2006 330i Transmission Fluid gusher

[randyshakes]

Hello all, had an interesting experience yesterday. Went over to a friends house that has a lift so I could add some transmission fluid as my car had been shifting hard and sluggish at some points. Figured it was running low so might as well add a little bit. My car has a ZF transmission. When I opened the fill plug, I had a gusher of fluid come out. After about 500 ml gushed I put the plug back in and checked the fluid, looks really good. Not dark at all. Was wondering if anyone had experienced the same thing? My car has 122,000 miles on it and before I put it up on the lift, I had driven it about 5-10 minutes at moderately high rpm to warm everything up. Seems like whoever filled the fluid last did an overfill.

[jclausen]

if you were to service the trans, you would fill it then run the engine up to a specific temperature, after that temp it can not be checked because the fluid would be to hot, so now you may very well be low on fluid

[cochise325]

If you removed the fill plug when the engine was not running, you would drain most of the fluid. The proper procedure is to have the engine running when you remove the plug. This is because the fluid is circulating through the transmission cooler. Be sure to fill her back up before you drive. And use the correct fluid. If the bottom pan is plastic, your transmission is a ZF unit. And you should only use ZF fluid if that is the case.

Since you have so many miles on the car, why not finish draining the fluid and refill with fresh fluid. You will need a pump to push the fluid into the fill hole while the engine is running. There are some good DIY threads on this procedure. And of course the Bentley manual does an excellent job of explaining the procedure.

[randyshakes]

If you removed the fill plug when the engine was not running, you would drain most of the fluid. The proper procedure is to have the engine running when you remove the plug. This is because the fluid is circulating through the transmission cooler. Be sure to fill her back up before you drive. And use the correct fluid. If the bottom pan is plastic, your transmission is a ZF unit. And you should only use ZF fluid if that is the case.

Since you have so many miles on the car, why not finish draining the fluid and refill with fresh fluid. You will need a pump to push the fluid into the fill hole while the engine is running. There are some good DIY threads on this procedure. And of course the Bentley manual does an excellent job of explaining the procedure.

The car wasn't running when I unscrewed the fill plug. So that would explain the gusher. It really was only about 500 ml. I do have a new filter and fluid on the way from ECS. That's my next service and some new spark plugs and cool packs. Probably change my differential very soon after these next two services.

[randyshakes]

If you removed the fill plug when the engine was not running, you would drain most of the fluid. The proper procedure is to have the engine running when you remove the plug. This is because the fluid is circulating through the transmission cooler. Be sure to fill her back up before you drive. And use the correct fluid. If the bottom pan is plastic, your transmission is a ZF unit. And you should only use ZF fluid if that is the case.

Since you have so many miles on the car, why not finish draining the fluid and refill with fresh fluid. You will need a pump to push the fluid into the fill hole while the engine is running. There are some good DIY threads on this procedure. And of course the Bentley manual does an excellent job of explaining the procedure.

Thank you for the reply. I do have a filter and fluid kit on the way from ECS. Should be here in a couple days. You can bet I'll be changing that out when it gets here. I am also going to be changing the spark plugs and coil packs tomorrow. The differential is next. Just have to show some love to these older cars.