Hello everyone,
I am a long time reader, 1st time poster.
I have a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 with the 5.9 and auto tranny. Recently I took it in to have the 90k mile service done. As part of the service oil, coolant, spark-plugs, tranny filter and tranny fluid were all replaced. They did not flush the tranny. They simply drained the pan then replaced 5qts of fluid using VV324.
The transmission seemed to hesitate shifting oddly on the way home. I called the shop and was told to bring it in. When I took it back in they said the transmission was short by 1/2 of a qt. of fluid. They added 1/2 a qt and sent me home.
1600 miles later the truck is in the shop needing the transmission rebuilt.
Any ideas as to what would have caused this?

 

my opinion - probably. our trucks require chrysler ATF+4. anything else is going to be trouble. so either the wrong fluid burned it up, or maybe they seriously underfilled it, and only told you it was 1/2 qt low. it takes about 6-7 qts to refill mine.

you probably have a good case that the service shop caused the failure by using the wrong fluid. if you happen to have any free lawyer service, you'll likely win. you should ask for a statement from the the rebuilder of his opinion. start with talking to the service place, but usually, the odds of getting anything outside of a lawsuit are slim.

 

Here's the deal with our trans and the fluid it takes. The older transmissions simply used stuff like Type F or something else cheap. New (newer) Chrysler transmissions use the ATF+4 because it was designed to protect the electrical components in the trans. If you throw some $h!tty fluid in there then there is the possibility of breaking down the electrical components and possibly causing other problems.

I have heard that a lot of trans shops either flush-n-fill places or ones that actually drop the pan use stuff like Mercon III and have an "additive" that makes it the same grade as ATF+4. If you ask me, there is nothing I would put in my trans to make the fluid "like" the real stuff. I would just use the real stuff. Some places do this because Mercon III is dirt cheap compared to ATF+4.

This is probably going to have to be a hard lesson learned. I would def. talk to the mechanic and try to fight for a free trans from the shop that did the work, but that will be a hard fought battle.

Good luck!

 

Who makes this "VV324 fluid"?
What's the brand or intended application?
I've never heard of it.
What exactly is wrong with your trans that required a rebuild?

 

yep, wrong fluid

http://www.valvoline.com/pages/produ....asp?product=6

 

I am not sure what they have to replace at this point. I will find out tomorrow. The transmission shop took off the pan and found metal shavings. Are there any other effects aside those on electronic parts in the transmission? http://www.valvoline.com/pages/produ....asp?product=6 Appears to be the fluid the service shop used, it does match the model number of the fluid.

 

Those metal shavings didn't come from electronic parts I betcha.

 

[I have heard that a lot of trans shops either flush-n-fill places or ones that actually drop the pan use stuff like Mercon III and have an "additive" that makes it the same grade as ATF+4. If you ask me, there is nothing I would put in my trans to make the fluid "like" the real stuff. I would just use the real stuff. Some places do this because Mercon III is dirt cheap compared to ATF+4.

One of my sons is manager at a quick oil change place. They have fed him that BS about the additive for Mercon III that makes it ATF+4. There ain't no damn way you can make Mercon into ATF+4!
I won't argue with him but my truck don't go in those door either.

 

That is exactly why I do all of my own work on my truck and don't take it to the shops!

 

After picking up the truck today the shop said they could not find any evidence of what caused the failure. What I was charged for is:
Compliance rebuild kit $287.89, Bushing Kit $26.86, Bearing and Race $32.09, PR Valve $56.80, Throttle Valve $57.09, Gov. Press Sol. $89.44, R-Torque Converter $303.51, Labor $1080.00.

I am perplexed by this as the truck has no more then 96k miles, I am never ruff on the truck, we don't haul anything heavy in it, at most maybe 800lbs maybe once. I average 16mpg. Should this transmission have worn out so early? The other thing that really bothers me is that the transmission showed no signs of any issues before they did the service. I took it in to have the truck serviced to maintain the extended warranty I purchased on it.