I am a bit confused about the markings on the dipstick used to check the ATF level on a friend’s 2012 Nissan Sentra. A photo of the dipstick can be viewed at the link below. I believe the standard is to use the notches when checking cold, and use the crosshatch when checking hot. What throws me off is the the word >HOT< stamped higher up the dipstick. At first I thought maybe it meant to use the space in between the two arrows to check the level when it is hot. Nothing is stamped on the other side. After searching Google images I would expect to see the word COLD stamped on the other side. He bought the car used and it does not have a user manual.
This came up in an attempt to diagnose a warbling/chirping kind of sound when accelerating. It a is very soft sound, no metallic clicking or rattling, no loss of power and no DTC.
Thanks all for the help with reading this dipstick. I managed to help him with the loss of power he was experiencing by changing the air filter, cleaning the MAF sensor and resetting the computer. The car runs strong like before, but there is still the low, barely audible warbly noise when accelerating. I don’t have the catalogue of noises in my head that full-time mechanic might, so I don’t have a clue what it might be. At present it does not seem to be a driveability issue, just a barely audible warbly sound on acceleration.
Yeah very confusing. Best to stop by the dealer. I would have said the two arrows on either side of hot would be the hot level and the cross hatch the cold level, but then like the head gasket why wouldn’t they have cold stamped.
