V70 G/box: 2WD: - Automatic G/box oil level Hot-Cold-Hot-Cold

sae70 · Jun 1st, 2009, 13:19

As some may be aware I've rescently changed the oil in my Auto G/box

I will be posting a detailed description of what I did with useful tips & photos later on, but for now I seem to have a little confusion with regards to getting the G/box oil level spot on.

During the oil change proceedure I adopted a technique that I'm very confident put back prety much the same amout of oil that I removed. I would have thought I was only short by maybe 50/70ml @ the very most. I even calculated how much retained oil was in the syphoning pipe (170ml) before I removed it.

So upon completion I took the car for a good 20 mile spin, adopting as many driving styles as I could including using the full range of the Geartronic gear change a number of times & then switching back to sedate driving then back to aggresive kick down driving and visea versa to get all the juices flowing

When I got home popped the bonnet and checked the oil level while hot. It turned out to be a good 1" or so above the Max hot mark! But in my defence it was prety much the same before I carried out the oil change so......bla bla bla

It was then time to bath the kids so packed up & left it till the next day

The following day, now everything cold checked the oil level and there seemed to be no desernable difference between the Hot & the Cold levels! So got under the car & drained some oil till the oil on the dip stick was @ the top of the Cold oil level mark (surprisingly this took 1.8 litres). Then took the car for another 20 mile all driving styles spin

Upon my return home dipped the oil again & nothing! No oil on the dip stick

Not a surprise realy as you could tell that the gear change was not as smooth & there was alot of flareing (interesting to experience but not what I was trying to achieve).

So then started to top the oil up till it came to just on the bottom marks of the Hot oil level on the dip stick (this took 1 litre of oil). Now same old same old, took the car for another spin, checked the oil level afterwards when hot & it's just a fraction above the top mark on the Hot oil level marks on the dip stick

so this suits me for now

Car seems to drive smoothly when hot & a little less smoothly when cold?! It's definetly feeling different in the gear changes but I can't decide if this is better or worse than before?! Sometimes it's better the devil you know & maybe I had just got used to it's dirty oil quwerks

Just wondered what other people thought of my findings & what experiences others had have of Auto G/box oil levels?

Regards

Steven

Chris_Rogers · Jun 1st, 2009, 17:53

I'm having similar issues.

The gearbox oil level should be between the hot max & min marks when the oil is at 80°C, this according to the manuals is after around 30 mins of driving.

I can't see this myself as it must be dependant on ambient temperature, load driving style, etc.

With an oil temperature of 110°C the oil level should be above the max hot oil level mark by around the difference between the min and max hot oil level marks.

So the view I've adopted is that the hot max mark is the minimum level with the gearbox hot and the max is higher than that by the max min difference.

Have you also found the level is different form one side of the dipstick to the other!

The cold marking seems to be next to useless, it's for 40°C oil temperature, the manual says this is after idling for 15mins ant 20°C ambient temperature.
I found if I tried to use this dipstick level the oil level was higher each time a dipped it, I guess because it's heating up while you're doing it.

sae70 · Jun 1st, 2009, 22:53

Quote:

Have you also found the level is different form one side of the dipstick to the other!

I have not looked, only been looking @ the graduated side

I'm not seeing a noteable difference in the oil level between Hot & cold

Need digital thermometer with a long flexible probe!

sae70 · Jun 5th, 2009, 15:49

OK so bought myself one of these from off of the bay LINK a digital multimeter with a temperature prob all for £7.40

It arrived this morning so I quickly unpacked it and popped the temp prob into the boiling kettle

It gave me a constant reading flicking between 99/100 degrees C

So then I wedged it between two ice cubes & got a constant reading between -1/0 degrees C

That'll do for me

So load DS1 into car & off to Argos & B&Q running some erends

Oh & warming up the gearbox oil

Got home turned off engine checked oil level twice then stuck temp prob down dip stick hole then checked oil level one more time

So oil level was just a smidge below the max hot oil level mark on all three dips & the oil temp was 76/77 degrees C

Think I will drop another 200/300ml of oil down the dip stick tube.

