Transmission fluid check?

[keith69]

My nephew has an 03' chevy cavalier. How do you check the transmission fluid in it? There is no transmission dipstick. The only thing I found was a red cap where you fill it. There was no dipstick attached to that cap like there would be if you were checking your power steering fluid. Do check it by sight, say a portable generator, or just stick your finger in it and if touch fluid you got enough? I know this is a dumb question, but I'm at a loss. Thanks.

[admin]

Hi Keith,

You're right - there is no dipstick. Unless there is a fluid leak, there's really no reason to check the fluid level in these transaxles (aside from when performing a fluid change, of course). The car has to be raised on four jackstands, and the fluid level is checked via a plug on the transaxle. The procedure is covered in Haynes manual no. 38016, Chapter 1, Section 29.