Reading Your 99 Vw Oil Dip Stick

Nigh vehicle owners know that in order to keep their ride roadworthy, they need to stay up-to-date on routine maintenance, such as oil changes and tire replacement. But you should also keep tabs on your automatic transmission—you know, that thing with the gears that you shift into drive, contrary, and park multiple times a day. Keeping your manual bustling smoothly can pay dividends, as it's ane of the most expensive components on your car to repair or replace.

Thankfully, checking on your manual's health is neither as difficult, as time consuming, nor as costly as yous may recall. Here's how.

Checking the Fluid

Just every bit your engine uses oil to lubricate and cool its internals, automatic transmissions use peculiarly designed manual fluid for the aforementioned purpose. Conventional automatic transmissions, dual-clutch automatics, and continuously variable automatic transmissions each use a specific type of transmission fluid. If you're unsure which fluid is used in your transmission, consult your owner's transmission; typically, transmission-fluid requirements tin be plant in the specifications section.

You don't need to be a mechanic to gain insight into the status of your vehicle's transmission—a unproblematic visual cheque will practise. Y'all'll demand to expect at the level and condition of your transmission fluid.

Locate the Dipstick

Motor vehicle, Auto part, Engine, Fuel line, Vehicle, Automotive engine part, Automotive fuel system, Carburetor, Car, Auto mechanic,

Brad Fick Automobile and Commuter

First, locate the transmission dipstick, which can be found under the hood, in the engine compartment. Make sure yous are locating the manual dipstick and not the engine-oil dipstick; the transmission dipstick is ordinarily further back in the engine bay, toward the firewall (the bulkhead at the front of the cabin). The transmission dipstick is typically marked with a specific color or a transmission symbol.

Note: if you can't find the dipstick, don't be alarmed. Many mod vehicles use a sealed-for-life transmission that never requires checking or fluid replacement—so they don't have a dipstick. (Refer to your owner's manual for your model'due south specific service schedule and to double-cheque whether it has a transmission dipstick.)

If your vehicle has a sealed transmission, you lot tin can slam the hood shut and drive. Simply if your vehicle does have a transmission dipstick, here's what to practice next:

Check the Level

With the engine warmed upwards, leave the car idling in park on a level surface. Pull out the dipstick, wipe it make clean, replace it slowly, and and then pull it back out. Check the fluid level—how high the fluid comes up on the dipstick—against the "total" and "low" or "fill" marks on the dipstick.

The colour of transmission fluid tin can tell you a lot about the health of your automobile's transmission.

Fluid Condition

Now lay the dipstick on a white surface, such every bit a paper towel, to analyze the color of the fluid. The condition of your transmission fluid—and to some extent, the transmission itself—is indicated by the colour of the fluid. If your fluid is healthy, it should accept a reddish-pinkish color; if it'south getting to the indicate of needing replacement, it will be chocolate-brown red. If the fluid is nighttime brown or black, and so it's quite possible that yous will be replacing more than than just your fluid. Dark fluid with a burnt smell is bad news; in the worst case, you might find fine metallic shavings in the fluid as well. Both of those symptoms point to possible harm of your transmission's internal components. This is ordinarily a issue of failing to follow the recommended service interval for replacing the transmission fluid, but it'due south non impossible that a manual could have a premature mechanical consequence, but like whatsoever other component on the vehicle.

Low Fluid?

If your fluid is depression, information technology doesn't necessarily mean you're headed for disaster, merely information technology does about probable hateful there is a leak somewhere in the organisation. Filling up the transmission and so checking it daily to run into how quickly the level goes down can be a good way to assess the severity of a potential leak. Also attempt to visually inspect your transmission by looking under the car for any fluid oozing out of it. Does the auto leave spots of reddish fluid on the ground after it'southward parked? If the fluid is black, it'southward engine oil. If it'southward water, it'due south likely condensation from the air-workout system.

Getty Images

If you do observe some manual-fluid loss or observe that your manual is using an aberrant amount of fluid, contact a mechanic as soon equally you can. We'd recommend seeing a reputable motorcar dealer who sells and services your vehicle as a start stop. Its service department will accept the almost feel with your brand and model and might have seen this consequence before. If you lot have the luxury of letting the car sit until it can be inspected, practise and so.

Contrary to what some internet mechanics may tell you, a transmission-fluid replacement volition non destroy an older vehicle's aging transmission. Typically, when a transmission of a sudden has issues afterwards fluid replacement, it's because there was already an internal problem, such as a worn clutch pack. If your transmission is healthy, then a fresh modify of fluid will simply assistance its longevity.

FYI, if your manual fluid is low and needs topping off, this is usually done through the aforementioned tube that the dipstick fits in. Adding fluid (which is available at auto-parts stores) will require a funnel with a narrow—and most likely long—spout.

Just similar any auto, a transmission needs proper maintenance in social club to operate as the manufacturer intended. As they say, take care of your transmission, and it will have care of yous.