Stupid newbie q: how do you fill a dry dipstick-less trans

[ryan roopnarine]

I'll admit my screwups here.

I finally finished installing a used dipstickless 4l30e transmission on my 92 525i in may. it only had about two quarts in it (residual draindown) when i picked it up from vines in november. in december, i drained out the residual and flipped it upside down to change the filter in it before i put it into the car. i did not think about the reprocussions of the small front pan draining up into the tranny when i flipped it upside down. i loaded it with 3-3.5 quarts of fluid when it got stuck into the car (december). i allowed the torque converter to drain into a dish and loaded it with fluid until it couldn't take any more before i put it into the transmission.

fast forward to this month. i followed the running procedure and loaded it with another 3 quarts or so. the dry fill specification for this trans is 8.8 quarts. the cooler/cooler lines had plenty of time to drain out completely (months) so i assume these need to fill too.

i assumed that, since the box wasn't rebuilt, that the unit wasn't completely dry. consequently, after loading it the second time, i attempted to drive it, and found that the trans program would come on after the car moved about 50 feet. on its longest drive attempt, the transmission clunked hard into 2nd before the car was unable to move. a restart and quick shift into D got it back into the drive. when the transprogram comes up, the car does not lock into 3rd, it only slips.

i loaded another 1.5 quarts of cold fluid into it after this, with the same result as above. from my experience in maguyver type driving, rwd cars usually have to lose at least 2 cold quarts of fluid before they are immobile.

my question is....how the hell do i know when the thing is filled? do i have to just sit there and load it over and over until i've tried five or six times? i'm not seeing any specific dry refill instructions in service manual no. 8. if i knew how difficult this would have been, i would have kept better records of how many quarts i put into it, but i didn't. my old unit had a dipstick on it, but that is neither here or there, this dipstickless arrangement is a pita. i don't want to take it off of stands and have it start slipping on me again, i've done that about 2 or 3 times already and don't want to do any permanent damage. i'm thinking that i should jack one side of the car way up into the air and pump a shiatload of fluid into it cold before i make another operating temperature filling attempt. thanks for reading all of this.

[shogun]

detailed instructions under tech help
www.europeantransmissions.com

here direct
http://www.europeantransmissions.com...ansService.pdf

[ryan roopnarine]

shogun, i've followed the procedure outlined in service manual 8 (the place that your link is from) every time that i've attempted to fill up the transmission. i'm just looking to see if there's some way for me to know when it is "finished" before i try driving it again. even though it is short on fluid, it will experience the same overflow as full (as outlined in the manual) if i am not quick on the draw about pumping fluid in.

[shogun]

I am not the transmission expert, but we have done a number of 4HP24 reman's in the past 2 years.
Basically what we do on the 4HP24 (which has a fill tube). First we fill up the transmission with a certain amount that it can be seen at the dipstick (in your case it would be overflow then on that tranny), then we start the engine and let it run in idle and switch through all the gears, refill again till level, so that also fluid goes into the torque converter and the trans coolant lines and the coller, check again and refil and watch the temperature. Usually we start with cold engine and by the time the engine gets warmer the whole procedure is done.
Then drive some miles and drive thru all the gears without much force, then check again and refill.
Not sophisticated, but that is all what we can do as DIYer. Maybe a pro can chime in.
I/we have never done a complete 4l30e, just the 4HP24.

[whiskychaser]

Only thing I have found is its very important to have the car on faster idle than normal. Otherwise you might be putting in ATF faster than the tranny can suck it up. I wouldnt risk overfilling it. You wont want to hear this, but I'd be out there with my diagnostic interface checking those fault codes

[ryan roopnarine]

well, i have a great deal of experience draining and refilling a dipstick model of this tranny, so since the working test drive will only be 10 miles or so, i'm not going to lose too much sleep if i overfill by a quart (i will be draining and refilling for cleaning purposes afterward--both the drain and fill plugs on this are seeping, and i need to replace them).

the thing is, i did the stomp test on this car after the transmission after the trans program came on. i realise that that won't detect internal trans issues, but the code came up 1444 (no stored codes). this is in spite of the fact that there is no working o2 sensor on the car--the driveshaft ripped the wires out when i was pushing the car around by hand. i was thinking that not having the 02 participating might chuck a code, but i guess not before i try to drive the car any meaningful distance.

i'm hoping that the transmission wasn't shot before i installed it, but it seems to function ok until the light comes on. i'm thinking that the car can only manage when it is on perfectly level ground, otherwise the light comes on--leading me to believe that it is short on fluid rather than being defective. the driveway inclines are where the light comes on, otherwise, the car seems to be able to move forwards and backwards ok.

[whiskychaser]

We dont have the stomp test but AFIK it wont indicate EGS codes anyway.
Fingers crossed for the road test

[russiankid]

Put the car onto jack stands and be sure its level. Pump the fluid in while the engine is running in neutral until it comes out of the fill plug. Put the drain plug in finger tight and let the car idle for a little bit. Shift through the gears a few times, then put it back into neutral. Remove the fill plug, if there is fluid coming out its full, if not, keep pumping more in. Once its full, go take the car for a short drive. Place the car on stands again, undo the fill plug, and check the level. Keep doing this until it won't take anymore fluid and the transmission operates correctly.

[632 Regal]

+1

Just add more after it starts pouring back out and jamb the plug in there and good to go.

Put the car onto jack stands and be sure its level. Pump the fluid in while the engine is running in neutral until it comes out of the fill plug. Put the drain plug in finger tight and let the car idle for a little bit. Shift through the gears a few times, then put it back into neutral. Remove the fill plug, if there is fluid coming out its full, if not, keep pumping more in. Once its full, go take the car for a short drive. Place the car on stands again, undo the fill plug, and check the level. Keep doing this until it won't take anymore fluid and the transmission operates correctly.