Too much tranny fluid??

SN95_Project · Feb 23, 2025

Hi all. I had the auto tranny rebuilt in my ‘96gt. Shop has been around a long time and is highly reputable. The shop supposedly (saying “supposedly out of my personal ignorance - not bc I doubt them) rebuilt it to the same spec as the cobra transmission of that year. Everything shifts perfectly with no issues. The problem is that there was a light ticking sound after rebuild that was in sync with rpm’s (tick was nonexistent at idle and in park, but slightly noticeable in drive at rpm’s above idle). The shop said that it wasn’t uncommon and that it was due to slight misalignment of some sort of plate but it would go away (it did). For a second opinion, I took it to another shop I trust and they agreed with the original shop. Overall, no worries there.

My issue comes from about a month later my son was home from college (his car) and he was changing the oil. When we finished he checked the trans dipstick and it was WAY over the fill line (like completely over the range). I know overfilling the trans isn’t good. My question is - did the cobra trans take more fluid? I don’t think it did but I wanted to ask. Possibly if it did the rebuild shop just put so much fluid in and knew it was right? Did the second shop put fluid in? I know we didn’t put it in but I don’t want to call the shop and be like “hey there’s too much trans fluid in there and I can’t explain why” bc I don’t want them to void my 1-yr warranty. Drives in the car are relatively short (30 min or less) and the temps have never gotten out of line.

Any insight from the group? I don’t mind taking some out, but I also don’t want to make it worse.

Thanks all!!

lwarrior1016 · Feb 23, 2025

SN95_Project said:
Hi all. I had the auto tranny rebuilt in my ‘96gt. Shop has been around a long time and is highly reputable. The shop supposedly (saying “supposedly out of my personal ignorance - not bc I doubt them) rebuilt it to the same spec as the cobra transmission of that year. Everything shifts perfectly with no issues. The problem is that there was a light ticking sound after rebuild that was in sync with rpm’s (tick was nonexistent at idle and in park, but slightly noticeable in drive at rpm’s above idle). The shop said that it wasn’t uncommon and that it was due to slight misalignment of some sort of plate but it would go away (it did). For a second opinion, I took it to another shop I trust and they agreed with the original shop. Overall, no worries there.

My issue comes from about a month later my son was home from college (his car) and he was changing the oil. When we finished he checked the trans dipstick and it was WAY over the fill line (like completely over the range). I know overfilling the trans isn’t good. My question is - did the cobra trans take more fluid? I don’t think it did but I wanted to ask. Possibly if it did the rebuild shop just put so much fluid in and knew it was right? Did the second shop put fluid in? I know we didn’t put it in but I don’t want to call the shop and be like “hey there’s too much trans fluid in there and I can’t explain why” bc I don’t want them to void my 1-yr warranty. Drives in the car are relatively short (30 min or less) and the temps have never gotten out of line.

Any insight from the group? I don’t mind taking some out, but I also don’t want to make it worse.

Thanks all!!

First let me ask, how did you check the transmission fluid level?

The car needs to be at full operating temp (driven 20 minutes or so), with the transmission in park, and the engine idling.

If you are checking it with the engine off, the level will read very high. Once you start the engine, the transmission pump will pull that fluid level down as it pumps through the valve body and clutches.

I will say this though, if the transmission fluid level is too high, it will push fluid out the breather that is at the top rear of the transmission. If the trans is shifting fine and it’s not pushing fluid out the breather, you’re likely just fine.

PS: Just so you don’t think I’m full of it, I do have experience building transmissions.

SN95_Project · Feb 23, 2025

lwarrior1016 said:
First let me ask, how did you check the transmission fluid level?

The car needs to be at full operating temp (driven 20 minutes or so), with the transmission in park, and the engine idling.

If you are checking it with the engine off, the level will read very high. Once you start the engine, the transmission pump will pull that fluid level down as it pumps through the valve body and clutches.

I will say this though, if the transmission fluid level is too high, it will push fluid out the breather that is at the top rear of the transmission. If the trans is shifting fine and it’s not pushing fluid out the breather, you’re likely just fine.

PS: Just so you don’t think I’m full of it, I do have experience building transmissions.

Hey man - no criticisms here. I’m the one asking for help!

That said, we measured at full temp with engine running. I THINK we’ve seen small amounts of fluid in the driveway, but really not much (like drops - not tablespoonfuls). That could be all in my head though.

Thank you!

lwarrior1016 · Feb 23, 2025

SN95_Project said:
Hey man - no criticisms here. I’m the one asking for help!

That said, we measured at full temp with engine running. I THINK we’ve seen small amounts of fluid in the driveway, but really not much (like drops - not tablespoonfuls). That could be all in my head though.

Thank you!

If you’ve seen some fluid in the drive, it is very possible they’ve over filled it some. You could get a small tube transfer pump and pull some fluid out of the dipstick tube.

Don’t forget to wipe the stick off and recheck. Sometimes the 4r70’s are a pain to read the level correctly.

SN95_Project · Feb 23, 2025

lwarrior1016 said:
If you’ve seen some fluid in the drive, it is very possible they’ve over filled it some. You could get a small tube transfer pump and pull some fluid out of the dipstick tube.

Don’t forget to wipe the stick off and recheck. Sometimes the 4r70’s are a pain to read the level correctly.

You know, my dipstick is easy to read. Maybe I don’t have the right one? Mine is some sort of twisted cable with a metal pc on the end showing the “full/low” marks. If it’s not right then that could be part of it…

lwarrior1016 · Feb 23, 2025

SN95_Project said:
You know, my dipstick is easy to read. Maybe I don’t have the right one? Mine is some sort of twisted cable with a metal pc on the end showing the “full/low” marks. If it’s not right then that could be part of it…

Nope, that’s the correct one. Sometimes the fluid looks like it’s on the braided cable and gives a false sense of level.

SN95_Project · Feb 24, 2025

OK. I'll get a pic when I can and post it. It reads well over the whole measurement pc at the end and reads on the cable, but it's not really leaking fluid.