This might sound stupid but I need to understand how you can tell what the fluid level is in the transmission of my dauhghter's 2001 Windstar.

a bit of history - My daughter reported that the service transmission warning came on while she was driving. When she stopped and shut off the motor it took about 10- 20 miles for it come back on.

With the vehicle sitting in the driveway, I let it warm up, shifted between drive and reverse, put it in park and pulled the stick. I could see that it was a bit low so I added about 1/2 quart of type V fluid.

I repeated the warm drive -reverse - park cycle and pulled the stick again. It was impossible to figure out what the fluid level was because there was no clear difference between the clean stick and the wet part. (Yes - I wiped the stick clean before inserting it.) I was concerned about over filling it so told her to try it and let me know if the light came back on.

A few days later (maybe 100 - 150 miles) she reported that the service transmission light came back on so I tried to check the level again. I again couldn't see a clear indication of the level so I added another 1/2 quart. As of today the warning has not come back on but I would like to know what the fluid level is.

I have never had trouble seeing the transmission oil level in any vehicle before - What's up with this Windstar??