Gunfreak25

Yes I know it must be checked when warmed up, but what are your dipsticks reading when cold and in park? I haven't run my project truck in over several months but when it was delivered on a flatbed I believe it was overfilled by the previous owner, who even confided to me he may have overfilled it. It reads about 1.5" above the full mark when cold and in park. And unfortunately I cannot "warm" it up anytime soon to check it. I'll probably be pulling the pan and putting a new filter in anyway, I am just curious that's all.

J-(Chicago)

I always run my trans over full.
Hasn't been a problem on my car, but I don't even come close to overheating it.

That big truck may work it a little harder.

I have a good story on this. A neighborhood fella here was low on trans fluid, and decided to add water. Said hydraulics is hydraulics, and it won't matter.

Problem is, once the water got over 212 degrees, it expanded, boiled and puked tranny oil all over his exhaust and caught the car on fire.

mmurphy77

Many factors when cold and not running will affect the level, hence why it should be checked at operating temp and running. If the car has sat for a while without running, the torque convertor will drain into the pan raising the level in the pan which would give a cold, non-running reading way over the level. I would start the car and check it cold after cycling through the gears ending up back in 'Park'. Cold and running the level on the dipstick should be slightly above the "Add 1QT" line (the fluid will expand as it heats bringing up to the '"FULL" reading). If it's still 1.5" above full then you need to drain some out. They make a hand operated suction pump with small diameter hose that you can insert right into the fill tube. Get it below the 'Full" mark cold and this will get you close until you get up to operating temp for a more accurate reading, then add as needed.

Gunfreak25

Thank you! While we're on the subject of transmissions, would you guys also know the tow rating of this transmission in my appliction?

The truck weighs in at 13,000 empty, 1970 455 Olds with Ga heads, 6 wheel drive with 6.17:1 axles, high range only. The vehicles max gross weight is about 23,000 fully loaded. It also has a massive pintle hitch on the back and I'd like to get a surplus M105 trailer for it someday. I know i'm already at the end of the Th400's weight limits but do my steep gears help lessen the load on the tranny very much? It has 40" tires.

oldcutlass

How tall are the tires??

Gunfreak25

40"

I do plan on getting an auxillary tranny cooler ASAP too as well as rigging up a mister setup on the front of the grill. In the event I get stuck in traffic when it's over 110 here I don't have to worry about boiling over in this rig!