Interestingly the oil level was much lower than I had dipped more than a half a dozen times prior to this! So I'm starting to suspect that during the process of changing the ATF you get air locks that take a while to work through?!

I still have more than 800ml of oil that I removed from the box that came out during the ATF flushing process?!

Any more thoughts out there?

Chris_Rogers · Jun 5th, 2009, 16:52

"Got home turned off engine checked oil level twice"

You are checking the oil level with the engine running and the gear lever in park arn't you?

If not then the level will not be correct.

sae70 · Jun 5th, 2009, 18:11

Quote:

You are checking the oil level with the engine running and the gear lever in park arn't you?

Ah! Mmmm.....

Realy?!

I'll try that then

sae70 · Jun 5th, 2009, 18:32

I wonder what difference this will make?

Checking the oil level with the engine running may account for the 800ml of oil I have left over

I have only been doing with the engine turned off up to now

It's bad enough doing it with the engine off let alone on!

It's like putting your arm into the fires of HELL!

Chris_Rogers · Jun 5th, 2009, 19:13

It will make a big diference to the level.

I agree, it is like putting your arm into the fires of HELL!

I've still got the mark on by arm where I burnt it on the end of the inlet manifold!

sae70 · Jun 6th, 2009, 22:02

While DW was @ swiming with DS1 this morning I loaded DS2 & DD1 into the Volvo & went for a 30 min drive to warm up the ATF

Got back home (DS2 & DD1 now asleep in the car

) So popped the bonnet, stuck the G/box into PARK, got out & checked the box oil level again

This time with the engine still running

OMG!

Oil level was slap bang in between the cold & hot marks on the dip stick!

Checked the oil temp with my new digital temp prob

it was 76C so started to top up with fresh oil, 500ml of oil later the level was just the smallest smidge above the top of the upper hot level mark with the engine running

Checked the oil temp again & it had gone up to 84C.

All seems alot smoother now so fingers crossed

Nice one Chris

Cheers for the heads up

Nice spot m8

Chris_Rogers · Jun 6th, 2009, 22:08

Did you burn your arm on the inlet manifold?

Jun 1st, 2009, 13:19	#1
sae70 Member Last Online: Dec 6th, 2022 21:44 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Nr Chelmsford in Essex	Automatic G/box oil level Hot-Cold-Hot-Cold As some may be aware I've rescently changed the oil in my Auto G/box I will be posting a detailed description of what I did with useful tips & photos later on, but for now I seem to have a little confusion with regards to getting the G/box oil level spot on. During the oil change proceedure I adopted a technique that I'm very confident put back prety much the same amout of oil that I removed. I would have thought I was only short by maybe 50/70ml @ the very most. I even calculated how much retained oil was in the syphoning pipe (170ml) before I removed it. So upon completion I took the car for a good 20 mile spin, adopting as many driving styles as I could including using the full range of the Geartronic gear change a number of times & then switching back to sedate driving then back to aggresive kick down driving and visea versa to get all the juices flowing When I got home popped the bonnet and checked the oil level while hot. It turned out to be a good 1" or so above the Max hot mark! But in my defence it was prety much the same before I carried out the oil change so......bla bla bla It was then time to bath the kids so packed up & left it till the next day The following day, now everything cold checked the oil level and there seemed to be no desernable difference between the Hot & the Cold levels! So got under the car & drained some oil till the oil on the dip stick was @ the top of the Cold oil level mark (surprisingly this took 1.8 litres). Then took the car for another 20 mile all driving styles spin Upon my return home dipped the oil again & nothing! No oil on the dip stick Not a surprise realy as you could tell that the gear change was not as smooth & there was alot of flareing (interesting to experience but not what I was trying to achieve). So then started to top the oil up till it came to just on the bottom marks of the Hot oil level on the dip stick (this took 1 litre of oil). Now same old same old, took the car for another spin, checked the oil level afterwards when hot & it's just a fraction above the top mark on the Hot oil level marks on the dip stick so this suits me for now Car seems to drive smoothly when hot & a little less smoothly when cold?! It's definetly feeling different in the gear changes but I can't decide if this is better or worse than before?! Sometimes it's better the devil you know & maybe I had just got used to it's dirty oil quwerks Just wondered what other people thought of my findings & what experiences others had have of Auto G/box oil levels? Regards Steven __________________ Link to my Albums Link to my YouTube Videos Last edited by sae70; Jun 1st, 2009 at 15:32.

