fluid needs to be circulating for accurate measurement and when not circulating it reads high? Should I drain some out, warm it up and recheck or is this normal?

Brian
 
Abodysrule said:
I see, so the reading is only meaningful when hot and circulating, right?
Click to expand...
Yeah, there is a guide to cold readings but they generally apply to the car running/neutral and not cold/park. But I’ve found if my vehicle is completely cold, it’s usually well above the safe zone indicator on the stick.
 
Abodysrule said:
Today I checked the fluid when it was cold, not running, and the level is above the hot zone. Is that right? Shouldn't it be lower, since fluid expands when hot? Or, is it that the fluid needs to be circulating for accurate measurement and when not circulating it reads high? Should I drain some out, warm it up and recheck or is this normal?
Click to expand...
Fluid is ALWAYS checked running, in neutral, on a flat level surface. Not running and in park readings are meaningless- between convertor drainback, drainback from a high mounted cooler, or whatever- it'll always read high. Tthe meaningful reading is when it's running and fluid is circulating- i.e. in neutral or drive. Obviously, neutral is safer.
(For the real old fogeys among us, does anybody else remember being taught to check fluid in drive, with the parking brake on and the wheels chocked?)
 
Last edited:
OK, great stuff. I will check again warm in neutral. It was a bit frothy in Park.
 
That sounds perfectly normal. It is not uncommon for a normally fine-ish tailshaft seal to leak when a car hasn’t been driven in a week because of this.
 
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