Hey guys i have a 1995 Dakota sport with the 2.5 4cyl. I've been having some issues with the transmission recently. It's making quite a bit of noise. I want to do a fluid change on the transmission and the differential. I'm going to be adding some Lucas Stop Slip to the transmission, but I don't know anything about the fluid to use, or how much to use. Could anyone here please help me out. I've been searching the board and I can't find any information about this. Thanks in advance.

 

If it is an automatic, and if you just remove the oil pan then it should be about 5-6 quarts. Get ATF 3+ or ATF 4+.

 

I forgot to say its a 5spd

 

Lucas stop slip is for automatic transmissions, it won't do you any good cause there is nothing in a manual to "slip." Can you tell us when it makes this noise? Is it when you have the clutch pedal pushed down? That could be the throwout bearing is going bad. If it happens all the time the pilot bearing could be going bad. Those 2 would be the lucky options, and easy to fix. How many miles are on it, has the clutch ever been replaced, and if so, how long ago? Also, when was the last time the fluid was changed? The fluid should be changed in a manual transmisson every 20-30,000 miles. I hate to say it, but if it still has its orignial fluid, theres a good chance you'll be looking at rebuilding it or looking for a new one, cause once the oil becomes contaminated past the point where it can't hold any more contaminents, it will start wearing out the bearings, syncros, shift forks, shift rails and gears, etc. and when those start to wear out, the transmission starts making noise.

You should start by changing the fluid and hope for some luck. The AX-15 uses Mopar 75W-90 API Grade GL-5 or equivalent gear oil. Its very important to use only the recommended lubricant in a transmission.

 

Manuals do have things that slip .And if you add stop slip the syncros (cones) will no longer help align the gears .The same happens when you add synthetic to some old manuals.The syncros can no longer grip.

 

Good point! I didn't think about that. One thing though... all the gears are always meshed in a manual transmission just like in an automatic transmission, so I don't know what you mean by "align the gears."

Here's the basic rundown of a manual transmission, since there seems to be confusion about this everywhere. There are 3 shafts in a manual transmission... the input shaft, layshaft, and output shaft. The most common design has the input and layshafts connected by a pinion gear, so they always spin at the same rate. The layshaft and output shaft are connected by all the meshed gears. The gears are splined to the output shaft, and freefloat on the layshaft. In between each pair of gears on the layshaft, there is a collar with "dog teeth" that is splined to the layshaft. These dog teeth mesh with corresponding teeth on the gears whenever one is selected. The collars freespin on the shift forks. In a 5 speed, there are 3 shift forks, 1-2, 3-4, 5-R. When you push the shifter toward the 1-2 side, you're selecting the linkage that moves the 1-2 shift fork. Anyway, the syncronizer's job is to bring the layshaft and output shaft to the same speed so that the dog teeth on the collars can engage on the gears. Whenever you hear grinding, its the dog teeth griding, not the actual gears griding. The syncronizers also have a blocker ring, which prevents the collar from moving toward the gear until the shafts are spinning in sync (in reality, this is a range of rpms, which is why you can make it grind). [/rant]

 

Well I redid the transmission fluid and that for the most part has taken care of it. Thanks guys.