Yesterday I did a drain/refill for the auto tranny on my 1994 940. The old fluid is brownish but no burning smell. When checking the ATF I was confused by the instructions. It says 'the cold level can be obtained after idling for 10 minutes, and the hot level can be obtained by driving 30 minutes or more'. I drove a good 30 minutes, the ATF level is slightly above the MAX line for HOT. But this morning, when I decided to check the cold level, I let the car idle for 10 minutes and the level is about half inch below MIN for cold. It seems the two methods do not yield matching results. So which one should I trust? btw I drove only one mile to work. After arriving the parking lot, I checked it again, and it was in the middle of MIN and MAX for hot. So I guess it's about right?
I used 'Advanced Auto Part' brand ATF in gallon package since I will be doing the drain/refill every week to change the ATF as well as drain out any junk that might be washed out and sit in the drain pan. Are they ok brand? I heard they are made by Coastal.
btw: the car did not seem to shift better after the drain/refill. But maybe it's that it shifted very smooth even before the change, except the 1 to 2 is kinda hard.