Jun 1st, 2009, 17:53	#2
Chris_Rogers VOC Member Last Online: Apr 10th, 2017 16:55 Join Date: Jan 1970 Location: South Kent Coast	I'm having similar issues. The gearbox oil level should be between the hot max & min marks when the oil is at 80°C, this according to the manuals is after around 30 mins of driving. I can't see this myself as it must be dependant on ambient temperature, load driving style, etc. With an oil temperature of 110°C the oil level should be above the max hot oil level mark by around the difference between the min and max hot oil level marks. So the view I've adopted is that the hot max mark is the minimum level with the gearbox hot and the max is higher than that by the max min difference. Have you also found the level is different form one side of the dipstick to the other! The cold marking seems to be next to useless, it's for 40°C oil temperature, the manual says this is after idling for 15mins ant 20°C ambient temperature. I found if I tried to use this dipstick level the oil level was higher each time a dipped it, I guess because it's heating up while you're doing it. Last edited by Chris_Rogers; Jun 1st, 2009 at 17:57.

Jun 5th, 2009, 16:52	#5
Chris_Rogers VOC Member Last Online: Apr 10th, 2017 16:55 Join Date: Jan 1970 Location: South Kent Coast	"Got home turned off engine checked oil level twice" You are checking the oil level with the engine running and the gear lever in park arn't you? If not then the level will not be correct. Last edited by Chris_Rogers; Jun 5th, 2009 at 17:11.

Jun 5th, 2009, 18:32	#7
sae70 Member Last Online: Dec 6th, 2022 21:44 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Nr Chelmsford in Essex	I wonder what difference this will make? Checking the oil level with the engine running may account for the 800ml of oil I have left over I have only been doing with the engine turned off up to now It's bad enough doing it with the engine off let alone on! It's like putting your arm into the fires of HELL! __________________ Link to my Albums Link to my YouTube Videos

Jun 6th, 2009, 22:02	#9
sae70 Member Last Online: Dec 6th, 2022 21:44 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Nr Chelmsford in Essex	While DW was @ swiming with DS1 this morning I loaded DS2 & DD1 into the Volvo & went for a 30 min drive to warm up the ATF Got back home (DS2 & DD1 now asleep in the car ) So popped the bonnet, stuck the G/box into PARK, got out & checked the box oil level again This time with the engine still running OMG! Oil level was slap bang in between the cold & hot marks on the dip stick! Checked the oil temp with my new digital temp prob it was 76C so started to top up with fresh oil, 500ml of oil later the level was just the smallest smidge above the top of the upper hot level mark with the engine running Checked the oil temp again & it had gone up to 84C. All seems alot smoother now so fingers crossed Nice one Chris Cheers for the heads up Nice spot m8 __________________ Link to my Albums Link to my YouTube Videos Last edited by sae70; Jun 6th, 2009 at 22:12.

Jun 5th, 2009, 19:13	#8
Chris_Rogers VOC Member Last Online: Apr 10th, 2017 16:55 Join Date: Jan 1970 Location: South Kent Coast	It will make a big diference to the level. I agree, it is like putting your arm into the fires of HELL! I've still got the mark on by arm where I burnt it on the end of the inlet manifold!

Jun 6th, 2009, 22:08	#10
Chris_Rogers VOC Member Last Online: Apr 10th, 2017 16:55 Join Date: Jan 1970 Location: South Kent Coast	Did you burn your arm on the inlet manifold?

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