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micd · 03-31-2018, 11:06 PM

We took our 1994 Winnebago Brave Chevy 454 P30 chassis in for a preseason mechanical check. The mechanic added 2 quarts of transmission fluid. When we drove it home and braked getting off the expressway there was a severe burning smell. In hindsight I am thinking some of it sloshed out.

I talked to the mechanic if he saw were it was leaking from and he said no. But we were concerned so checked it again to see if it had gotten low. Instead of low we found it had been filled to the first crook in the dipstick and not to the hash marks for "hot".

We had driven it maybe 50 miles with the overfilled state. We're hoping that damage can't occur in that time frame but we have no idea how quickly it occurs. Does anyone know?

In the mean time we drained off 2 pints today to get it to the "cold" range but it was 34 degrees out and we were simply doing the idling test with running it through all the gears. Tomorrow we will get it up to temperature again and test it in the hot range.

I think some of it sloshed out and burned off but it probably wasn't a whole quart worth so we may have another quart to pull out tomorrow.

keymastr · 03-31-2018, 11:28 PM

Chances are you will be fine. It is an older transmission though so it could fail with no connection to this event. That era of transmission is relatively cheap to rebuild compared to today's units so at least if you had to replace it it would be somewhat affordable. Most likely no damage though.

eddndee · 04-01-2018, 12:49 AM

Of course, you could also take it to a reputable transmission shop and have it maintenanced.

twinboat · 04-01-2018, 04:29 AM

There are vents on the top transmission that the fluid probably foamed out of.

If it felt like it had normal shifting, its probably not damaged.

micd · 04-01-2018, 08:14 AM

Thanks all! I'm thinking it foamed out that first burning smell and hopefully no damage. This is what it looked like over filled. The manual says 3/4" on the dipstick for every pint and they put 2 quarts=4 pints in so my guess is it was right where it should have been before they added anything.

Previous checks had alot more bubbles on the stick.

We took out 2 pints yesterday and will check it again today. Because we are not mechanics it took us hours to do this and it got dark then below freezing so we had to give up for the evening.

OverDo · 04-03-2018, 05:39 PM

You are checking he fluid with the engine running and the trans in park, correct? If it is overfilled some will slobber out the vent and burn on the exhaust. Also some nice smoke out the back of the bus. It will make a mess but no long term troubles.