Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Auto trans question

[Bseg]

I installed a Mag Hytek pan on my trani a few days ago. Changed the filter and pan fluid. Everything went fine, except for the fluid bath I got when I pulled the old pan off.



Drove the truck around the block and the shifts seemed a little more crisp than usual. I checked the fluid level and found that I had about 1 quart more than I should have in it so I drained about a quart out. It is still slightly past the max mark on the dip stick.



Drove the truck for a few miles and the trani seemed to shift okay, everything normal. Today, two days later it seems that the shifts are kind of mushy and something seems different from the way it ran before.



The fluid and filter were changed awhile back by a shop and I noticed when they pulled the filter off that there was a lot of metallic dust stuck to it. When I changed it this time I didn't see any metallic dust on the filter or even at the magnet in the pan.



I can't tell if it's my imagination or if it's really not shifting the same as before. It's not slipping.



My question is: Would it be possible that the shop that changed the fluid the first time used something other than ATF 3 + and maybe it's not compatible with what I put in? I assume that is what they used cause they didn't drain it all the way either.



My only other thought is that it is just a coincidence that it's starting to go out right when I changed the fluid. Maybe I stressed it out with the extra quart in there?



Sorry about the long winded post. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Joe G.]

Was the transmission warm when you checked it? Just going around the block would not have warmed it up unless it was a BIG block. Was the shift lever in N?

 

[Bseg]

Joe,



It was warmed up because I drove it for about 45 minutes up and down the freeway and around town when I checked it.



I didn't have it in neutral, it was in park. Would that make a difference?



I always thought it should be in park, warmed up, and running.



Thanks

 

[ndurbin]

It should be in neutral.

 

[Joe G.]

The procedure to check it is to put it in R then D then N. The idea is to get as many passages in the valve body full before you check it. In N the pump is still pumping ATF through the valve body. If you did it in P then it would look over full because the pump is not doing that. Do the whole thing with the engine running. .

 

[Bseg]

I am embarrassed to say that I checked it last night when I got home from work and the dipstick clearly says to check it in neutral. I don't know why I didn't see that before



The fluid was 1 quart low so I added a quart and now it is shifting the way it was before I changed the fluid.



Thanks, Joe and ndurbin for pointing out my mistake.



This explains why it looked like it was too full at first because I checked it in park and then of course I drained a quart out.