Can anyone offer any advice as to the best method to use when attempting to obtain an accurate oil level reading from the transmission. I know some of you will think this is a joke but I'm honestly finding it difficult!

I complete the standard process of running through each gear and letting the car tickover for 2 min's but seem to get two different readings on each side of the hot/cold dipstick. They should be the same, surely!. Is there any particular way the hot side or cold side should be inserted into the gearbox? Should I turn the dipstick as its inserted to coat both sides with oil?

Thanks for your advice....

I think I know what you mean....I would go with the low level, if you look closely it is a nice, straight line. The other side seems to be where the stick gets fluid on it on it's way up or down. There is no way it can show much higher on one side than the other, unless it's inserted at an extreme angle...so the low mark has to be the right one.

Thanks for making me feel less stupid...

I'm gonna go with the low side.....

Regards..

I don't have an automatic, so my suggestion is just an observation, however, any dipstick which enter the oil pool at an angle will give you different readings on either side of the dipstick. On my 850's engine oil dipstick, I get different reading on either side of the dipstick. And I suspect that the automatic transmission dipstick does, in fact, intersect the oil pool at other than a right angle.

Knowing this, the obvious answer is to split the difference, as the real oil level is right in the middle.