HI, I have a 2001 S60 with 101,000 miles on it. I just did a drain & fill of 4 quarts; I measured the amount removed & replaced the same amount with new Mobil 3309. My question is, when you read the dipstick, where should the fluid level be exactly??? The yellow stick shows 3 lines at "Cold" & 3 lines at "Hot". What should the level be when the engine is cold & the level at Hot? Should the level be on the 3 lines at Hot or just below it? Please advise... Thanks!

 

I would set it to the middle of the cold section.

 

Sorry, But I'm not that experienced at this, but to set it at cold, do you mean on the second line where it says cold? please advise. Thanks!

 

There should be 3 lines on the cold section. Yes put it to line 2 which would be in the middle of the cold range.

 

Sorry, but I have 1 more question to ask you.... Why is it that I have read in the forum that you need to read the tranny dipstick when the engine is hot? Please advise.. Thanks!

 

Because the fluid expands when hot and you want to make sure it is not overfull. Overfull is a bad thing.

 

Thanks! You've been a great help!

 

Your Welcome!

 

You also want the engine running when checking, I put it in neutral but I am not sure if you have to with these, park may be fine....

 

Park is fine.

 

I let the car sit overnight... I pulled the dipstick & saw the fluid level at the middle of "cold" level, just as "Tech" described. I put the dipstick back in & the results were the same. I then took the car for about a 20 minute drive & then checked the dipstick again & the tranny level was barely touching the 1st line where its marked "HOT". I am guessing the levels are now good... Does anyone agree or disagree? Please advise ... Thanks!

 

You should be fine like that.

 

This morning i double checked the tranny fluid level again & it was at the Cold level...But after driving for about 20 minutes I checked again & the fluid level could not be read! What's going on with my car???? I checked it with the engine running..The fluid level should have gone up! Correct?? When I get home tonight I will try to re-check it again... This is becoming very annoying & I would like to put an end to this....Thank God the car runs great though... Please advise what should I keep doing or what am I doing wrong.. Thanks!

 

were you checking it with the engine running the previous times?, the level will drop when running so if you had been checking it before without it running and getting those levels I would not be surprised that it was below the scale when you check it running...

 

I will try reading the levels again with the engine running & post my results as soon as I can..Thanks!

 

add very small amounts of fluid then recheck, you should be pretty close since you added about what you removed, the level will go from full cold to full hot with the addition of about 200ml(a little over 2 shot glasses)

 

Looks like the problem has been resolved... I never thought getting the tranny fluid levels correct would be such a project.... Thanks to everyone who helped!

 

Glad all is good now!

 

I hate to continue the thread, but it's something that has bugged me forever. Here is/was my scenario:

I would check the fluid level while idling and no matter if the engine was cold or hot, it would never register on the dipstick. However, when engine is OFF, the fluid would read perfect in the cold range (when cold) and perfect in the hot range (when hot of course). It's been a few months since I checked the fluid, and it shifts very very smoothly so I don't think it's low on fluid, or is it?

 

Sounds like it is low.