ATF Overservice?

[Hambone]

Greetings from Alaska.

I'm new to the site, just found it last night. Great information. Info used today to change ATF, rear diff fluid, and cabin air filter was invaluable.

Quick question, I'm not sure if I overserviced my transmission fluid:

While changing the Automatic Transmission Fluid for my 2004 Pilot, I drained 3 qts. I put 3 qts back in, drove the car briefly, then shut off the engine to read the fluid level (as per the owners manual). The level barely came to the bottom of the dipstick.

I then put another 1/2 qt in and measured the level, it was at the bottom fill reference mark. I then put the remainder of the 4th qt in (4 qts total), drove the car, took the level reading and found it over the full mark by approximately 1/8".

Will too much fluid cause damage to the transmission? Should I drain and refill, or not worry about it?

Thanks for the help!
Dave Ham

[Sunday Rider]

Welcome to the site Dave.

I have over filled mine many times. Not sure what year your Pilot is, but mine is an '03 and it is a pain to check the fluid. So if it is 1/8" over or below, I don't worry about it.

You are close enough. 1/4 or 1/2" I would just drain a tiny bit, but not do a whole change.

The manual is wrong, mine always takes 3.8-3.9 Quarts, never 3.

How bad was the fluid when you changed it?

[rocky]

1/8th is within the margin of error. Don't worry about it

[jestmaty]

My last tranny fluid change took 4.75 quarts of fluid when I did it myself.

I always do the change at the same spot on my level driveway. Never before have I had so much drain out. I carefully measured the amount of fluid before adding so much back in.

The neat thing is.... there are no filters that we can service, so in my way of thinking, put exactly the same amount in that came out.

Just checked the fluid level after sitting overnight ( maybe not quite as accurate, but the only way I can read the stupid little dipstick ) and it is just at the uppermost dot.

My Pilot is an '04 like yours and I don't think you have anything to worry about.

[Sunday Rider]

WOops, okay I re read your post and see it is a 2004. Jestmaty is sharper he caught it.

But you said you drained 3 qts. Strange that you put in more than you drained.

I always do the change in the same spot, and I dump the old stuff in an empty windshield fluid container (4 qts) and the tranny fluid is always a couple of inches from the top. I use this clear container so I can see how much junk settles to the bottom of the container a couple of months later.

I think there is a filter in there, but not sure how accessible it is, or if it is meant to be serviced. I do recall an earlier post where someone changed it, and another post where someone put their own external filter.

See Dave, this is how threads start here and the topic slowly drifts......

[Hambone]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the advice. I was worried about it, and I didn't have anything else to do, so I drained it and refilled it. Got it exactly to the top dot this time, but that was with only 8 oz less fluid than what I drained out. I figured it was probably okay, but the procedure was so easy...

I thought the old fluid was in good condition, but a little darker than what I put in. It has 60K miles on it, so I was a bit late in performing the service. I believe it was the first service on the transmission (we bought it used with 44K miles on it). The plug had ferrous metal, about the same as the picture on the tutorial, so it was what I expected (break-in?).

Again, great site, an invaluable resource.
Dave