Dealership Troubles, Trans Troubles

[S. Artee]

Recently took my 300 in for service. Needed new coolant, trans and diff fluid, so I figured I would get all three in one shot, convenient right?

So after the car comes down and the keys are in-hand I head for the highway. Thinking everything is gravy I hit the gas and merge. Not a few moments pass and I'm smelling a weird odor and seeing smoke billowing from behind and under my hood. -EFF.



Pulled over immediately, called the dealership and they offered to bring me back on a flatbed, on their dime. I'm thinking "Great! This will turn out alright."

The car makes it back (same day) and the techs get back to work. They spent 2.5hrs past close on a Friday to make things right. I was very grateful. They explained that they used an autofill machine which attaches to the service ports to swap the fluid out. According to their description they had overfilled the trans by about 3qts which caused the fluid to spew out of the vent tube when I engaged passing gear and the pressures went up.

So I head back home again and everything seems fine except for the adaptives having been reset, so she was just a tad on the clunky side. The trans started smoothing out eventually.

Fast forward to this morning when I attempted to move the car for a wash. The garage is level but the drive is on a grade. I try reversing into my garage and whiile cold the trans now slips and allows the car to roll free (fwd) while in reverse. Switched over to D and rolled into a vacant lot to see where she stalls up. I have a 3200+ stall converter, btw. I hold the brake and climb the revs, she hits 3200 and keeps climbing... Free rev, in gear.

I let the engine warm up in neutral to about 122* and try again, success. So I take a test drive, come back and try loading it again. Now I can hear squealing coming from under the car when the converter is loaded.. -Thinking its the bands? --Maybe its underfilled now??




I'm reaching out to see what everyone thinks. This isn't a bashing thread so please try to refrain from adding replies that do not address this plea in a productive or technical manner. I have a good rapport with my dealer, but am more concerned with the longevity of my trans now. --Prior to this experience, the transmission was 100% fine.

Thanks in advance everyone!

[PlumCrazyDaytona]

Sounds like its low on fluid. The Nag1 is very very picky on fluid level.....I had issues like the slipping in the past and not engaging when cold and it turned out I was 12 ounces low...not much but it was enough

[S. Artee]

Thanks for the reply.


Bump

[Hemissary]

Your concerns are well founded regarding the NAG1 and fluid level. If it engages you should be OK to drive it to the dealership IMO. However, your best bet is to phone them and get their permission first. Then, ask if you can oversee while they correlate transmission fluid temperature to the dipstick measurements for your own peace of mind. If your concerned about transmission longevity as a result of over-filling and now possibly under-filling, consider having this noted on the workorder you will receive. Should not cost you anything for all of this BTW...

[Rolling_Thunder]

Agreed - if it's freewheeling when cold it is most likely low on fluid... They probably left some fluid out and topped it to where it should be when cold and your trans was hot or something of that nature... Contact dealer and inform them if the issue and see what they say

[S. Artee]

Thanks for the replies. I have some updates on this, as well as a tip or two in addition to the trans fluid measurement methods already published.

For now, the car seems to be healed.

[robsrt]

Good to hear.

[Jim McVeigh]

Knowing the trans temp is a must. Because of the drool in the filler pipe you WILL get a false (high) reading on the miller tool. It took me two hours to get the oil level correct.

[srt8-in-largo]

Thanks for the replies. I have some updates on this, as well as a tip or two in addition to the trans fluid measurement methods already published.

For now, the car seems to be healed.

You ever see the Seinfeld episode where Kramer is afraid of the circus clowns? Thats how I feel about the grinch. Spooky.