Question on setting the proper level on a sealed transmission on a 2000 S430. Prior to draining the old fluid out (out of curiosity) I inserted the "test" dipstick and marked it where the level came to. Car was cold and had been sitting overnight. I drained the old fluid from the pan and torque converter and measured it out. It came to a hair more than 8 qts. I changed the filter, buttoned everything up and filled the tranny using the proper procedure and drove, filled, etc... until after a 20+ minute drive it was about 1/4 way up in the 80dC mark zone on the test dipstick. The next day I put the test dipstick in with the car cold and it was not up to the mark that I had put on the dipstick prior to changing it. Unfortunately, I did not check the fluid level hot prior to changing it. Shouldn't it have been up to the "cold" mark on the dipstick? I left it alone because I did not want to overfill it. The only thing I can think of is that it may have been overfilled prior to the fluid change. Any thoughts/comments?
While we are on the subject. Why can't you set the transmission fluid level "cold". I know the stuff expands somewhat when heated up but I would have thought that the cold level should always be the same.