Quote:
kevinpackard wrote:
Steve - I wasn't sure if it could be filled from there or not. Good to know. However, I still need to be under the car to check the level, right? Last I looked under that cover it didn't look like there was a way to pull the dipstick from inside the car.
-Kevin
The vent opening has been used as a more convenient fill spot since the cars were new. Can remember my dad pulling the carpet back so he could add fluid in his car when I was in elementary school and I followed the same procedure when I "inherited" the car in high school. No idea if it was ever Packard sanctioned though since they always assumed a dealership or service station having a rack or grease pit would service the car. If the vent has been used routinely in the past there is a good chance the sheet metal cap on the vent plug has been stretched to snap on and off so as to be more easily removable. There is also a chance the wire mesh inside the plug is gone.
You are correct that you still need to go under to check the level. One or two have tried to cut an opening over the dipstick but the location is right next to and even under the accelerator pedal pivot so not feasible. Packard did not change that go under "feature" until they introduced the 54 gear start with the dipstick in the engine compt. In effect all you are gaining from above is saving yourself the aggravation of trying to get fluid to flow into a small opening located in a most inconvenient and space challenged spot.
It has been discussed several times
and here is one such discussion when other owners questioned the location. Someday it might happen that an owner will get fed up enough and be able to do the experimentation to adapt one of the universal dipsticks to the trans. Until that happens, it is grin and bear it time and under all the way.
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