I didn't mean to sound like you all are idiots. The bottom line is this stuff is getting very complex, it is becoming very difficult for untrained backyard type folks to work on thier cars. Before you go placing blame anywhere, look in the mirror. You voted the tree huggers into office and told the manufacters you wanted 20+ MPG so DCX is just trying to do what you all want. If they left this stuff for anybody to be able to work on then it would be screwed up long before the warranty expired, there is a reason they make it tough to do it yourself-they don't want untrained persons messing with it.
BTW, we don't use any old cheap-ass fluid, only cheap-ass Mopar 7176+4.
Joesph, if you had black fluid with metallic peices in the pan you should be back at the dealer, something is wrong. It is never normal for there to metal on the magnet, clutch material is OK but never metal.
I really resent you tone of your post. I have a degree in engineering and have been taking cars apart for over thiry years. I have never voted for a tree hugger nor have I had a car which got over 20 mpg. So big hot flames to you. If there is a manual and if some of the guys who work at the dealership can handle it I'm sure I can. If you think about the physics of fulid dynamics there would be a limit on how much a fluid could expand when heated. So just how much of a difference between hot and really hot could there be. Checking the dipstick also allows to tell what color the fluid is which might indicate a problem, The dipstick also allows for a smell test. Has the fluid been overheated again a sign of other problems? If you simply and are forced to go to the dealer for any kind of tranny services I suspect a lot of tranny are going to fail from the ihability of the user checking things themselves.
Hey Mr. engineer, do you know you cannot tell anything from trans smell. If the fluid "smells" like the trans is toast, you would already know that. The difference is between hot/cold is huge. If you filled a car to full hot when it was stone cold, it would have shifting concerns within a day. The difference between full cold and full hot is over a quart.
I could say the same about your tone, because you went to college does mean you even have the abuility to check tire pressure.
You have to admit it seems quite arrogant to say; if a bunch factory trained techs with decades of experience can do this, so can I, a college graduate and shadetree mechanic.
If you just bring it in when you are supposed to (it's in the owners manual) then there will not be any failures as a result of lack of maintence.
whats the $$ charge for a tranny change/flush? just got the new magnum and think about the 1000 mile cleaning
Have not done the magnum yet but on my Impala SS my dealer charged $75. That is for a drop the pan, change the filter and refill. He also charged $75 for a complete fluid change. I alternated between the 2 types of changes every 25,000.
__________________
Don
Magnum RT
Live Well, Love Much, Laugh Often
Not to disparage anyone with 'a degree in engineering' - but...
I have worked in and around and with some of the highest 'tech' stiuff there is on this planet for nigh on to 30 years now and
have met and worked with some of the brightest guys and gals with 'engineering' degrees.
Some of these folks were actually dangereous to themselves and others in their attempts to 'dabble' outside their chosen field.
Sorry, but having a degree doesn't give one any more common sense or abilities not in their chosen field. To me it means that someone paid enormous quantities of dollars to go to school for 4 (or more) years than the average joe. I'm always a tad concerned when someone starts a conversation with 'I have a degree..."
You may be a rocket scientist, and you may be a true giant in your profession, but that doesn't make you an expert in the complexities of command and control systems of whatever it may be, nuclear submarines, radar systems, OpenVMS Clusters
or todays cars.
I appreciate someone being trained and experienced on the platform I've chosen and I sure hope that my local dealer has someone like that. I won't claim to be an 'expert' or even 'competant' outside my chosen field, and I'm quite sure with some book-learning and hands-on time I could render qualified opinions on the Magnum R/T's innards as well.
But Dodge already has folks like that, so I don't need to.
Mike
"I've had lots of other cars and trucks - The R/T is cooler.."
My goodness... I understand your point Cal Jeff... I just think everyone needs to take stuff with a grain of salt. That's all.
Joseph - I'm sorry you think that. We really aren't a bunch of assholes here. I swear. I can't tell you why it seems you find the mean conversations somehow.
~Amanda
__________________ The Lady In Red 1994 MODIFIED Dodge Ram 1500 Sport
RE: No tranny dipstick?
