[V8] V8 Transmission Dipstick

[toml99 at todomundo.com]

Hey Brad, I think a better question is "Has your fluid/filter ever  
been changed"?   If you don't know, then you should assume no.  I'd  
crawl under there, and following Ed's suggestion, drain the pan into  
something clean and preferrably white, and in a perfect world, you'll  
get 4 quarts of clean fluid.  You most likely won't get either.  I've  
stuck my dipstick(yeah,yeah,,,) into 4 other v8's, and not one of  
them registered.  The Pearl "non-parts car" that I bought took almost  
3 quarts as I recall, then shifted fine.  I then drained it, and it  
was black....ended up selling it, otherwise, I'd certainly have done  
the complete flush/filter/Mobil 1(10.2 quarts).   I  changed the 20  
quarts in the Allison tranny in the truck with the stock DEXRON 3 at  
50K as I would need to change it again in another 50K, and the  
synthetic was 3-4 times more, and they said service interval was  
100K.  Who would ever want to run ANY fluid for 100K, let alone  
lifetime, and the truck has an external spin-on filter I change every  
other motor oil change.  Do the drain/fill, as it's quick,cheap.  The  
looks of the oil should tell you whether or not you want to change/at  
least rinse out the filter,etc.  Anybody remember, I'm thinking it's  
a 10,possibly 8 allen, but something makes me think I bought that  
large set of Torx for a reason.....Know that both cars had chewed up  
drain plugs from the wrong tool.  Just remember, if that tranny dies,  
your long term commitment to your beloved car could be  
challenged....Keep posted if you drain it...

On a different note, if you just want to check....I measured the  
dipstick, and it's appx 23" from the lip of the tube to the "Full"  
mark/22-1/4" to the "low" mark.  The Trucks dipstick is a piece of  
1/8th inch stainless braided wire with 2 balls crimped on at the low/ 
high marks(similar to the Audi with the plastic balls).  You could  
get a piece of clean wire and make some marks/crimps...make your  
own.  For what it's worth, I hemmoraged some oil(both motor and  
tranny) @ 10,000 ft, running it hard up a pass, and have since kept  
both between the fill lines/low line, and haven't had a problem since 
(tranny fluid came out the vent).  Tranny fluid is checked running in  
park......Tom