The one in which you do it before starting the car and when it has been sitting overnight. Just a quick background: '89 245, auto, outside ambient temp. was 70F +/- a few degrees, car sat overnight, did not crank engine before checking ATF, live in sunny California (weather has been beautiful here).

I wanted to check the color of my ATF and thought maybe I'd also check the fluid level too using the cold check method you have mentioned before. So I first pulled the dipstick, saw ATF on the plastic piece (I believe the level was near the tip, tip being where it meets the metal and not the bottom tip). I then reinserted the dipstick and got nearly the same reading where the ATF level was maybe slightly above the tip and was 1/32 inches into the metal. It was not even near the rectangular cutout on the metal part of the dipstick as I was expecting. I checked it again, and same thing happened--ATF did not fall within the rect. cutout, not even near it. Did I do something wrong, or is this sort of cold check only applicable to cold weather, as in having to wear a coat and breathing mist sort of east-coast cold? Or does it not apply to certain 240 models/tranny?

The last time I checked the level was after a good long drive and checking it according to Volvo and brickboarder method. The cold check doesn't seem to work when I do it. Have many of you bricknuts use this method before? What was the result?