Transmission, Automatic

Trans Fluid "Leak"

Got a bleeding shark? I did, now he's all patched up & well. Following is the story:

When I had my timing belt/water pump done, I asked my Porsche dealer to check the tranny
leak which left puddles on the garage floor. They said, no problem, it's the pan gasket, I said go
ahead do a tranny oil/filter/gasket change. When I got it back, no problem unless the car sat
undisturbed for 5 days, then the same puddle would re-appear. I took it back to the dealer, he
says "dry as a bone, no leaks". Hmmm. Something ain't kosher. Then I got ahold of a manual
and studied the situation. Easy fix, too much tranny fluid. If you look at the marks on the tranny
fluid resevoir, there are two obvious ones, "max" and "min". Then a third mark lower on the
resevoir marked "20*". The "20*" mark indicates MAXIMIUM fluid level on a cold tranny, and
the fluid is normally changed at this temp, not at the min/max which represents ATF fluid levels
with a temp of 80* C which is hot, hot, hot. Ah ha!! My dealer filled b/w the min/max level and
didn't read his manual (I wonder if he has a set). FWIW, check your tranny fluid level before
you drive and I'd wager that a few people have a fluid level above the cold fluid max level of
"20*".
*Joe Rausa; '89S4 (auto - with a dry garage floor)