Checking Transmission Fluid

The Dog House · Post by **The Dog House** » Fri Aug 17, 2012 3:51 pm

I know that transmission fluid needs to be checked hot. My question is, does the transmission need to be recently in gear or is running the engine in neutral good enough? I want to change my transmission fluid while the boat is on the trailer, but would prefer to not put the engine in gear while it is on the trailer. If running the engine in neutral will fill all of the tubes, etc. in the transmission, it will be a lot easier/safer.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Fri Aug 17, 2012 7:03 pm

Run it and check it right away . I do like to kick it in and out of gear but I would wait till I am in the water for that . On land neutral should be fine

Edit ;I forgot to say shut it off then check it

k9th · Post by **k9th** » Sat Aug 18, 2012 6:45 pm

I'm not a marine mechanic like Paul, but I downloaded the operation manual for the velvet drives in my tri-cabin. One thing the manual said could be done was to check it hot like you are talking about and make sure it is full. Then let it cool down to normal ambient temps and then mark the dipstick at the current level which represents a full level at cold temps. That will allow you to check it cold at anytime.

Just a thought.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Sat Aug 18, 2012 7:42 pm

Tim is correct

BTW I should have posted ; Its run it ( warm it up ) and shut it down and check it Right away , I forgot to say shut it down .

Natchamp · Post by **Natchamp** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 10:56 am

Good timing on this as I need to verify the oil level in my Velvet's. Doing it right after a run is a pain in the you-know-what. Does anyone know approximately what the cold level should be on the dip stick? That would help out a ton and allow me to at least make sure I'm close.