Okay, I feel like an idiot. What is the proper way to read the dipstick on a 01' V6 automatic? I am a fairly desent mechanic, but am lost. Picture a ? mark. Now imagine that is the finger hole on the dipstick. Pull the dipstick out with the open side of the ? mark facing the front of the vehichle it say its over full on on side of the dipstick and under full on the other. So now rotate the dipstick 180 degrees and insert into tube. Now the open side of the ? mark is facing the fire wall. Remove the distick and it reads just the opposite as it did the other way. So am I not full or over full. Tried to get an accureate reading 20 or more times. Now I am worried about what the level actually is. It was warmed up and the dipstick was properly seated on the tube and the vehicle was level.

 

yeah sometimes that happens for some reason, usually when that happens the lower reading is more correct. But usually it isn't a large difference like you describe, with the tranny fluid you are trying to be in the cross hatch area when fullly warm, not necessarily totally full, so getting a reading of too full or underfilled generally doesn't happen, so as long as you are in the cross hatched area you are good to go. It is supposed to be really hot to get a good reading, so driving 20-30 miles is warm weather will do it, to get the fluid up to 130 degrees. Also when you stop the vehicle run it through all gears twice then put it in park and then take a reading at idle, it helps to get a more accurate reading. When you get odd readings just keep taking more readings until it gets accurate, sometimes from driving you get fluid going up the dipstick tube and that can throw off your readings a bit as fluid is in the dipstick tube , so take more readings until the fluid has a chance to run back into the pan and you will eventually get a more consistent reading. I often notice that when I add fluid into the dipstick tube to fill it, it takes a while to get an accurate reading as fluid sits into the tube.

 

O.K., so I have driven it and check, let it sit over night start and let run for 30 min or so and check it then drove it some more and checked it again. Still the same. I have probably dip my stick 100 or more time with the exact same results. When I say over full it is like 7/16" over the cross hatch area and it just barely hit the cross hatch on the low side. Should I go by the low side to make sure that it has enough in it. I'm getting pretty frustrated, it not like this is my first wrench turning try.