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Checking trans fluid level properly

Waynerd

NAXJA Forum User
There seems to be a lot of conflicting answers to this. On 97-01 xj with aw4 what is the proper procedure? Should it be in park or nuetral or does it matter. All vehicles I've owned in the past were checked in nuetral. I swear I read before that these are checked in park. Just did a quick google and finding conflicting answers. Thank you.
 
Take it out for a drive and bring to operating temperature.
Row through all ranges and set in neutral (Park also works as it is neutral with a pin engaged - I've done both and the levels were the same - curiosity one day).
Check level.

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Thanks. Actually it says right on the stick" check hot with trans in nuetral". But like you said doesn't matter whether P or N. Funny thing is the fluid is pretty clear, not red at all maybe slightly brown. Going to change it out soon anyway. With 214k on The odo and not sure when the last was it couldn't hurt. Now two more jeeps to check.
 
My 88 and 90 both say "check when running and in Park" right there on the stick. Either way do it on a LEVEL surface. My property is all on a bit of a slant except the inside of the garage (my wife's domain) so I just check it at the gas station. I also wipe some on my finger or a paper towel to get the color right. Slightly brown is slightly burnt. Just sayin"

But devilfrog is correct about them being essentially the same, I checked too, many years ago.
 
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Thanks. Actually it says right on the stick" check hot with trans in nuetral". But like you said doesn't matter whether P or N. Funny thing is the fluid is pretty clear, not red at all maybe slightly brown. Going to change it out soon anyway. With 214k on The odo and not sure when the last was it couldn't hurt. Now two more jeeps to check.

I remember reading sometime back that you should make sure you don't drain all the fluid out at once. You should drain some, fill and repeat that process as you don't want any bits that might be floating around to all go to the bottom.
 
I remember reading sometime back that you should make sure you don't drain all the fluid out at once. You should drain some, fill and repeat that process as you don't want any bits that might be floating around to all go to the bottom.

The factory recommended service is at 30,000 miles for normal duty and 15,000 miles for severe duty.

Drain the trans pan and refill. It will take just under 4 quarts of ATF, Dexron/Mercon III. Nothing else.
 
On my '96 it says to check in neutral on the stick. I've found no difference in the level between neutral and park, though. I don't think it matters much, really. The temperature of the fluid will have a bigger difference on the stick than whether it's in neutral or park.
 
I remember reading sometime back that you should make sure you don't drain all the fluid out at once. You should drain some, fill and repeat that process as you don't want any bits that might be floating around to all go to the bottom.

The bottom of the pan is where you want them to go. Two schools of thought on really dirty abused fluid "drain and refills". One is you want to drain 3-4 quarts at a time and let the fresh fluid slowly clean the transmission of varnish that can come loose and plug the valves up. But if it already has stopped working properly, I drain it all disconnecting the line at the radiator and run the engine in neutral to pump out close to 10 quarts and refill and get serious about cleaning the crap out. But if it has been abused badly (the fluid), dropping the pan first might be a good idea and change the filter first too.
 
On my '96 it says to check in neutral on the stick. I've found no difference in the level between neutral and park, though. I don't think it matters much, really. The temperature of the fluid will have a bigger difference on the stick than whether it's in neutral or park.

Many transmissions, if not most(?), the pump is not pumping in drive but does in all gears and in neutral, and so the fluid level changes greatly between park and neutral.
 
It doesn't hurt to periodically check the filler tube to make sure is is still secured at the back of the engine. The spot welds that hold the mounting the tab to the tube can fail allowing the tube to ride up. I'm not suggesting that it has, just that it does happen. You can end up over filling to some degree and never know it.
:eek:

I know these things.
 
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