10 quart transmission system shows overfill after only 5 quarts added?

[desertexplorer]

My 92' Ford Ranger Supercab has a 2.9 V6 engine with automatic transmission. I changed the trans fluid and filter Sunday.

I also wanted to drain the coolers and torque converter. So I ran three quarts of fresh fluid with engine running and gearshift selector in park. As the flow slowed to a trickle, I shut off engine and added 5 fresh quarts.

Now the dipstick is showing an overfill condition. Maybe an inch over normal. I don't get it. I thought I drained the system and added 5 quarts to a 10 quart system. So why is it overfilled?

I bought one of those siphon pumps with 6-foot clear tubing. Can I suction up the excess fluid through the trans fluid filler neck? Does the engine need to be on or off when I do this? Thanks

[Rg1Baja]

Did you check the truck trans fluid while the truck was warm and running? If not you need to.

[desertexplorer]

Yes, the engine was plenty warmed up when I checked the fluid level.

Was the engine supposed to be warmed up when I drained trans oil pan and flushed fresh fluid too?

Should I have flushed torque converter with gearshift selector in drive (with brake set) . My mechanic said draining torque converter with gear selector in park is correct. Do you agree for 92' Ford Ranger.

[Twin City Ranger]

You can never fully drain the converter short of removing it and dumping it out.
Doubt it holds 5 quarts though. Even the torque converter on my big old '70 Riviera's Turbo 400 wouldn't hold 5 quarts.

[djfllmn]

^what he said...by just draining and filling the pan youre only removing about 40-60% of the fluid...the only way to completely change the fluid is flush the system with one of those machines

[desertexplorer]

My mechanic has one of those flushing machines. He gave up on it when the machine kept breaking down. He just uses the method of flushing quarts of fresh fluid to drain out through return line. He says this will remove the old fluid from the torque converter.

It's too expensive to pay for this service at a repair shop

[Twin City Ranger]

Using a siphon pump to pull some out through the dipstick tube is a great idea if the tube will fit down into it.
Beats dropping a corner of the pan to drain off the excess.
Ceratinly gives you more control of how much you remove.

[desertexplorer]

Yes. the tubing on my siphon pump will fit in the filler neck.

I can also disconnect the cooler line under grill.

You should have seen the mess I made Sunday. What a disaster. The rubber tubing I got for the return line didn't fit. I had no transportation. So I tried to jury rig something. Trans fluid all over the driveway and front of engine. I spent more time washing driveway and engine compartment than the job itself.

[Twisty]

Next time, put a drain plug in the pan.

[desertexplorer]

Did you mean have a drain plug drilled in the torque converter? I have heard of people doing that. Can that be done easily enough?

[Fordzilla80]

No, he meant installing a drain plug in the trans pan itself, the one you remove to access the valve body. This keeps you from having to make a mess out of your driveway, which is almost inevitable.

[desertexplorer]

I understand, thanks

[bjurke]

the last auto trans i had i found you could only get a little over 1/2 th oil out of the trans. so i would drain it once every 2 years via the fill tube with a small diameter hose and a suction unit. the transmission oil has to be hot for this to work so you have to be reasonably fast but this way you don't make a mess all over the place.

[desertexplorer]

Yes, I never understood that a standard drain procedure removes a lot less old fluid than previously realized. I imagine that this quantity of fluid in the torque converter rests in a low area below the line of fluid draining. The is key in understanding the drain process.

I reflushed the system Sunday with fresh fluid (again). This time I went to Lowes instead of auto parts store. I bought two different sizes of clear tubing just in case.

The procedure went much better this time, with no spillage. The fluid level is now at the correct spot on the dipstick and transmission runs very well. I also heated up the fluid some for better draining.

This is the original transmission with 299,000 miles now.