Only 13.5 quarts?

[muhoo]

I changed my trans fluid and filter, 193K miles. Dunno if previous owner ever did it before, it was ugly. Drained torque converter and cooler. Didn't have a flush kit so just drained them by gravity. Installed aftermarket FT183 Motorcraft filter into the cooler return line.

Manual says it takes 20 quarts. Only 13.5 quarts of old fluid came out, so that's how much I put in to fill it, not 20. Where could the rest of the over a gallon of fluid be hiding? Or is that 20 quart number wrong? Or has my trans been that low for that long?

When I check fluid with the engine running, it seems empty, nothing on the dipstick. With it stone cold and engine off, it seems right on the money on the cold fill line.

Could I be misreading the dipstick? Finding perfectly level ground around here is not easy. When checking on the levelest ground I've found, trans still seems empty on the dipstick.

Getting it up to WOT is not something I often do anyway. I'm mostly short trips, and when I drive it long enough to warm it up, it usually isn't to somewhere with perfectly level ground to check the dipstick.

I've also been careful not to over-fill it since draining excess fluid out of it seems like it'd be a PITA.

[late_99_PSD]

I don't think they take 20 quarts but either way you need more fluid. Put the truck in neutral and if it dosen't roll then its flat enough ground. Their should be directions on the dipstick but the engine should be running when you check the fluid.

[Cratos]

the other 6 are still in your converter.

[muhoo]

Nope, drained that when I did the trans.

I ended up putting in another 3.5 quarts and that filled it up.