So I guess you can’t trust even the long-known to me trusted mechanic not to make mistakes.

I got my ATF drain/fill done at a local Ford mechanic known to me. this was about 2 weeks ago. I had brought 7 qts of mercon LV (just to have extra if needed) and when I left he gave me the rest: 1 bottle. I was a bit curious how he drained 6 qts when I have read so many times that our trans lets only about 4-5 qts drain. I didn’t ask him how he managed to drain 6 qts because I thought I’d come across as suspecting that he “stole” a qt of ATF or something. I am terribly shy at things like that. It was always in the back of my mind though. Trans shifted fine and no issues.

Anyway the other day I was checking fluids while changing the air filter and although I know ATF level should be checked hot, I just gave the trans dipstick a look and it was clearly ABOVE the full mark. Knowing that the level would be even higher when hot, I thought I’d check it under correct conditions today.

Drove about 17 miles mostly around 65-70 mph and parked, level ground, moved shifter through all positions and checked level while engine running. Here is what my dipstick looks like. I did it twice, it is really hard to see the light pink ATF on this old type dip stick. As best as I could tell the ATF level was where the RED ARROWS are pointing at. It is NOT easy to see in the pic, but that's where the level is, i could see it pretty well once I got used to turning it to see the reflections on it. And I took a piece of shop towel and ran it down the stick until it got wet and that's where the piece of paper started getting wet with a pinkish color (post continues below the image)


So, I guess he did overfill it after all.
Luckily I have a small hand pump and even a big mighty vac so I can remove some ATF.

Question is: that amount above the full line on the dipstick: does it roughly indicate how much I should remove? I do have some ATF at home so I guess I can always add if I remove too much, but I would rather not, because I will have to drive the car again to get the ATF hot for an accurate level check. Don’t want to drive with ATF too low.
(I guess as long as I get the level between full and add lines COLD, I should have enough ATF to be able to drive to get ATF hot enough to check again?)
Sorry for the long post but I want to make sure I do this right.
Thanks for any and all tips/answers.

Related question: my escape is a 2010 and I have seen the TSB regarding the last 1-2 hard shift and the PCM reflash etc. although my trans is not exhibiting that problem, is it worth getting that done? Any idea how much a dealer would charge for the process?

 

I would suck it out to the level it should be.. and call it good.. Your are lucky you have "dip stick".. our 2015 1.6L does not have one.. have to remove the left front wheel on level ground and remove a drain plug to check the level... Some times I wonder about Ford's engineering;

 

You want to get the level down between the lines.
Just make note of where it is cold on the dipstick and get it in the ball park.
Then later you can check it at the correct temp and fine tune it.

 

Thanks guys, That's what I am gonna do.
I have my small hand pump and will suck some out, perhaps half a quart or so and then check it with the text book procedure again.

 

Update:
So I checked ATF level COLD and even then it is def over the HOT mark on dipstick. It is much easier to see than hot ATF as it has settled in and is darker.
Anyway, using a small hand pump I removed about 1 qt of ATF. (measured it with an empty quart size oil bottle I had).
I will have to see and repeat the exact procedure as before and check the level when hot, and see if it is good enough or if I need to remove more.
Re: That: As the level is above the Full mark even when COLD (even after I drained a quart), should I remove (while cold) some more? I mean it IS def gonna be HIGHER when hot, right? Or should I wait until I can check it hot after driving and getting it hot like before?

I think the simple logic for drain/fill ATF should be:
if Draining while HOT, you're removing expanded hot ATF (more Vol). But what you're ADDING is new COLD fluid, which WILL expand later (to the correct level) so you have to add LESS cold ATF. So you cannot just "add same amount that came out"
That CAN work if you drained it also while COLD, I guess.
Next time, either I am doing the drain/fill myself and if not, I am giving him only 4 quarts of ATF and telling him just use that amount only, and I can add a bit more if needed.